1.3 Stimulus Control of Behaviour Flashcards
what do discriminative stimuli do?
control behaviour –> behaviour is observably different in the presence v absence of a particular stimulus
the greater the difference between testing and training cues, the _____ performance becomes. what is this gradient called and what does it look like?
worse
The Generalisation Gradient. Looks like a bell curve
instrumental behaviour becomes controlled by situational cues IF AND ONLY IF…
the cues signal whether the response is going to be reinforced or not
what two factors did thorndike claim that the likelihood of a response was due to?
- whether response was followed by pleasant or unpleasant event
- whether CUES that were present when response was reinforced/punished are still present
what is different about stimulus control in INSTRUMENTAL behaviour?
there is no/limited generalisation - you learn to discriminate when response needs to occur, and learn that it will ONLY be rewarded at set conditions. There’s a period of INITIAL generalisation that then starts to discriminate
what TWO THINGS happen when two similar stimuli S+ and S- are used?
- tightening of generalisation curve (don’t recognise more different stimuli as should be responded to)
- PEAK SHIFT away from S-
what is peak shift?
when you use two similar stimuli as S+/S-, an overgeneralisation occurs in the direction AWAY FROM NEGATIVE CUE
what are complex discriminations?
reinforcement of decisions made about stimuli related to CATEGORIES e.g. similar/different, size, shape, number
what did hernstein et al try to prove in 1974? how did they do this?
that discrimination training is based on reinforcement and consequence, rather than biologically innate processes
* using pigeons categorising art styles of paintings (no biological relevance) to prove
in the context of discrimination, what does ‘expertise’ mean?
if a subject is trained on more exemplars, it will be better at discrimination –> experience with a problem helps solving new problems with the same solution
what are the two triggers before the abc of behaviours?
- date/time - time of day, day of week, season
- situations - activity when behaviour occurred, “setting event”, moods, emotions, motivaitonal state
what is the best way to manage your own behaviour if you notice it is linked to certain triggers?
CONTROL THESE TRIGGERS
* link behaviour to specific time/place, make it habitual
* rearrange the environment to make desirable behaviour more likely
outline steps that can be taken to regain stimulus control over sleeping (insomnia example)
- restore association between bed and sleep
- reduce all non-pleasurable, non-sleep aspects from bedroom
- only go to bed when tired, leave bed if not sleeping
- keep regular sleep pattern
WHY does the partial reinforcement effect occur?
when you reinforce a behaviour constantly, the reward for the previous response becomes the antecedent of making a response.
in partial reinforcement this is not the case. so response becomes more about other contextual cues. more effective discriminative stimuli within different contexts.
