7 - Schedules and theories

Question 1

What is a schedule of reinforcement?

Answer 1

• A response requirement that must be met to obtain reinforcement
  → indicates what exactly has to be done for the reinforcer to be delivered
• Example:
  → How many lever presses are required for the food pellet to be presented?
  → Different response requirements can have dramatically different effects on behavior

Question 2

What is a continuous reinforcement schedule (CRF)?

Answer 2

• Refers to reinforcement being administered to each instance of a response
• Each specified response is reinforced
• Example:
  → Each time a rat presses the lever, it obtains a food pellet
  → Each time you press ‘power’ the light turns on
• Useful when a behaviour is first being shaped or strengthened
  → p.ex: when first conditioning a rat, reinforcement should be given every time; when a child is first learning to brush teeth before bed, you want to praise them each time they do so

Question 3

What is an intermittent (partial) reinforcement schedule?

Answer 3

• Lies between continuous reinforcement and extinction
• When and how often reinforcement occurs affects learning
  → not reinforcing everything, only at certain times or instances
  → p.ex: only at some lever presses, the rat gets a food pellet
  → p.ex: not every date you have goes well
• In the theory that behaviour should be persistent even in the absence of praise
• Two basic kinds of schedules:
  1) When (time) = interval schedules
  2) How often (number) = ratio schedules

Question 4

Name the 4 types of intermittent reinforcement schedules.

Answer 4

→ fixed ratio (FR)
→ variable ratio (VR)
→ fixed interval (FI)
→ variable interval (FI)

Question 5

What is a fixed ratio reinforcement?

Answer 5

• A fixed predictable number of responses is required for each reinforcement
• These schedules are designated FRn where n= the number of responses required
• Examples:
  → On a fixed ratio 5 schedule (FR 5), a rat has to press the lever 5 times to obtain food.
• Real life example of FR schedule
  → A kid gets paid $1 for every 5 newspapers delivered (FR5)

Question 6

An FR-__ is the same as a CRF schedule.

Answer 6

1

Question 7

What is the expected response to fixed ratio schedules?

Answer 7

• These schedules usually produce rapid rates of responding with short post-reinforcement pauses following (it can be seen in the fixed ratio line)
• Example:
  → On an FR25 schedule, a rat rapidly emits 25 lever presses, eats the food pellet it receives, and then sniffs (pauses) around before emitting more lever presses
• A post-reinforcement pause is a short pause following the attainment of each reinforcer
  → i.e. taking a break when having studied for a while
  → Higher ratio requirements produce longer post-reinforcement pauses
  → p.ex: taking a 20min break after after running for 40min; vs. taking a 5min break after running for 20min

Question 8

In a fixed-ratio schedule, what happens when the schedule of reinforcement changes?

Answer 8

• Moving from a lower ratio requirement to a high ratio requirement should be done gradually
  → p.ex: once lever pressing is well established in a CRF schedule, the requirements can be gradually increased to FR2, to FR5, then FR10
• It should be done gradually to avoid ratio strain or burnout
  → if you raise the requirement too high, there may be a breakdown in the rat’s behaviour (extinction)
  → some people have fixed ratio schedules which can lead to struggle through uni studies

Question 9

What is a variable ratio schedule?

Answer 9

• Reinforcement is contingent upon a varying, unpredictable number of responses
• Reinforcement follows an average number of responses
• Example:
  → On a variable ratio 5 (VR5) schedule, a rat has to emit an average of 5 lever presses for each food pellet
  → Trial 1: 5 presses = 1 pellet
  → Trial 2: 15 presses = 1 pellet
• They generally produce a high and steady rate of response with little or no post-reinforcement pause
  → Each response has the potential to be rewarded
  → it doesn’t level off at any point in time

Question 10

Give a real-life example of a VR schedule.

Answer 10

• FacilitateS abusive relationships
  → in clinical psych, a therapist will point out that the individuals will go through positive reinforcement which strengthens the relationship, but as the relationship progresses, the reinforcement sometimes becomes intermittent, and in some cases, this process becomes very problematic when one person is following a continuous schedule, while the other follows an intermittent schedule for positive feedback
  → this is an imbalance in the process; the person who is on the continuous schedule stays because of this intermittent reinforcement that you look for
• A dog is also on a VR schedule
  → the dog is rewarded after a varying number of tricks, with differing times in between

Question 11

How do VR schedules link to maladaptive behaviour?

Answer 11

• Each response has the potential to be rewarded
• Gambling
  → The unpredictable nature of gambling results in a very high rate of behavior

Question 12

What is a fixed-interval schedule?

Answer 12

• Reinforcement is contingent upon the first response after a fixed, predictable period of time
• Example:
  → FI 30-sec schedule: first lever press after a 30-second interval has elapsed results in a food pellet
• Upwardly curve pattern; responses consist of a post-reinforcement pause followed by a gradually increasing rate of response as the interval draws to a close
  → the rat will be emitting a high rate of response with the result that the reinforcer will be attained as soon as it becomes available
  → the rat understands that a certain amount of time has to pass before the reinforcer becomes accessible, it will thus increase its rate
• This schedule minimizes efforts that won’t be rewarded

Question 13

What is a variable interval schedule?

