Psychology of

learning
PRACTICE EXAM
QUESTIONS

1. Lucy and her family live in an old house with poor plumbing. If someone flushes the toilet while
the shower is going, the water in the shower changes from warm to scalding hot. Lucy has been
scalded several times and now, whenever she hears the toilet flush while she is having a shower, she
flinches and steps away from the water.

From this example of classical conditioning identify the unconditioned stimulus and the conditioned
response.
 (4 marks)

2. Refer to the following table, which provides information about the types of stimuli that are
presented/added or removed during the processes of positive reinforcement, punishment, and
negative reinforcement.

a. cat is given a piece of food every time she jumps up on to the dinner table at mealtime. As a result,
she is more likely to jump up on to the dinner table again next mealtime. Using a term from the table
above, name this process.

(2 marks)

b. Lee has not cleaned up his room as asked, and his parents are cross. They decide to take
away his pocket money for a week, hoping to decrease the chance that he will disobey their
future requests to clean his room. Using a term from the table above, name this process.

(2 marks)

3. Stewart is terrified of bees. He cannot remember when or how this fear developed, but it is now so
excessive that he will not walk on grass. He no longer plays with his dog in the backyard or takes her
for walks in the park. He will not eat certain cereals or honey because it would mean picking up a
container with a picture of a bee on it. Lately, he has noticed that he is becoming afraid of other
buzzing insects.

(a) Name the psychological term for excessive fear.

(2 marks)
(b) Other stimuli that resemble the bee also evoke fear in Stewart. State the name of this effect.

(2 marks)

4. Name and describe a psychological intervention based on principles of classical conditioning that
can be used to overcome Stewart’s excessive fear of bees.

Psychological intervention:

Description:

(6 marks)

2004

5. Francesca lives on a farm and often gives her horses carrots and apples as a treat. She carries the
treats in a big red bucket. The horses run to the gate as soon as they see Francesca coming towards
their paddock with the big red bucket.

a. From this example of classical conditioning identify the conditioned stimulus and conditioned
response.

(2 marks)

b. If the horses see Francesca walking around with a small white bucket, which contains tools for
fixing fences, they keep grazing and do not go to the gate. The white bucket stimulus does not evoke
the same response as the red bucket stimulus. State the name of this effect.

(2 marks)

6. Describe two factors that influence learning through observation.

(2 marks)

7. Refer to the following table, which provides information about the types of stimuli that are
presented/added or removed during the processes of positive reinforcement, punishment, and
negative reinforcement.
a. Rupert is a toddler who throws a tantrum when his dad refuses to buy him a treat at the
supermarket checkout. Rupert's dad gives him a treat to stop the tantrum. As a result, Rupert
is more likely to throw another tantrum if he is refused a treat in the future. Using a term
from the table above, name this process.

(2 marks)

c. Chris takes a tablet to relieve headache pain. The tablet works and the headache goes
away. As a result, Chris is more likely to take another tablet next time a headache strikes.
Using a term from the table above, name this process.

(2 marks)

8. A housing developer is about to release hundreds of blocks of land that are situated close to
a national park. The local community is worried that many of the new house owners will
have pet cats and that the impact of these cats on the native fauna in the national park will be
disastrous.

Using principles of operant conditioning and the correct terminology, explain one strategy
that the local council could use to encourage people moving into the area not to have cats or
to control them.

(4 marks)

2006

9. Young Marcus visited his dentist’s surgery several times for treatment. At each visit he
was scared by the loud sound of the drill that the dentist used on his tooth. Marcus became
fearful and cried whenever he visited his dentist’s surgery.

(a) From this example of classical conditioning, identify the:

(i) unconditioned stimulus.

(ii) conditioned stimulus.

 (2 marks)

(b) Marcus was also fearful and cried when he visited his doctor’s surgery. State the name of
this effect.

(2 marks)

(c) Sometime later Marcus visited his dentist’s surgery several times for treatment without
hearing the drill. Now he no longer shows signs of fear when visiting his dentist’s surgery.
State the name of this effect.

(2 marks)

10. Describe what is meant by negative reinforcement. Illustrate your answer with one
example.

(4 marks)

11. Describe how systematic desensitisation can be used to overcome a phobia.

(4 marks)

12. Noraida is using one or more of the following operant conditioning processes to train her
dog:

• Positive reinforcement
• Negative reinforcement
• Punishment.

(a) State the name of the operant conditioning process that Noraida is using when she gives
her dog a food treat for coming when she calls him.

(2 marks)

(b) State the name of the operant conditioning process that Noraida is using when she gives
her dog a puff of a hated smell to stop him from barking.
 (2 marks)

2007

13. Freddy enjoys the beach, and being there makes him feel good. Recently he has seen a
new sports shoe advertised repeatedly on television in a scene at a beautiful beach. Now
whenever he sees this sports shoe, he feels good.

