Hey guys!
So i just did a practice exam, and I'm kind of confused about some of the answers to the multiple choice questions. Can someone please explain these to me?
1) Every morning, I let the chickens out of the henhouse where they roost overnight. As soon as they hear me coming, they begin to to scrape and peck at the door. This is likely explained by:
a) operant conditioning - opening henhouse is antecedent
b) classical condition - footsteps are conditioned stimulus
c) classical conditioning - opening door is UCS
d) operant conditioning - footsteps are antecedent
apparently the answer is D? i don't get how tho, I thought it was B.
2) Jimmy is three years old. One day when his mother took him to the supermarket, he noticed a box of Chuppa-Chups and screamed over and over Want a lollipop; Want a lollipop! his mother was embarrassed by the noise and gave him a Chuppa-Chup to suck Jimmy became quiet immediately! After this had happened again, Jimmy becomes excited and yells Want Lollipop, Want Lollipop! whenever they approach the supermarket door and his mother gives him a
Chuppa-Chup as soon as she can.
How has conditioning influenced Jimmy's mother?
a) she has been negatively reinforced for the behaviour of giving Jimmy a lollipop.
b) she has been positively reinforced for the behaviour of giving jimmy a lollipop.
c and d are wrong so doesnt matter. I thought it was A, since giving the lollipop to Jimmy removes the negative stimulus of his screaming, increasing the likelihood of his mother performing the behaviour in the future. But apparently its B? i don't get it, pls explain.
3) Jacqui is undergoing an EEG as she attempts to solve complex puzzles. After a while she understands the problem and begins to work faster. Her EEG readings would show:
a) theta and gamma waves
b) beta and theta waves
c) theta and delta waves
d) gamma and beta waves
I circled B since she started working faster and understood the problem i didn't really get how there would be any gamma waves, she'd be more relaxed, but apparently the answer is D?
4) which of these phobias is likely to be resistent to treatment by systematic desensitisation?
a) fear of butterflies
b) fear of lifts
c) fear of failure
d) fear of snakes
i said failure bc how would you increasingly phobic approximations of failure, and you could use systematic desensitisation for snakes, but apparently the answer is D?
5) What does the term "GABA agonist" mean?
a) increases effects of GABA
b) decreases effects of GABA
c) acts as artificual GABA
d) replaces GABA
this might be more simple, but i thought GABA agonists imitate GABA, so it should be C? but apparently its A so.
THANKS GUYS
Hi Novashock,
I'll have a crack at explaining these. Just out of curiosity, what company/practice paper were these from?
1) I think D is correct. My key reason for this is that the hens scraping and pecking at the door is a voluntary behaviour, and therefore it will be operant conditioning, not classical conditioning. Basically, the antecedent stimulus (A) is the footsteps, the behaviour (B) is scraping and pecking at the door and the consequence (C) is being let out of the henhouse. I don't think B is correct as I would class it as operant conditioning, not classical conditioning.
2) I think you're right, A is correct. In terms of Jimmy's mother, she has undergone negative reinforcement, whereas Jimmy has undergone positive reinforcement.
3) You don't need to know about gamma waves at all, so don't worry about this question. We only look at beta, alpha, theta and delta in VCE Psych. However, the answer would be D (to the best of my understanding) because gamma brain waves are associated with high performance. Again though, I stress that you don't need to know this.
4) Ridiculous question. I would agree with you in saying C if I had to choose an answer, and I don't know why the answer would be D.
5) It is A in this case. Benzo's are GABA agonists and they stimulate the effect of GABA - they don't actually act as GABA themselves (from what I've seen and heard, this can be often confused and possibly taught wrong). Benzodiazepines increase GABA's inhibitory effects by making postsynaptic neurons more responsive to GABA, but don't actually mimic GABA themselves.
I hope this helps!!