All GRE Subject Test: Psychology Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Theories On Learning
Which behaviorist accidentally discovered a form of learning after he noticed that his dog salivated each time he entered the room in anticipation of feeding time?
Watson
Skinner
Thorndike
Pavlov
Pavlov
Ivan Pavlov was the theorist who coined the term classical conditioning after he noticed his dog salivated each time he entered the room, even before presenting food. Pavlov went on to pair the sound of a bell with salivation, which demonstrated learning by pairing a conditioned stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus. The other theorists are incorrect choices. Skinner and Thorndike are associated with operant/instrumental conditioning. Watson is also associated with classical conditioning, but is famous for his Little Albert study.
Example Question #1 : Theories On Learning
It takes most people less time to identify a cow as a mammal than a mouse as a mammal because a cow more closely resembles the mammal's to which they are accustomed. This statement is an example of which of the following?
Heuristic
Phoneme
Prototype
Hierarchy
Algorithm
Heuristic
A "heuristic" refers to lessons learned through evolutionary processes. They help to explain how people make decisions and solve problems when faced with incomplete information.
Example Question #2 : Theories On Learning
Watson’s “Little Albert” experiment demonstrates which of the following?
Fear is a learned behavior
Babies have genetic predispositions to fear
Fear is relayed from mother to child
Children see white, furry objects as scary
None of these
Fear is a learned behavior
In the study,Watson found the babies did not fear animals until loud noises were paired with their images. In other words, the children were not afraid of the sight of animals; however, fear was induced when sounds were paired with them.
Example Question #1 : Theories On Learning
This type of conditioning is when you take something good away to create a desired behavior. Such as taking away a child's cell phone until they clean their room.
Negative punishment
Positive punishment
Classical conditioning
Negative reinforcement
Positive reinforcement
Negative reinforcement
Negative reinforcement is an example of operant conditioning. This is when you take something good away to create a desired behavior. Such as taking away a child's cell phone until they clean their room. On the other hand the rest of the listed choices are incorrect. In classical conditioning you can train an animal to have a response to an unrelated stimuli. Positive reinforcement is another example of operant conditioning. This is when you give something good to create a desired behavior. An example of this is giving a child a cookie because they cleaned their room. Negative punishment is when you remove a good thing to decrease a behavior. An example of this is if you remove a child's cell phone for coming home late. Last, positive punishment is when you add something bad to decrease a behavior. An example of this is if you spank a child for misbehaving.
Example Question #2 : Theories On Learning
Which of the following types of conditioning is would best be characterized as when you give something good to create a desired behavior (e.g. giving a child a cookie because they cleaned their room).
None of these
Negative reinforcement
Positive punishment
Positive reinforcement
Negative punishment
Positive reinforcement
Positive punishment is when you add something bad to decrease a behavior. An example of this is if you spank a child for misbehaving. On the other hand, the rest of the listed choices are incorrect. Negative reinforcement is an example of operant conditioning. This is when you take something good away to create a desired behavior. Such as taking away a child's cell phone until they clean their room. Positive reinforcement is another example of operant conditioning. This is when you give something good to create a desired behavior. An example of this is giving a child a cookie because they cleaned their room. Last, "negative punishment" is when you remove a good thing to decrease a behavior. An example of this is if you remove a child's cell phone for coming home late.
Example Question #3 : Theories On Learning
Which of the following types of conditioning is would best be characterized as when you remove a good thing to decrease a behavior (e.g. if you remove a child's cell phone for coming home late)?
Positive punishment
Negative reinforcement
Negative Punishment
None of these
Positive reinforcement
Negative Punishment
Negative punishment is when you remove a good thing to decrease a behavior. An example of this is if you remove a child's cell phone for coming home late. On the other hand, the rest of the listed choices are incorrect. Negative reinforcement is an example of operant conditioning. This is when you take something good away to create a desired behavior. Such as taking away a child's cell phone until they clean their room. This is when you give something good to create a desired behavior. An example of this is giving a child a cookie because they cleaned their room. Last, positive punishment is when you add something bad to decrease a behavior. An example of this is if you spank a child for misbehaving.
Example Question #4 : Theories On Learning
Which of the following types of conditioning is would best be characterized as when you add something bad to decrease a behavior (e.g. if you spank a child for misbehaving)?
Negative punishment
Negative reinforcement
Positive punishment
Positive reinforcement
All of these
Positive punishment
Positive punishment is when you add something bad to decrease a behavior. An example of this is if you spank a child for misbehaving. On the other hand, the rest of the listed choices are incorrect. Negative reinforcement is an example of operant conditioning. This is when you take something good away to create a desired behavior. Such as taking away a child's cell phone until they clean their room. Positive reinforcement is another example of operant conditioning. This is when you give something good to create a desired behavior. An example of this is giving a child a cookie because they cleaned their room. Last, negative punishment is when you remove a good thing to decrease a behavior. An example of this is if you remove a child's cell phone for coming home late.
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