From this example of classical conditioning, identify the:

(a) conditioned stimulus.

(b) conditioned response.

(2 marks)

14. Lucy’s dog Fido wags his tail and gets excited whenever he hears his old rubber ball
being squeaked. Lucy gives Fido a new toy bone, which has a sound different from that of the
old rubber ball when it is squeaked. Fido does not wag his tail and get excited when he hears
his new toy bone being squeaked. State the name of this effect.

(2 marks)

(b) After some time Fido wags his tail and gets excited whenever he hears his rubber ball or
his toy bone being squeaked. State the name of this effect.

(2 marks)

15. Bianca spends too many hours every week playing computer games. Describe how
behaviour modification can be used as an effective psychological intervention so that Bianca
spends less time playing computer games.

(4 marks)

16. (a) State one schedule of reinforcement used in operant conditioning.

(2 marks)

(b) Using an example, describe the schedule of reinforcement that you stated in part (a).
 (4 marks)

17. Using an example, describe one factor that influences learning through observation.

(4 marks)

2008

18. A psychologist conducts a classical conditioning experiment. When a spray of pepper is delivered
to the nose, participants will sneeze. If a tone is sounded before the spray of pepper is delivered, after
several trials participants will sneeze every time the tone sounds.

(a) State the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned response in this experiment.

(2 marks)

(b) Explain the importance of coniguityfor effective classical conditioning in this experiment.

(2 marks)

(c) Refer to the following graph, which shows the sneeze response rate for Trials 20 to 36 in this
experiment. From Trial 21, the tone is sounded without the pepper spray.

Using information displayed in the graph above, name and explain the process that is occurring from
Trial 21 to Trial 36.
 (4 marks)

19. Xixi has to use a bus to go to school. Recently, her bus was involved in an accident on the
way to school. Now, every time she sees a bus, she becomes anxious and afraid of being
involved in another accident. Her phobia is affecting her attendance at school.

Describe a psychological intervention that could be used to overcome Xixi’s phobia of buses.

(4 marks)

20. Describe the type of reinforcement illustrated in each of the following the examples:

(a) Denise often returns to her favourite cafe where the owner is pleasant and helpful to the
customers.

(2 marks)

(b) Jaleel works in the city and finds travelling in heavy traffic stressful. He discovers that if
he leaves home earlier, there is less traffic. He now leaves home early every morning.

(2 marks)

2010

20. Using an example, describe positive reinforcement.

(2 marks)

20. If Phung starts his car without his seatbelt on, it makes a continuous beeping sound.
Phung finds the beeping sound irritating. To prevent the sound, Phung puts his seatbelt on
before he starts the engine.

Identify the operant conditioning component illustrated in this scenario.

(2 marks)

21. Olivia has always been afraid of heights. On a recent holiday, Olivia was too afraid to go
rock climbing with her friends. She feels that she often misses out on fun activities because of
her phobia.
Describe how systematic desensitisation could be used to overcome Olivia’s phobia of
heights.

(4 marks)

22. Explain the importance of contiguity in classical conditioning.

(2 marks)

23. During wartime, Leon was a soldier. Every time he heard the loud bang of a bomb
exploding nearby, he dropped to the ground. The war is now over, and Leon is home.
Whenever he hears the loud bang of a door slamming, he drops to the ground.

Explain how this scenario illustrates stimulus generalisation.

(2 marks)

24. Describe two factors that influence observational learning.

(4 marks)

25. Ivan Pavlov used dogs in his experiments on classical conditioning. Describe one ethical
issue associated with using dogs in this type of psychological research.

(2 marks)

2011

26. Operant conditioning was used to train a rat to move through a maze. Every time the rat
took a wrong turn, it was given a mild electric shock. Identify the component of operant
conditioning used in this example.

(2 marks)
27. Using an example, describe one schedule of reinforcement.

(4 marks)

28. Wayne is an elite athlete, but he finds it difficult to attend all of his training sessions.
Explain how behaviour modification could be used to increase Wayne’s attendance at
training sessions.

(4 marks)

2013

29. Complete the following flow chart, using components of operant conditioning.

30. Michael was frightened when a black bird swooped down on him. Now every time
Michael sees a black bird he feels anxious. Birds of other colours do not make him feel
anxious.

Identify the conditioned stimulus and conditioned response.

(2 marks)

31. Explain how stimulus discrimination has occurred in the scenario above.
 (2 marks)

32. Describe how systematic desensitisation could be used to overcome a phobia.

(4 marks)

33. Using one example, explain how punishment decreases the frequency of a response.

(4 marks)

2014

34. Riley was bitten by mosquitoes and the bites were very itchy. He applied some cream to
the mosquito bites, which stopped them from being itchy. Since then, every time Riley is
bitten by mosquitoes, he uses the cream.

a. Using the scenario, describe the process of negative reinforcement.

