How Can Path Dependency Impact the Development of Society

question 35

Multiple Choice

How can path dependency impact the development of society?

• A) It is far easier to use preexisting social structures than to develop new ones.
• B) The paved means of production enhance opportunities for social change.
• C) Path dependency helps societies resist institutionalization.
• D) Governments cannot adequately respond to path dependency among the population.

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Definitions:

Successive Approximations

In the operant-conditioning procedure of shaping, behaviors that are ordered in terms of increasing similarity or closeness to the desired response.

Neutral Stimulus

A stimulus that initially produces no specific response other than focusing attention, until it is paired with an unconditioned stimulus.

Unconditioned Stimulus

In classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally—naturally and automatically—triggers a response.

Conditioned Stimulus

A previously neutral stimulus that, after becoming associated with the unconditioned stimulus, eventually comes to trigger a conditioned response.