2.1 The Motivating Role of the Reinforcer

Question 1

What are the two forms of motivation?

Answer 1

1. Conditioned behaviour

2. Deprivation and satiation

Question 2

Explain what conditioned motivation is

Answer 2

• goal directed action
• motivation of a faily sophisticated form
• refers to situations where we choose to behave in a certain way due to belief that it will lead to a certain outocome
• variable but persistent

Question 3

Explain what deprivation and satiation is

Answer 3

• affects activity, e.g. hungry animals move around more, foraging, looking for food
• affects preferences

Question 4

What is the link between motivation and performance?

Answer 4

Internal states can affect performance of previously learned responses

Question 5

What is frustration?

Answer 5

A motivational response to the omission of an expected

Can produce a paradoxical reward effect – responding seeminlgy strengthened by the omission of reward

Question 6

What role does frustration play in extinction?

Answer 6

• omission of reward generates frustration driving a brief spurt of activity
• this explains the partial reinforcement extinction effect
• partial Rft = reinforcement in the presence of frustration
• responding more resilient to frustration than in CRF

Question 7

What was Thorndike’s view of the role of motivation in learning?

Answer 7

• Law of Effect: the satisfaction you feel is stamping in the mental connection between the stimuli you observe and the action you perform
• satisfaction results in S-R learning
• very simple explanation and somewhat incorrect

Question 8

Why was Thorndike’s view of motivation somewhat incorrect?

Answer 8

Satisfaction should not be necessary for learning

Question 9

Define latent learning

Answer 9

• learning which is not immediately obvious

Question 10

What was Tolman’s view of latent learning?

Answer 10

Learning occurs without reinforcement

• learning without behaviour
• reinforcement provides impetus to perform

Question 11

How did Tolman show latent learning in rats?

Answer 11

• Rats had to navigate through a maze
• They were learning all along, making choices and responses
• When food was added it became an incentive to make less errors
• Rats given motivation to perform better, it did not change the speed or strength of learning

Question 12

What did Hull propose about learning and motivation?

Answer 12

The concept of 'drives'.
Reinforcement = drive reduction
Biological needs (food, water, sleep, etc) motivate behavior.

Question 13

Explain what is meant by:

behaviour = habit x drive

Answer 13

Drives energize behaviour but they do so randomly.

You need habit (learning) and drive (motivation) to produce instrumental behaviour

Question 14

Where does Hull’s theory lack?

Answer 14

For example, animals and kids like to play - doesn’t satisfy an internal drive or biological need.
As individuals we vary in which type of play we enjoy - can’t be explained through Hull’s theory