Six-Year-Old Shirley, a Witness to a Robbery, Was Asked to Testify

question 139

Multiple Choice

Six-year-old Shirley, a witness to a robbery, was asked to testify at the trial. The defense argued that her testimony would be invalid because:

• A) at her age, she has no long-term memories.
• B) her memories are highly susceptible to suggestion.
• C) she is likely to be resistant to questioning.
• D) children cannot recall details of events sequentially.

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Definitions:

Discriminative Stimulus

A stimulus in the presence of which a particular response will be reinforced, used in behavioral psychology to study learning and conditioning.

Response-Outcome Relations

The understanding or concept in psychology that focuses on how actions (responses) are connected to their consequences (outcomes).

Species-Specific Predispositions

Innate behavioral tendencies or characteristics that are unique to particular species, influencing their ability to learn or react in specific ways.

Concurrent Schedules

In operant conditioning, it refers to two or more reinforcement schedules that operate simultaneously for two or more behaviors.