Which one of the following alternatives best describes instrumental conditioning?
a. Learning to use man-made tools in order to accomplish difficult tasks more easily
b. Learning to behave in ways that either bring pleasure or reduce the likelihood of aversive events
c. Learning that certain stimuli in one's environment often bring either physical or psychological pain
d. Learning complex sequences of psychomotor behaviors (e.g., dribbling and then shooting a basketball)
Question 2
Which one of the following statements best describes behaviorists' two-step theory of avoidance learning?
a. Avoidance of the aversive stimulus is negatively reinforced by the presence of the pre-aversive stimulus.
b. Remaining in the situation is punished by the aversive stimulus; avoiding it is positively reinforced by the pre-aversive stimulus.
c. Fear of the pre-aversive stimulus is classically conditioned, and escape from that stimulus is negatively reinforced.
d. Escape responses occur prior to avoidance responses.
Brain scans showing the white-matter pathways involved in everyday learning:
Slow-Wave Sleep and Learning
Acute Stress, Glucocorticoid Level, Synaptic Plasticity, and Learning
Fear Conditioning and the Brain (2 of 2)
Nursing: A Concept-Based Approach to Learning, Volume I
Higher-Order Conditioning