PSYC 3304 Exam 2 Study Guide Questions with Correct Answers Latest Update 2026/2027
"Memorize that statement. It is the secret of good training." What statement? - Answers A
reinforcer is anything that, occurring in conjunction with an act, tends to increase the probability
that the act will occur again.
If you know nothing else except that a behavior has a low probability of occurring, how can you
find out if something is a reinforcer? - Answers If the object increases the probability of that
behavior occurring, then the object is a reinforcer.
If you know all about a person or another animal, how would you go about picking a positive
reinforce? - Answers I would pick something the subject wants.
In the simplest case, if someone you would like to have call never telephones, what can you do?
- Answers Act delighted when they do call. This positively reinforces their behavior.
"A major point in training is that you can't reinforce behavior that is ______ ______." - Answers not
occurring
A Wall Street lawyer decided to improve his squash game by praising himself for good shots
instead of cursing his errors. How did he feel at first? What did he say to himself as self-praise?
How else did he reinforce himself? What did he do when his opponent got mad, threw his racket,
etc.? - Answers He felt like a "damned fool". He said "Way to go, Pete, attaboy." He enjoyed it
when the other guys got mad and he just would smile.
Reinforcements are relative not absolute. What is rain to ducks? How is rain a reinforcer to cats?
What does rain reinforce in cows? - Answers Positive reinforcer to ducks, negative reinforcer to
cats, and does not reinforce anything in cows.
At Sea World, whole shows are run in which animals never know which behaviors will be
reinforced next or what the reinforcement will be. How is this possible? - Answers The surprises
are so interesting to the animal that they will run the show.
"Positive reinforcement is good for human relationships. It is the basis of the art of giving
presents..." What could be artful about giving presents? Who receives the reinforcement? -
Answers If you guess right, it's reinforcing. The person receiving the gift receives reinforcement,
as well as the giver if he guesses right.
Negative reinforcements may range from the mildest of aversive stimuli to the most extreme.
What is an example, from the book, of a very mild aversive stimulus? - Answers A derisive
glance from a friend when you make a poor joke.
Negative reinforcement is not punishment. Give an example using a bad report card. - Answers
A boy being spanked for a bad report card may or may not get better report cards in the future,
but he surely can't change the one he's brought home.
, A dog sits, but then stands just as the trainer gets there with reinforcement. What is the trainer
probably doing wrong? - Answers The trainer is probably reinforcing the sitting behavior too late,
and is thus reinforcing the dog's standing behavior.
At the Bronx Zoo, a gorilla blocked its cage door and refused to move so that the cage could be
cleaned. This was true even though the zookeepers waved food at him from outside as an
enticement. How was this problem solved? - Answers The trainer ignored the gorilla when it sat
in the door, but reinforced it with food whenever it did happen to go out by itself.
Some people reinforce little children sooner than they might have to just to encourage them.
What does it probably actually encourage? - Answers It actually encourages 'trying', rather than
doing it.
How do iron-sided horses, that move at a snail's pace no matter how often they are kicked,
come to be that way? - Answers Beginners often kick the horse repeatedly and do not stop the
punisher when the horse does the behavior. The kicking then has no meaning to the horse.
If the negative reinforcement of nagging or scolding doesn't cease the instant desired results
are achieved, it is not reinforcement. Nor is it information. What is it then? - Answers Noise.
Why might some sports or movie stars often exhibit a seemingly neurotic craving for adulation
and thrills? - Answers They often receive reinforcement very late and are thus unsatisfied.
One of the employees in a behavior training class for zookeepers complained that her training
of a panda had been proceeding too slowly. What was the reinforcement being used? What was
the solution to the problem? - Answers A whole carrot was being used. The solution was to
shrink the reinforcer size to a slice of carrot.
How is a "jackpot" reinforcer often used by horse trainers? (Note that I said "how".) - Answers
The horse trainer will use it to mark a sudden breakthrough of behavior in order to make the
behavior stick.
It often happens, especially when training with food reinforcement, that there is no way you can
get the reinforcement to the subject during the instant that it is performing the behavior you
wish to encourage. How can one get around this problem? - Answers By using conditioned
reinforcers.
What is the conditioned reinforcer commonly used to train animals? - Answers Cricket, or clicker.
We like to hear the phone ring or see a full mailbox, even if half our calls are not fun and most of
our mail is junk mail. Why is this? - Answers Because we have had numerous occasions to learn
to relate the ringing or the envelopes to good things.
How did a friend of the author's, completely by accident, cure her cat of clawing the couch? -
Answers She established 'NO' as a conditioned aversive stimulus.
