Classical vs Operant Conditioning Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. Which statement correctly distinguishes punishment from negative reinforcement?
Punishment aims to reduce behavior, while negative reinforcement increases behavior by removing or preventing something aversive
Punishment affects involuntary responses, while negative reinforcement affects voluntary behavior
Punishment weakens behavior, while negative reinforcement also weakens behavior but does so more gradually
Punishment always adds something unpleasant, while negative reinforcement always removes something pleasant
2. A dog repeatedly hears a tone immediately before receiving food. Eventually, the tone alone makes the dog salivate. Which process best explains the learned response?
Shaping, because the dog's response developed gradually
Operant conditioning, because salivation was strengthened by food
Classical conditioning, because the tone was paired with a stimulus that naturally produced salivation
Observational learning, because the dog learned from the researcher's actions
3. A bell has already been conditioned to make a dog salivate. A light is then repeatedly presented just before the bell, without food being presented during these new pairings. Eventually, the light alone produces salivation. This is an example of:
Operant shaping
Higher-order conditioning
Stimulus discrimination
Negative punishment
4. A dog has learned to approach when it hears a specific whistle but not when it hears a similar phone notification. What does this demonstrate?
Spontaneous recovery
Higher-order conditioning
Stimulus discrimination
Negative reinforcement
5. After a tone has been conditioned to produce salivation, it is presented repeatedly without food. Salivation gradually fades. What has occurred?
Spontaneous recovery
Operant punishment
Stimulus discrimination
Classical extinction
6. A warning tone signals an upcoming unpleasant noise. A person learns that pressing a button during the tone prevents the noise, so button pressing becomes more frequent. What best explains the increased button pressing?
Classical conditioning alone, because the tone predicts the noise
Positive reinforcement, because the tone is added before the response
Negative punishment, because the noise is withheld
Operant negative reinforcement, because the response prevents an aversive consequence
7. In a laboratory task, food becomes available after varying, unpredictable amounts of time, and the first response after it becomes available is reinforced. Which schedule is being used?
Fixed-interval schedule
Variable-interval schedule
Fixed-ratio schedule
Variable-ratio schedule
8. A driver fastens their seat belt to stop the car's persistent warning sound, making them more likely to fasten it promptly in the future. Which consequence is operating?
Negative reinforcement, because an unpleasant stimulus is removed and the behavior increases
Positive punishment, because an unpleasant stimulus is added
Negative punishment, because a desirable stimulus is removed
Positive reinforcement, because a desirable stimulus is added
9. A conditioned fear response disappears during extinction. After a rest period, the conditioned stimulus briefly produces the fear response again. What is this return called?
Reacquisition
Stimulus generalization
Continuous reinforcement
Spontaneous recovery
10. A café gives a customer a free drink after every tenth purchase. Which reinforcement schedule is this?
Variable-ratio schedule
Fixed-ratio schedule
Fixed-interval schedule
Variable-interval schedule
11. A rat begins pressing a lever more often because each press delivers a food pellet. What kind of learning is this?
Operant conditioning, because a consequence increases the lever-pressing behavior
Classical conditioning, because food naturally produces a response
Habituation, because the rat becomes accustomed to the lever
Stimulus generalization, because the rat responds to similar levers
12. Before conditioning begins, a tone does not cause a dog to salivate. At that stage, what is the tone called?
An unconditioned stimulus
A conditioned stimulus
A neutral stimulus
An unconditioned response
13. Which comparison most accurately describes the central contingency in each form of conditioning?
Classical conditioning links predictive stimuli, whereas operant conditioning links behavior with its consequences
Classical conditioning changes voluntary actions, whereas operant conditioning changes reflexes
Classical conditioning depends on rewards, whereas operant conditioning depends on punishments
Classical conditioning requires awareness, whereas operant conditioning occurs without awareness
14. A child's joke-telling increased because classmates laughed. When the classmates consistently stop laughing, the child tells fewer jokes. Which concept best describes the decrease?
Classical extinction, because two stimuli are no longer paired
Negative punishment, because something valued is deliberately removed
Operant extinction, because the behavior no longer produces reinforcement
Response generalization, because a similar behavior replaces the jokes
15. After being startled by one dentist's drill, a patient becomes tense when hearing several similar high-pitched dental tools. Which concept best fits this response?
Response cost
Stimulus discrimination
Operant extinction
Stimulus generalization
16. A trainer rewards a dog first for looking at a target, then only for moving toward it, and finally only for touching it. Which operant technique is being used?
Extinction
Shaping through successive approximations
Stimulus generalization
Flooding