10 - Choice, matching & self-control

Question 1

Operant conditioning is rarely a matter of being offered only one source of reinforcement, typically we choose between…

Answer 1

Alternative sources of reinforcement

Question 2

What are concurrent schedules of reinforcement?

Answer 2

→ The simultaneous presentation of two or more independent schedules, each leading to a reinforcer
→ The organism is thus allowed a choice

Question 3

What is matching law?

Answer 3

• The proportion of responses emitted on a particular schedule matches the proportion of reinforcers obtained on that schedule
• Consistent relationship between responses and reinforcement
  → Example:
• A pigeon will emit approximately twice as many responses on the VI 30sec schedule as on the VI 60 sec schedule
  → because the rate of reinforcement of the former will be twice as great as on the latter
• the matching law therefore predicts a consistent relationship between the proportion of reinforcers obtained on a certain alternative and the proportion of responses emitted on that alternative

Question 4

What does melioration theory propose?

Answer 4

• Distribution of behaviour shifts toward the alternatives that have higher value
• Regardless of the long-term effect on the overall amount of reinforcement
• Example:
  → The VI 30-sec schedule will have a much higher value than the VI 60-sec schedule
  → p.ex: in the VI-60 schedule, there will only be one reinforcer (food for pigeon), but in the VI-30 schedule, there would be 2 reinforcers within the one minute period
  → the VI-30 schedule is thus much more attractive, which will result in the pigeon to shift more of its behaviour in the VI-30 schedule rather than the VI-60
  → melioration theory is somewhat of a levelling out process, the pigeon will check out both and see which one is more attractive
  → The pigeon will be tempted in subsequent sessions to shift more and more of its behaviour towards the VI-30 schedule

Question 5

The ___ ___ just describes how behaviour is distributed across various alternatives in a choice situation, but it does not explain why this pattern of distribution occurs; the whole process is explained by the ___ ___.

Answer 5

Matching law; melioration theory

Question 6

What are 3 reasons why melioration theory may not hold up?

Answer 6

• The tendency to move toward the richer alternative can sometimes result in a substantial reduction in the total amount of reinforcement obtained
• 3 reasons for this
  1) An alternative may not require as much effort
  → You may spend more time studying for your most enjoyable course and less time studying for their least enjoyable course
  → Yet the least enjoyable course is probably the one on which students should spend the most time studying
  → The result is that they spend the least time studying those courses that require the most work
  → This may result in less overall reinforcement
  2) Overindulgence can result in long-term habituation
  → overindulgence in a highly reinforcing alternative can often result in long-term habituation to that alternative, therefore reducing it’s value as a reinforcer
  → p.ex: If you spend all your time studying for your most enjoyable course you may grow tired of thinking about it; It may no longer feel as rewarding
  3) Behaviour is governed by immediate consequences (as opposed to delayed)
  → Example:
  → The immediate reinforcement available from studying for your more enjoyable course tempts you away from working on less enjoyable courses
  → Do not receive the delayed reinforcer
  → Maximising your overall GPA at the end of the term
• This last issue is one that is an overlap between the first 2, this is more general

Question 7

Multiple factors contribute to self-control, what are they?

Answer 7

→ Do you have a history of self-discipline? (self- management strategies)
→ What’s the reinforcing value of alternative behaviours?
→ Is the reinforcer immediate or delayed?
→ Are you in a state of deprivation or satiation?
→ Neural reward system

Question 8

What was Skinner’s view on self-control?

Answer 8

• A person who behaves wisely and resists temptations is said to have a lot of willpower
• Skinner argued against the influence of free will
  → self-control not as an issue of will power but an issue involving conflicting outcomes
  → p.ex: drinking can lead to positive outcomes like relaxation and a fun time, and negative outcomes like a bad hangover
  → Our choices reflect management of conflicting outcomes

Question 9

According to Skinner, managing a conflict involves 2 types of responses, what are they? Give an example.

Answer 9

• Skinner argued that managing a conflict involves a controlling response that serves to alter the frequency of a controlled response
• Controlling response (the act taken) -> Controlled response
  → the controlling response alters the frequency of the controlled response
  → p.ex: if you wanna control the amount of money you spend, you thus leave most if your money at home when going out; the act of leaving money at home is the controlling response, while the amount you subsequently spend is the controlled response
  → by emitting the one response, you inherently affect the other

Question 10

To control the amount of time you spend distracted while studying, you work in a quiet room, and turn off your phone during study sessions; Here, which is the controlling response, and which is the controlled response?

