March 1, 2015

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PSYCHOLOGY 110: Assignment 2

Classical/Operant Conditioning
I. CLASSICAL CONDITIONING: Define the NS,
UCS, CS and
CR in the following 2 examples:
1. The nurse says Now this wont hurt a bit just before stabbing you
with a needle. The nurse stabs you with the needle and you cringe in
fear. The next time you hear This wont hurt you cringe in fear.

Neutral Stimulus: _next time you hear this wont hurt,

you cringe in fear because of
the conditioned stimulus
of the needle

NS: This wont hurt.

Unconditioned Stimulus:_the innate tendency to fear

needles

Unconditioned Response: _elicits fear__when you see a

needle and hear Now this wont hurt a bit

X Conditioned Stimulus: _learned stimulus__repeatedly

seeing the the needle

This wont hurt.

(If learning occurs the neutral stimulus becomes the
conditioned stimulus.)

Conditioned Response: elicits fear___presenting the

needle without it even touching you.

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2. People who receive chemotherapy often get sick during or shortly
after the procedure. After several chemotherapy sessions, people
begin feeling sick at the sight of the treatment room.

X Neutral Stimulus: people who receive chemotherapy

NS: Treatment room

(If learning occurs the neutral stimulus becomes the
conditioned stimulus.)

Unconditioned Stimulus: the procedure itself (Yes!)

Unconditioned Response: often getting sick during or

shortly after (Yes!)

Conditioned Stimulus: _the sight of the treatment

room (Yes!)

Conditioned Response: ____feeling sick (Yes!)

3. 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.
X Neutral Stimulus: individual receives frequent injections of
drugs
NS: small examination room
o

Unconditioned Stimulus : the drug itself increases the heart

rate (Yes!)

X Unconditioned Response _ trips to the clinic

Conditioned Stimulus: simply being_in a small room increases

heart rate (Yes!)

UCS: increased heart rate

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CS: small examination room

Conditioned Response: increased heart rate (Yes!)

In order to be able to punish my Pitt Bull even when I'm not near
enough to reach her, I have paired the sound of a clicker with getting
squirted with water. Now the sound of the clicker causes her to engage in
a startle response.
4.

X Neutral Stimulus: _punishment of the Pitt bull even when I am

not near to reach her
NS: clicker

X Unconditioned Stimulus __the sound of the clicker

UCS: getting squirted with water

X Unconditioned Response _the sound of the clicker and getting

squirted with the
water
UCS: startle response

Conditioned Stimulus using the clicker (Yes!)

Conditioned Response the sound alone of the clicker causes a

startled response

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II. REINFORCEMENT & PUNISHMENT

Identify the type of reinforcement (positive/negative)
or punishment (positive/negative) represented by
each example.

1. X After her 2nd grade teacher yells at her, Lindas

misbehavior in class increases. _positive
punishment
ANSWER: Positive reinforcement.
You must be thinking: What?? But the teacher yelled at her. I
know. I know. But, let's review it. First, Linda's behavior
increased! Ouch. That means it reinforced the behavior. "Yelling"
was not intended to reinforce the behavior, but it did. So, we have
reinforcement.
Now, is it positive reinforcement or negative reinforcement? Well,
if it was positive it means we "added" something. On the other
hand, if it was negative we would have "removed" something. In
this case we "added" yelling. Therefore, the answer is positive
reinforcement!
2. Toms parents took away his car keys because of
his bad grades. _negative punishment (Yes!)
3. Linda receives candy whenever she is quiet in
church. Positive reinforcement_______ (Yes!)

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4. Dan yelled at his young son when he caught him

playing with matches. positive
punishment_________________(Yes!)
5. X After her finger got infected last month, Dawn
quickly took out a splinter today. Positive
reinforcement________________
Answer: Negative Reinforcement
This is often the most difficult behavior to learn for students. The
removal of something unwanted increases the likelihood that an
individual would engage in the same behavior in the future. When
you get into your car, I bet you put on your seatbelt. I dont know
about you, but the sound of that buzzer is pretty annoying. So, I put
on my seatbelt to stop that noise! When I remove something
adverse/unwanted (buzzer noise) from my environment it increases
(reinforces) the likelihood that I will do the same thing again in the
future. I put on my seatbelt, noise stops.
I remove the splinter, infection stops.
Removing something (negative) increases a behavior (reinforcement)

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