(4 marks)

35. Describe one schedule of reinforcement used in operant conditioning.

(4 marks)

36. Describe one scenario where the schedule described in Q36 could be used.

(4 marks)

35. Describe the acquisition phase and the performance phase of learning a response in
classical conditioning.

(4 marks)

36. A researcher studied pigeons using coloured lights and food pellets. When a red light
came on, a food pellet dropped into the feeding area, and the pigeon would move to the
feeding area to eat the pellet. When a green light came on, no food pellet was dropped, and
the pigeon would not move to the feeding area.
Explain how stimulus discrimination has occurred in the scenario above.

(4 marks)

37. Carla does not put her toys away after playing with them. Discuss how behaviour
modification could be used so that Carla always puts her toys away after playing with them.

(4 marks)

2015

38. Identify the schedule of reinforcement in each of the following cases.

(a) A shop offers a free coffee to any customer each time the customer has purchased five
cups of coffee.

(1 marks)

(b) A mother picks up her baby every time it cries.

(1 marks)

39. Leah competes in high-level swimming competitions. Last year, whenever she was
wearing her blue goggles, she won all her races. This year, every time Leah competes, she
wears her blue goggles, believing them to be her lucky charm.

Using the principles of operant conditioning, explain how Leah has learned to wear her blue
goggles every time she competes.

(4 marks)

40. In their play, children often mimic the actions of adults, such as pretending to cook a meal
in a kitchen.

Use this scenario to discuss two factors that can influence how children learn through
observation.
 (4 marks)

41. Some of Jo’s friends are planning to fly to an island resort for a holiday next year. Jo has
been invited to join them, but she is afraid of flying.

Explain how systematic desensitisation could help Jo to overcome her fear of flying.

(4 marks)

42. John’s dog, Scruffy, always gets excited when he sees John. When John comes home
from work and opens the front door, it makes a squeaky sound. Now, whenever this squeaky
door is opened, Scruffy gets excited.

(a) State the conditioned stimulus and the conditioned response in this scenario.

(2 marks)

(b) Some other doors in John’s house are also squeaky. Describe how Scruffy is likely to
respond if stimulus discrimination has occurred.

(2 marks)

(c) Explain the importance of contiguity and contingency in Scruffy’s learning.

(4 marks)

2016

43. Ariel suffers from hay fever when she is exposed to the pollen of an Australian native
plant, kangaroo grass. She sneezes and her eyes itch. Kangaroo grass flowers at the same time
as the red roses that grow outside her bedroom window in Australia.

Over the years, Ariel’s hay fever worsened, and she sneezed and her eyes itched whenever
she was near red roses. Her eyes even started to itch when she was near some other plants
with large red flowers. She did not show any symptoms when she was near pink, white, or
yellow roses.
When Ariel’s doctor performed a skin test, the results showed that she was allergic only to
the pollen of kangaroo grass.

(a) Identify the type of learning that has occurred.

(1 marks)

(b) For the scenario, identify the unconditioned stimulus (US), unconditioned response (UR),
conditioned stimulus (CS), and conditioned response (CR).

(4 marks)

(c) Name the process that led Ariel to experience hay fever symptoms when she was near
plants, other than roses, that also had large red flowers.

(1 marks)

(d) Name the process that led Ariel to not experience hay fever symptoms when she was near
pink, white, or yellow roses.

(1 marks)

(e) Ariel’s family moved to Canada, where kangaroo grass does not grow. Over time, she
noticed that her hay fever symptoms declined when she was near red flowers. Explain why, a
year after arriving in Canada, Ariel no longer experienced hay fever symptoms when she was
near red flowers.

(2 marks)

44. Trish has a weekly dinner with her friends at their favourite restaurant. One evening she
ate oysters. Although she had eaten oysters before, this time she experienced stomach pains
and vomiting later that night.

Trish continued her weekly visits to the restaurant with her friends, but she now always feels
nauseous whenever she sees oysters. Explain why Trish feels nauseous whenever she sees
oysters.
 (2 marks)

46. A young boy accompanied his mother to a doctor’s appointment. He was given his
favourite toy to play with, but he repeatedly pulled on his mother’s sleeve and tried to
interrupt. The mother then gave the boy her car keys, which he also liked to play with, but the
boy pulled on his mother’s sleeve more frequently.

(a) Identify the component of operant conditioning demonstrated by the boy and justify your
answer.

(2 marks)

47. Companies that make clothing use different methods to try to increase the productivity of
their workers.

(a) Company 1 provides extra training for all workers by showing them video recordings of
the techniques used by its most productive workers. Identify the type of learning that is likely
to occur.

(2 marks)

(ii) Describe two factors that could influence this type of learning.