Answer 10

→ Controlling response? Move to quiet room; turn off phone
→ Controlled response? More time spent concentrating on studying

Question 11

To stick to a healthy eating plan, keep only healthy food in the house; Which is the controlling response, and which is the controlled response?

Answer 11

→ Controlling response? Keeping only healthy food
→ Controlled response? The amount of healthy food subsequently eaten

Question 12

There are 4 types of controlling responses, name them.

Answer 12

1) Physical restrain
2) Depriving and satiating
3) Doing something else
4) Self-reinforcement and self-punishment

Question 13

Explain how physical restraint can be a controlling response. Give an example.

Answer 13

• Physically manipulate the environment to prevent the occurrence of a problem behaviour
  → Examples: Throwing out the junk food in your house so that you won’t be tempted to eat it; putting your phone in a separate room when studying

Question 14

Explain how depriving and satiating is a controlling response. Give an example.

Answer 14

• Use the motivating operations to alter the extent to which an event can act as a reinforcer
  → Examples: Go grocery shopping after you’ve eaten, not when you’re hungry

Question 15

Explain how doing something else is a controlling response. Give an example.

Answer 15

• Prevent yourself from engaging in certain behaviours by engaging in an alternate behaviour
  → Example: Have water or coffee with you, so you won’t be tempted to drink a soda; chewing gum instead of smoking

Question 16

Explain how self-reinforcement and self-punishment are controlling responses. Give an example.

Answer 16

• Stick to diet: watch football on Sunday
• Don’t stick to diet: $10 in jar
• People often fail to deliver self-consequences
  → You are accountable only to yourself.
  → Self-delivered consequences more effective when other people are aware of the contingency

Question 17

Lack of self-control arises from the fact that our behaviour is more easily influence by ___ consequences than by ___ consequences

Answer 17

Immediate; delayed

Question 18

How do reinforcers play into self-control as a temporal issue?

Answer 18

• Immediate consequences are generally more powerful than delayed consequences
  → Often leads to suboptimal choices
  → p.ex: eating junk food is more powerful than staying fit and working out to look slim
• Self-control involves choosing the larger later reinforcer (LLR) over the smaller sooner reinforcer (SSR)
• Impulsiveness involves choosing the smaller sooner reinforcer (SSR) over the larger later reinforcer (LLR)

Question 19

How do punishers play into self-control as a temporal issue?

Answer 19

• Self-control involves the choice between a smaller sooner punisher and a larger later punisher
  → only in this instance is the selection of the smaller sooner alternative that is most beneficial
  → p.ex: avoiding going to the dentist because of the thought of knowing you’ll be in discomfort (smaller sooner), but down the line, it will only hurt more when you have more cavities (larger later)

Question 20

Why is the value of delayed consequences weakened?

Answer 20

→ Their value is weakened because they are delayed and because they are less certain

Question 21

Explain Ainslie-Rachlin’s model of self-control.

Answer 21

• The preference for the smaller sooner reward (SSR) and the larger later reward (LLR) can shift over time
• When both rewards are still distant, the LLR is preferred
  → As time passes, SSR becomes imminent, and its value increases sharply and comes to outweigh the value of the LLR
  → p.ex: in the morning, you intend on studying in the afternoon but when the afternoon comes by, you socialise instead (this is a reversal of preference)
  → this model shows a way to minimise this occurrence in the future
• The Ainslie-Rachlin model proposes that the value of a reward is a hyperbolic function of its delay (upwardly scalloped)
  → The value of the reward increases more sharply as the reward approaches (as delay decreases)

Question 22

Explain the small-but-cumulative effects model.

Answer 22

• Achieving a long-term goal is not the result of a single choice
  → An ongoing series of choices
  → Any one single choice has relatively little effect
• Each individual choice on a self-control task has only a small but cumulative effect on our likelihood of obtaining the desired long-term outcome
  → each single choice of an SSR has little effect in the long run, but when it’s imminent it can rise above the value of the larger later reward
• Each choice of an SSR versus LLR has only a small but cumulative effect on reaching our goals
  → This is why self-control is so difficult
  → One time won’t hurt…, but the more you do it, the easier it is to fall back into it
  → But multiple choices of SSRs have cumulative effects

Question 23

What is Mischel’s delay of gratification paradigm?

Answer 23

• The earliest systematic research using a delay-of-gratification procedure
  → Self-control: choosing a larger later reward over a smaller sooner reward
  → Impulsiveness: choosing a smaller sooner reward over a larger later reward
  → The task of choosing between a smaller sooner reinforcer and a larger later reinforcer
  → The subject has to “delay gratification”