  Dr. Sophia Yin |
SAMPLE PRACTICE PROBLEMS FOR CHAPTERS 5, 6, 7, 8 11 Chapter 5: Classical Conditioning Practice Questions Can you identify the classical conditioning that’s occurring in these situations? |
| Q1) | In mammals such as sheep, goats, dogs, and cats the female nurses the offspring—provides milk which
the youngster obtains by suckling. How does nursing affect the maternal-offspring bond? |
| Q2) | Rover the dog loves to go to the dog park to play fetch and his owner drive him to the park every day.
At the park Rover plays fetch continuously and ignore everything else in the park because he's so
focused on his tennis ball. If his owners take to long to throw the ball he starts barking at them to toss
the ball and sometimes he even jump on them. They don't really mind this but their car rides are
becoming a problem even when they aren't going to the park because every time Rover gets into the
car he immediately starts barking, whining and running back in forth in the back seat (or in the crate
when they crate him). His tail wags the entire time. Why does he behave this way?
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| Q3) | You own an outgoing, affectionate horse who loves attention from people and who is using to being in
environments with lots of distractions such as cars driving around, many new people entering, and
many horses. He's usually pretty well-behaved but when the farrier's truck pulls up at the stable he starts
snorting, dancing around, and sometimes even sweating. This is also how he behaves when the farrier
is working on his hooves but he does this even when he doesn't see the farrier and when the farrier has
come to work on a different horse. Why does he behave this way? |
| Q1) | Your friend owns a toy poodle that barks at guests. Every time guests come to the door Fifi barks and
growls at them. The first few times this occurred it was just mild woofing. The owner says that she then
started consistently yelling at Fifi when this happened but Fifi barked anyway and the barking and
growling actually seemed to get worse rapidly in spite of her yelling to stop it. Fifi is very attached to
the owner and follows her owner all over the house. Even when she's outside off-leash at the dog park
she likes to stick closer to her owner. The owners want to fix this problem. Define the behavior you
want to fix and then describe a technique for each category of operant conditioning. |
| Q2) | On walks your dog Bowser, sometimes when you stop to talk to someone and have been standing
around for several minutes he grabs his leash and starts tugging it like a tug toy. He continues even if
you try to pull it away from him or shout "No." Define the behavior you want or want to fix to fix and
then describe a technique for each category of operant conditioning. |
| Q3) | You're a keeper at a wildlife park and you tend to the ruffed lemur named Marco. You frequently take
Marco out and socialize him to the staff and he loves these outings. You also go into his cage daily to
feed him and clean the cage but have trouble getting in and out because he rushes the door in an effort
to get out. How would you fix this problem? Define the behavior you want or want to fix and then
describe a technique of each category of operant conditioning |
| Q1) | Your friend's 7 year old mare named Aspen is mouthy because your friend sometimes gives her treats
when she's being mouthy (when she's nuzzling the owner or sniffing the owner for food). Sometimes
your friend gets nuzzled or nipped at when she's grooming Aspen. You want to now start reinforcing
more appropriate behavior such as standing with the head away from people but you know you'll have
to shape this behavior. How will you shape it? |
| Q2) | Your roommate's cat is not allowed on the couch but she jumps up when your roommates are sitting on
it (and watching TV) because they sometimes pet her when she jumps up. You now want them to
ignore her when she jumps up (and even stand up and move away from the couch) and only pet her for
sitting or standing on the floor. They sort of try this for a day but she jumps up on the couch after a
while again. You know it's because you have to shape the good behavior. How would you shape it? |
| Q3) | Whenever you sit down to start working in your home office, your dog Fluffy comes over and nuzzles
you until you pet him and when you stop petting he immediately nuzzles you again. You've decided
you're going to ignore his nuzzling and instead reward him for sitting patiently or lying down near your
desk. You try this but as he keeps getting up to start nuzzling you again after about 5 minutes of lying
down. How can you shape his behavior so that he'll lie down quietly for 30 minutes? |
| Q1) | Your friend has a 7 year old mare named Aspen who is very mouthy. She'll often nose people looking
for food while she's being groomed or petted and sometimes she even nips at clothes. Your friend says
that someone told her it's because she feeds her horse carrots by hand and that she's heard that she's
never supposed to feed a horse by hand because it makes horses mouthy like this. You have a different
idea. Why do you think Aspen is mouthy and how would you fix it? |
| Q2) | Your roommate's cat is not allowed on the couch but whenever people are sitting on the couch, she
jumps up and tries to sit on their lap. She's very affectionate and loves being petted. Why does she do
this and how would you fix it? |
| Q3) | Whenever you sit down to start working in your home office, your dog Fluffy comes over and nuzzles
you until you pet him and when you stop petting he immediately nuzzles you again. When you ignore
him he paws you and sometimes starts barking. It's very annoying and you can't get any work done.
Why does he do this and how would you fix the problem? |
| Q1) | Your horse is afraid of all kinds of new objects including plastic bags that get blown around on the
ground. List the general behavior modification techniques you could use and describe specifically how
someone might use them. |
