Download Captain Hook`s Time Problem

AP PSYCHOLOGY
NILAND
NAME: ________________________________ CLASS: ____________
CRITICAL THINKING ACTIVITY – CLASSICAL AND OPERANT CONDITIONING
Adapted from:
 Halonen, Jane, Gray, Cynthia. (2001). The Critical Thinking Companion for Introduction of Psychology. Second
Edition,58-63
 Stern, Tina. (2001). Study Guide and Practice Tests. Sixth Edition,268-269
In most classical conditioning examples, we should be able to identify an involuntary response at the core of the
learning process. In Pavlov’s original conditioning experiment, the dog’s salivary reflex was the involuntary response.
When food is presented to a hungry dog, the dog will salivate. This connection is natural and unlearned, or
unconditioned. It is the brain’s way of readying the digestive tract, and it assists in our survival. We might say that
this is a “hard-wired” feature of dog design. Food is an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) and the salivation is an
unconditioned response (UCR).
If you present a neutral stimulus (NS) – one that has no particular meaning such as a bell – to a dog just prior to the
presentation of the food, and if you present this pair of stimuli often enough, you a re likely to see a new learned
connection develop. The bell will come to signify that food is on the way. Since the bell had no effect initially, the
meaning of the bell has to be conditioned. Therefore, it is called the conditioned stimulus (CS). When the researcher
has successfully conditioned the dog to respond to the bell, the dog will salivate in the absence of the food. This
salivation is called the conditioned response (CR). Note that the unconditioned response and the conditioned response
are virtually the same. They are likely to differ only in intensity. Even smart dogs know you shouldn’t eat a bell!
Four examples of classical conditioning are outlined in the following paragraphs below. Each describes a situation in
which a unconditioned stimulus, an unconditioned response, a conditioned stimulus, and a conditioned response occur.
Can you identify the components in each example?
The Troublesome Shower
Martin likes to shower in the men’s locker room after working out. During one such shower, he hears
someone flushing a nearby toilet. Suddenly, boiling hot water rushed out of the shower-head, causing Martin
serious discomfort. As he continued the shower, he hears another toilet flush and immediately jumped out
from under the shower-head.
What is the unconditioned stimulus? (UCS)
What is the unconditioned response? (UCR)
What is the conditioned stimulus? (CS)
What is the conditioned response? (CR)
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The Water Show
Jeanette was happy when she learned about her family’s plan to go to the water sports show. Then she heard
the weather report which predicted temperatures exceeding 100 degrees. Jeanette suspected that the weather
would be hard to bear, but she went to the show. As she watched the water skiers perform taxing routines to
the blaring organ music, she got more and more sweaty and uncomfortable. Eventually, she fainted from the
heat. After the family outing, Jeanette could never hear organ music without feeling dizzy.
What is the unconditioned stimulus? (UCS)
Chapters 5 & 7 – Learning and Cognition
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AP PSYCHOLOGY
NILAND
NAME: ________________________________ CLASS: ____________
What is the unconditioned response? (UCR)
What is the conditioned stimulus? (CS)
What is the conditioned response? (CR)
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The Trouble with Tuna
Brian was looking forward to lunch. His mother had prepared a tuna sandwich. Unfortunately, the
mayonnaise she used had been left out too long and was tainted. Not long after eating, Brian felt extremely
nauseated and had to rush to the bathroom. Thereafter, the mere mention of a tuna sandwich would send
Brian scurrying to the bathroom.
What is the unconditioned stimulus? (UCS)
What is the unconditioned response? (UCR)
What is the conditioned stimulus? (CS)
What is the conditioned response? (CR)
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Captain Hook’s Time Problem
Captain Hook had a nasty encounter with a crocodile in Never-Never Land. As a result of the battle, he lost
his hand to the croc, which also swallowed an alarm clock. Fortunately for Hook, the loud ticking sound
warned him of the hungry croc’s approach. Unfortunately, for Hook, any clock’s ticking how ushers in a
full-blown anxiety attack.
