1.6 Reducing Unwanted Behaviours Flashcards
what makes punishment effective? (3)
contiguity, contingency, stimulus control
partial punishment schedules are ___ effective than consistent punishment
LESS
how does stimulus control make punishment more effective?
placing punishment under the control of a discriminative stimulus enables the discriminative stimulus to reduce response rates –> presence of a stimulus signals that the specific behaviour will lead to punishment, allowing the organism to avoid doing it
should you start with a weak and then move to a strong punishment?
NO. produces weak punishment. requires use of punishments that are more severe to have same effect
what is the yerkes dodson law
there is an ideal space of moderate arousal for maximum performance and motivation, up to a certain point
what happens when there is too little or too much arousal (yerkes dodson law)
too little: lack of motivation
too much: impairs performance due to anxiety, fear, avoidance
what impact does the availability of an alternate, non-punished response have on undesirable behaviour?
undesired behaviour ceases esp when alternate behaviour is rewarded
what is the reverse premack principle?
when an individual must do a LESS preferred activity after doing a highly preferred activity, preference for the highly preferred activity will decrease, as the two are associated
does fear suppress all behaviour?
no.
list the major negative effects of punishment
- supression of all behaviour rather than specific behaviour change
- risk of aggression –> backlash, fear, pain incite aggression
- modelling of violence: children growing up with corporal punishment use aggression later to resolve conflict
- avoidance of punishing agent due to fear
- indiscriminate punishment - parents using punishment as way to manage own behaviour, punishing everything they do incites depression, learned hopelessness
what were selignman and maier studying in 1967
learned hopelessness
- 3 groups: can escape electric shock, no electric shock, can’t escape electric shock (yoked)
- test them again w task, yoked group display deression, no longer learn about behaviour use to change outcomes
what are the features of the LH effect?
LH occurs when deltaP = 0
* cognitive impariments: no longer learn about successful use of behaviour to change outcomes
* motivational impairments: fial one task = stop responding to other tasks
* emotional impairment: depressive-like state
what is the learned helplessness effect
a perceived or real absence of control over outcomes in a situation
what were the findings of Pelloux et al in their rat drug seeking study and punishment?
rats w sugar-seeking behaviours ceased this when punishment introduced
rats w cocaine-seeking behaviours did NOT cease IF they had cocaine sensitivity
what are the concerns with time out? (negative punishment)
- emotional distress and anxiety
- lowering attachment
- stops behaviour, doesn’t teach desirable behaviour
- can be reinforcing (avoiding tasks, spending more time alone)
- models ostracism and exclusion as a punishment towards peers
