Learning and memory sample question 1

negative reinforcement, because it reduces the fear the tone has come to evoke

Learning and memory sample question 2

insight learning, a sudden restructuring of a problem rather than gradual strengthening of responses.

Learning and memory sample question 3

Knowing that she went is semantic and riding is procedural; the loss is episodic recollection of being there.

Learning and memory sample question 4

The group that heard the tone before the puff, because the tone signals the puff.

Learning and memory sample question 5

impaired explicit memory with intact implicit memory, including procedural learning and priming

MCAT · Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior · Psychology

Learning and memory

Learning and memory is part of Psychology in the MCAT Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior section. The questions below are written in the style of the real test, each with the answer and a worked explanation.

Question types you will see here include classical versus operant identification, reinforcement schedule patterns, extinction, recovery and generalisation and encoding strategies and retrieval cues.

Common traps: calling negative reinforcement punishment; labelling the learned response the UR; treating the neutral stimulus as the US.

Sample questions

Question 1
A rat first learns to press a lever to end a shock. Later a tone always precedes the shock, and the rat presses the lever as soon as the tone sounds, avoiding the shock. According to two-factor theory, the lever pressing is maintained by
- A.
  negative reinforcement, because it reduces the fear the tone has come to evoke
- B.
  positive reinforcement with food
- C.
  positive punishment, because the tone is regularly followed by an aversive shock to the rat
- D.
  extinction of the fear response
Answer: A. negative reinforcement, because it reduces the fear the tone has come to evoke
The tone becomes a classically conditioned fear stimulus, and pressing the lever removes that fear, which is negative reinforcement (A). No food is given (B). Punishment (C) would reduce pressing. Pressing prevents the shock, so the fear is not extinguished (D).
Question 2
A chimpanzee that has failed to reach a banana hung high in its enclosure sits quietly for several minutes, then stacks three boxes and uses a stick to knock the fruit down. It had never been rewarded for stacking boxes. This is best described as:
- A.
  shaping, in which successive approximations of box stacking were reinforced by the keeper over many days.
- B.
  observational learning from a trained model.
- C.
  classical conditioning of box stacking to the banana.
- D.
  insight learning, a sudden restructuring of a problem rather than gradual strengthening of responses.
Answer: D. insight learning, a sudden restructuring of a problem rather than gradual strengthening of responses.
A sudden solution after a pause, without prior reinforcement of the steps, defines insight learning: D. A requires gradual reinforcement of closer approximations, which did not happen; B requires watching a model; C confuses a problem-solving act with a reflexive association.
Question 3
A woman with hippocampal damage says: 'I know I went to Paris last June; my husband showed me the photographs and the tickets. I also know it is the capital of France, and I can still ride a bicycle. But I cannot remember anything about being there.' Which description is best?
- A.
  Her semantic memory is lost, since she depends on her husband and the photographs to tell her anything about the trip.
- B.
  Her procedural memory is lost, since she cannot recall how the trip felt.
- C.
  Her episodic memory is intact, since she knows that the trip happened.
- D.
  Knowing that she went is semantic and riding is procedural; the loss is episodic recollection of being there.
Answer: D. Knowing that she went is semantic and riding is procedural; the loss is episodic recollection of being there.
Knowing facts, including that the trip occurred, is semantic memory; riding a bicycle is procedural memory; and re-experiencing a personal event is episodic memory, which depends on the hippocampus. A is wrong because she can state facts, B because she can still ride, and C because knowing an event occurred is not remembering it.
Question 4
In an eyeblink experiment, one group heard a tone 0.5 seconds before each air puff to the eye, and another group heard the tone 0.5 seconds after each puff. Later, which group is more likely to blink to the tone alone?
- A.
  The group that heard the tone before the puff, because the tone signals the puff.
- B.
  The group that heard the tone after the puff, because the tone then closely follows the unconditioned stimulus.
- C.
  Both groups equally, because pairing in time is all that matters.
- D.
  Neither group, because a tone cannot become a conditioned stimulus for blinking.
Answer: A. The group that heard the tone before the puff, because the tone signals the puff.
Forward pairing, with the CS before the UCS, makes the tone a signal that predicts the puff and produces the strongest conditioning (A). Backward pairing (B) is weak, contiguity alone (C) is not enough, and tones can serve as a CS (D).
Question 5
A patient with damage to the medial temporal lobes practises mirror-drawing for several days. Each day she says she has never seen the task, yet her speed and accuracy improve steadily, and she completes word stems with recently seen words more often than with unseen words. This pattern indicates:
- A.
  impaired implicit memory with intact explicit memory
- B.
  impaired explicit memory with intact implicit memory, including procedural learning and priming
- C.
  impairment of both types of memory, since she denies having seen the task
- D.
  retrograde amnesia only, in which old memories are lost while the formation of new memories remains normal
Answer: B. impaired explicit memory with intact implicit memory, including procedural learning and priming
B fits: she cannot consciously recall the task, yet skill learning and priming are preserved. A reverses the pattern. C ignores her steady improvement, which shows learning. D is wrong because she cannot form new explicit memories, which is anterograde, not retrograde.

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