What is the unconditioned stimulus? (UCS)
What is the unconditioned response? (UCR)
What is the conditioned stimulus? (CS)
What is the conditioned response? (CR)
Chapters 5 & 7 – Learning and Cognition
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AP PSYCHOLOGY
NILAND
NAME: ________________________________ CLASS: ____________
In classical conditioning, objects take on new meaning when they are closely associated with some type of
involuntary behavior. In operant conditioning, consequences determine behavior. We will tend to repeat things that
make up feel good (principles involving reinforcement), avoid things that make us feel bad (principle of punishment),
and disengage from behaviors that have no impact (principle of extinction).
Any time consequences reinforce a behavior; it will be strengthened. For example, a builder who wanted to
reinforce a wall to make it stronger may add another stud, and a tailor who needs to reinforce a seam will restitch.
Similarly, reinforced behavior is more likely to occur in the future. When you see the term reinforcement, expect that
the target behavior will get stronger or increase in intensity.
Positive reinforcement is relatively straightforward. When a good consequence follows some performance,
you are more likely to repeat that performance in order to capture more of the good consequences that follow it. For
instance, if you study hard for a test and received an A for your efforts, you will probably expend the same energies on
your next test because you have received this positive reinforcement.
Negative reinforcement is a little trickier. Negative reinforcement is often confused with punishment, but they
are not the same. In negative reinforcement situations, the target behavior is the one you can perform to help you
escape some bad circumstance. When a behavior is negatively reinforced, the behavior has helped you escape some
pain, some embarrassment, or some other negative situation. For example, if you live in a rainy climate, you may
routinely carry an umbrella to prevent getting soaked by the rain. Your habit of carrying an umbrella would be
negatively reinforced: you escape an unpleasant outcome by remembering to bring the tool that will keep you dry.
When you see the term negative reinforcement, try to identify what is negative about the target situation. Will a
specified behavior allow you to escape or avoid the unfavorable circumstance? If so, that escape behavior will be
negatively reinforced. We rarely enjoy being in uncomfortable or painful situations. This explains why negative
reinforcement situations are such powerful incentives to strengthen behaviors that will allow us to escape.
Punishment tends to reduce the frequency of the behavior it follows. However, almost any parent can tell you
that the effects of punishment vary. To be effective in reducing undesirable behavior, punishment should be swift,
consistent, and sufficiently strong. Coordinating punishment consequences to meet those criteria can be a challenge.
Even when punishment works, punishing practices may have undesirable side effects. For example, children
sometimes associate the punisher with pain and may dislike or avoid the punisher.
Extinction is also a process that reduces the occurrence to behavior. When a behavior meets with no
consequence, there is no incentive to continue the behavior. Although extinction is effective in reducing behavior, the
process may take a very long time.
Positive reinforcement: When a behavior is followed by a favorable outcome (+), the behavior is likely to be
strengthened in the future (↑).
Negative reinforcement: When a person is trapped in a bad situation, he or she performs a behavior to escape
the bad situation. The escape is a favorable outcome (+), the behavior is likely to be
strengthened in the future (↑).
Punishment: When a behavior is followed by an unfavorable outcome (-), the behavior may decrease in the
future (↓). Note: Punishment is risky business. To ensure effectiveness, it must be
done quickly, consistently, and with proper intensity.
Extinction: When a behavior has no meaningful consequence (0), the behavior will decrease in the future (↓).
The following scenarios describe some behaviors and their consequences. Your task is to apply the principles
of operant conditioning to predict whether the targeted behavior (the underlined one) will reoccur. Read the shot
scenario, focusing on the underlined behavior, and identify whether the consequence for the person performing the
behavior was good (+), bad (-), or none (0). Then specify whether the targeted behavior is likely to increase (↑) or
decrease (↓) in the future. Finally, identify which principle of operant conditioning (use only the four above) the
scenario describes.