(2 marks)

(b) In Company 2, workers who produce fewer than the target number of items in a week
have their pay reduced. Identify the relevant component of operant conditioning.

(2 marks)

(c) Company 3 hires all workers on one-month contracts that are not renewed unless the
worker has produced the target number of items. Explain why this is an example of negative
reinforcement.

(2 marks)

2017
2018

48. The graph below shows the effect of different schedules of positive reinforcement on
speed of learning.
Use the data in the graph to answer the following questions.

(a) Mr Smith wants his students to learn better study habits as quickly as possible. Identify
whether Mr Smith should use a ratio or interval schedule of reinforcement.

(2 marks)

(b) Describe the difference in the total number of learned behaviours between the fixed and
variable interval schedules of reinforcement at 60 minutes.

(2 marks)

(c) Identify the schedules of reinforcement in each of the following cases.

(i) Misha the cat sits at the fridge door every time she feels hungry, but is only fed at 6 pm.

(2 marks)

(ii) Shaun occasionally buys a lottery ticket.

(2 marks)

(iii) Maria gets pocket money after washing all three family cars.
 (2 marks)

(iv) A teacher randomly calls on every student to answer one question during each lesson.

(2 marks)

43. Jack spends a lot of time on his phone playing games. On the bus that Jack takes to
school, most of the other students also use their phones to play games.

(a) Using psychological terminology, explain how operant conditioning could lead Jack to
spend more time playing games on his phone.

(4 marks)

(b) Jack learned to play games on his phone by observing other students.

Describe two factors that could have influenced Jack’s learning through observation.

(4 marks)

2019

44. Classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning are three forms
of learning.

(a) Jessica received white flowers from her parents when she graduated from high school.
When she leaned over to smell them, a bee emerged from the flowers and stung her. For
many years afterwards, Jessica flinched whenever she was given white flowers.

(i) Identify the unconditioned stimulus.

(ii) Identify the conditioned stimulus.

(iii) Jessica only flinched when she was given white flowers, and not when she was given
brightly coloured flowers. Name this process.

(iv) Over the years, in spite of coming into contact with white flowers on many occasions,
Jessica was never stung by a bee again. Eventually, she stopped flinching when she was
given white flowers. Name this process.

(b) Research shows that associations between images of bees and avoidance behaviour can be
learned more quickly than associations between images of flowers and avoidance behaviour.
This is an example of preparedness. Explain the concept of preparedness.

c) State two similarities between classical conditioning and operant conditioning.

(d) Describe one difference between operant conditioning and observational learning.
2021
EXTENDED RESPONSE

2005

Bruno is playing loud music while he is in the lounge room. His father tells him to turn the music
down, but Bruno refuses to do so. In order to get some peace and quiet, Bruno’s father sends Bruno to
his room. Now Bruno is left sulking in his room and his father is feeling much more relaxed.

The next day Bruno listens to music in the lounge room using headphones. Bruno’s father enjoys the
silence and offers to order Bruno a pizza for dinner.

Discuss psychological principles of learning. Your response should include a description of:

 punishment, illustrated with one example from the scenario above;

 two factors that influence the effect of punishment on behaviour;
 negative reinforcement, illustrated with one example from the scenario above; \positive
 reinforcement, illustrated with one example from the scenario above.

(15 marks)

2011

Zachary was attacked and bitten by a brown dog. Now when Zachary sees a dog he feels
anxious. Zachary fears dogs. He believes that those who do own a dog should keep the
animal confined. He writes letters to the city authorities asking for better dog controls.

• Using the principles of classical conditioning, explain how the sight of dogs becomes the
conditioned stimulus.
• Explain how stimulus generalisation is illustrated in the example.
• Using Zachary’s attitude towards dogs, describe one model that explains the structure of
attitudes.
 (15 marks)
2012

When Alice was learning how to bake cakes, the first cake she baked burnt because she
did not take it out of the oven in time. When she next baked a cake, she took it out in
time because she did not want it to burn. She has not burnt any cakes since then,
because she always takes them out of the oven in time.

One day she watched a cooking program on television. All the presenters used special
techniques to decorate their cakes. Alice watched the program carefully, and later
successfully used these techniques on her cakes.

Once Alice had learnt to make and decorate beautiful cakes, her friends enjoyed eating
them and gave her many compliments for her cakes.

After that, Alice often baked and decorated cakes. She always used the same special
plate on which to serve her cakes. Her friends started to salivate whenever they saw
Alice’s special plate.

 Discuss two factors that may influence how Alice learns through observation.
 Describe the process of positive reinforcement, illustrated with one example from
the scenario.
 Describe the process of negative reinforcement, illustrated with one example from
the scenario.
 Describe the process of classical conditioning, illustrated with one example from
the scenario.

(15 marks)