"Memorize that statement. It is the secret of good training." What statement? - Answers A
reinforcer is anything that, occurring in conjunction with an act, tends to increase the probability
that the act will occur again.
If you know nothing else except that a behavior has a low probability of occurring, how can you
find out if something is a reinforcer? - Answers If the object increases the probability of that
behavior occurring, then the object is a reinforcer.
If you know all about a person or another animal, how would you go about picking a positive
reinforce? - Answers I would pick something the subject wants.
In the simplest case, if someone you would like to have call never telephones, what can you do?
- Answers Act delighted when they do call. This positively reinforces their behavior.
"A major point in training is that you can't reinforce behavior that is ______ ______." - Answers not
occurring
A Wall Street lawyer decided to improve his squash game by praising himself for good shots
instead of cursing his errors. How did he feel at first? What did he say to himself as self-praise?
How else did he reinforce himself? What did he do when his opponent got mad, threw his racket,
etc.? - Answers He felt like a "damned fool". He said "Way to go, Pete, attaboy." He enjoyed it
when the other guys got mad and he just would smile.
Reinforcements are relative not absolute. What is rain to ducks? How is rain a reinforcer to cats?
What does rain reinforce in cows? - Answers Positive reinforcer to ducks, negative reinforcer to
cats, and does not reinforce anything in cows.
At Sea World, whole shows are run in which animals never know which behaviors will be
reinforced next or what the reinforcement will be. How is this possible? - Answers The surprises
are so interesting to the animal that they will run the show.
"Positive reinforcement is good for human relationships. It is the basis of the art of giving
presents..." What could be artful about giving presents? Who receives the reinforcement? -
Answers If you guess right, it's reinforcing. The person receiving the gift receives reinforcement,
as well as the giver if he guesses right.
Negative reinforcements may range from the mildest of aversive stimuli to the most extreme.
What is an example, from the book, of a very mild aversive stimulus? - Answers A derisive
glance from a friend when you make a poor joke.
Negative reinforcement is not punishment. Give an example using a bad report card. - Answers
A boy being spanked for a bad report card may or may not get better report cards in the future,
but he surely can't change the one he's brought home.
, A dog sits, but then stands just as the trainer gets there with reinforcement. What is the trainer
probably doing wrong? - Answers The trainer is probably reinforcing the sitting behavior too late,
and is thus reinforcing the dog's standing behavior.
At the Bronx Zoo, a gorilla blocked its cage door and refused to move so that the cage could be
cleaned. This was true even though the zookeepers waved food at him from outside as an
enticement. How was this problem solved? - Answers The trainer ignored the gorilla when it sat
in the door, but reinforced it with food whenever it did happen to go out by itself.
Some people reinforce little children sooner than they might have to just to encourage them.
What does it probably actually encourage? - Answers It actually encourages 'trying', rather than
doing it.
How do iron-sided horses, that move at a snail's pace no matter how often they are kicked,
come to be that way? - Answers Beginners often kick the horse repeatedly and do not stop the
punisher when the horse does the behavior. The kicking then has no meaning to the horse.
If the negative reinforcement of nagging or scolding doesn't cease the instant desired results
are achieved, it is not reinforcement. Nor is it information. What is it then? - Answers Noise.
Why might some sports or movie stars often exhibit a seemingly neurotic craving for adulation
and thrills? - Answers They often receive reinforcement very late and are thus unsatisfied.
One of the employees in a behavior training class for zookeepers complained that her training
of a panda had been proceeding too slowly. What was the reinforcement being used? What was
the solution to the problem? - Answers A whole carrot was being used. The solution was to
shrink the reinforcer size to a slice of carrot.
How is a "jackpot" reinforcer often used by horse trainers? (Note that I said "how".) - Answers
The horse trainer will use it to mark a sudden breakthrough of behavior in order to make the
behavior stick.
It often happens, especially when training with food reinforcement, that there is no way you can
get the reinforcement to the subject during the instant that it is performing the behavior you
wish to encourage. How can one get around this problem? - Answers By using conditioned
reinforcers.
What is the conditioned reinforcer commonly used to train animals? - Answers Cricket, or clicker.
We like to hear the phone ring or see a full mailbox, even if half our calls are not fun and most of
our mail is junk mail. Why is this? - Answers Because we have had numerous occasions to learn
to relate the ringing or the envelopes to good things.
How did a friend of the author's, completely by accident, cure her cat of clawing the couch? -
Answers She established 'NO' as a conditioned aversive stimulus.