Chapters 5 & 7 – Learning and Cognition
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AP PSYCHOLOGY
NILAND
NAME: ________________________________ CLASS: ____________
Scenario
1.
2.
A student volunteers to answer a tough
question in class, and the teacher
comments favorably on the quality of
the student’s contribution
A wife brings home flowers to her
husband because of a special meal he had
cooked to surprise her.
Nature of
Consequence
Likelihood of
Reoccurrence
Principle
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3.
A child is sent to his room with no dinner
after presenting a bad report card.
4.
Dad and toddler enter a checkout lane of
the supermarket. When the child screams
for candy, dad pops a lollypop in her
mouth to quiet her down.
5.
A child spills milk all over the dinner
table, and Mom (having had a very bad
day) swoops the child up from the high
chair and spanks him.
6.
A student has a terrible headache after an
intense test preparation period. He takes
two aspirin to make it go away.
7.
Two children, who usually spend most of
their time fighting, finally play peacefully
over a coloring book. Dad peeks in and
sighs, “at last, they are getting along.”
He returns to work without saying
anything to them.
8.
A spoiled child is being driven by a fastfood restaurant when she begins
screaming that she must have french fries
or she won’t survive. The parents
surrender and drive in for a large supply.
9.
A teenager whines about having nothing
to do. Dad gives him a lecture about all
the stuff in his room and the good old
days when he didn’t have all that stuff
but still managed to be happy.
10.
A terrorist applies an electrical current to
the feet of a spy so she will confess. She
tells him everything she knows.
Adapted from: Jane Halonen and Cythia Gray. The Critical Thinking Companion for Introduction of Psychology, second edition. 2001
Chapters 5 & 7 – Learning and Cognition
Page 4 of 6
AP PSYCHOLOGY
NILAND
NAME: ________________________________ CLASS: ____________
CLASSICAL OR OPERANT CONDITIONING: YOU DECIDE
TASK: For each of the ten examples below, decide if the behavior in question was acquired through operant or
classical conditioning. If you decide the behavior is operant, identify which type of consequence was responsible for
the behavior change (i.e., positive/negative reinforcement; positive/negative punishment). If you decide the behavior
is classical, identify the US, UR, CS, and CR. If you want to make this a good learning exercise, you will check your
answers only AFTER you have attempted to analyze each example on your own. You can check your answer against
mine by following the answer link after the example.
1. Every time someone flushes a toilet in the apartment building, the shower becomes very hot and causes the
person to jump back. Over time, the person begins to jump back automatically after hearing the flush, before
the water temperature changes.
2. Your father gives you a credit card at the end of your first year in college because you did so well. As a result,
your grades continue to get better in your second year.
3. Your car has a red, flashing light that blinks annoyingly if you start the car without buckling the seat belt. You
become less likely to start the car without buckling the seat belt.
4. You eat a new food and then get sick because of the flu. However, you develop a dislike for the food and feel
nauseated whenever you smell it.
Chapters 5 & 7 – Learning and Cognition
Page 5 of 6
AP PSYCHOLOGY
NILAND
NAME: ________________________________ CLASS: ____________
5. An individual receives frequent injections of drugs, which are administered in a small examination room at a
clinic. The drug itself causes increased heart rate but after several trips to the clinic, simply being in a small
room causes an increased heart rate.
6. A lion in a circus learns to stand up on a chair and jump through a hoop to receive a food treat.
7. A professor has a policy of exempting students from the final exam if they maintain perfect attendance during
the quarter. His students’ attendance increases dramatically.
8. You check the coin return slot on a pay telephone and find a quarter. You find yourself checking other
telephones over the next few days.
9. Your hands are cold so you put your gloves on. In the future, you are more likely to put gloves on when it’s
cold.
10. John Watson conducted an experiment with a boy named Albert in which he paired a white rat with a loud,
startling noise. Albert now becomes startled at the sight of the white rat.
Chapters 5 & 7 – Learning and Cognition
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