Answer 13

• Reinforcement is contingent upon the first response after a varying, unpredictable (average) period of time
  → with a rat at varying intervals, the first lever press after an averages interval of 30 seconds will result in a pellet; with future intervals varying within 1 and 60 seconds
  → the # of seconds that must pass between accessibility to food pellets could thus vary greatly, but the average of it will always be 30 seconds
• Produce a moderate, steady rate of response with little or no post-reinforcement pause
• A steady rate of response ensures you will receive the reinforcer as soon as it becomes available

Question 14

Which of the 4 schedules produce a moderate, steady rate of response with little or no post-reinforcement pause?

Answer 14

Variable interval schedule

Question 15

What is a duration schedule?

Answer 15

• Reinforcement is contingent on performing a behaviour continuously throughout a period of time
• Reinforcing the mere performance of an activity with no regard to level of performance can undermine a person’s intrinsic interest in that activity
• p.ex: allowing a kid to watch TV but only if they studied for 2 hours (FD2)
  → but this does not allow to look at what was truly completed during those 2 hours

Question 16

How do duration schedules differ from interval schedules?

Answer 16

• Duration schedules require continuous responding for a certain amount of time before being rewarded
  → we can also have a variable duration schedule (VD-schedule) (the behavior must be performed continuously for a variable unpredictable period of time)
  → p.ex: if you wanna give a treat to a rat and wanna schedule their behaviour, you would schedule for the rat to run between 1 - 120 seconds and the average of when they receive a treat would be 60 seconds
• Interval schedules require a certain amount of time to pass before a response is rewarded

Question 17

Although duration schedules are sometimes useful in modifying human behaviour, they are in some ways rather ___ when we compare it to the 4 basic schedules from before.

Answer 17

Imprecise

Question 18

What is a response-rate schedule?

Answer 18

• Reinforcement is directly contingent upon the organism’s rate of response
  → they have different schedule effects
  → the different rates are essentially the byproduct of the schedule
• These are differential reinforcement schedules
  → Differential reinforcement means simply that one type of response is reinforced while another is not

Question 19

What is a differential reinforcement of high rates (DRH)?

Answer 19

• Reinforcement is provided for a high rate of response and not for a low rate
• This reinforcement is contingent upon emitting at least a certain amount or a certain # of responses in a certain period of time
  → reinforcement is provided for responding at a fast rate
• Example:
  → Winning a race is contingent on a rapid series of responses
  → a rat receives a pellet only if they do 30 lever presses within a minute

Question 20

What is a differential reinforcement of low rates (DLL)?

Answer 20

• Reinforcement is provided for responding at a low/slow rate
• A minimum amount of time must pass between each response before the reinforcer is delivered
• Example:
  → Being praised for brushing your teeth slowly
  → A rat will receive a food pellet ONLY if it waits 10 seconds between lever presses
• Responses that occur during the interval prevent the reinforcement from occurring
  → different to the fixed interval schedule because responses that occur during the interval there have NO effect
• Responding during the interval must NOT occur in order for a response following the interval to produce a reinforcer

Question 21

When is a DRL schedule a useful reinforcement strategy?

Answer 21

• Animal is reinforced for withholding its behaviour – not for showing it
• Reinforcement is contingent on a low rate of responding
• Useful for strengthening inhibition
  → p.ex: A disruptive child may be reinforced if he interrupts less than 3 times during a class

Question 22

What is a non-contingent schedule?

Answer 22

• The reinforcer is delivered independently of any response
• A response is not required for the reinforcer to be obtained
• ‘Free’ reinforcers
• There are two-types of response-independent schedules:
  → fixed time
  → variable time

Question 23

What is a fixed-time schedule?

Answer 23

• The reinforcer is delivered following a fixed, predictable period of time, regardless of the organism’s behaviour
• Example:
  → On a fixed time 30-second (FT 30-sec) schedule, a rat receives food every 30 seconds regardless of its behavior
  → Receiving a gift on your birthday every year (FT 1-yr)
• Ft schedule involves the delivery of a “free” reinforcer following a predictable period of time

Question 24

What is a variable-time schedule?

Answer 24

• The reinforcer is delivered following a varying, unpredictable period of time, regardless of the organism’s behaviour
• Example:
  → you may coincidentally run into an old high school chum about every 3 months on average (a VT 3-month schedule)

Question 25

How does superstitious behaviour fall into non-contingent schedule?

Answer 25

• Non-contingent reinforcement may account for some forms of superstitious behavior
• Behaviours may be accidentally reinforced by the coincidental presentation of reinforcement
• Unusual events that precede a fine performance will then be deliberately reproduced in the hopes of reproducing that performance
• Attempt to make an unpredictable situation more predictable

Question 26

What is the downside of non-contingent schedules?

Answer 26

• When a non-contingent schedule is superimposed on a response-contingent schedule, the level of response on the respondent schedule will decrease
• Example:
  → people who don’t take their own notes but receive notes, they’ll be less inclined to take notes or even come to class
  → because regardless the notes (reinforcer) is still coming, which creates a bad habit
• p.ex: Would you study for your next test if you knew I was going to give everyone A’s?
  → Would the intrinsic reinforcement of gaining knowledge and having done a good job be sufficient motivation for you to study?

Question 27

What is the upside of non-contingent schedules?

Answer 27

• Reduces the frequency of maladaptive behaviours
  → p.ex: children who act out often do so to obtain attention, but if they’re given attention on a non-contingent basis, they will no longer act out to obtain it
• Reduces the frequency of self-injury behaviours
  → p.ex: especially if someone you know has a tendency for self-harm

Question 28

What are the 3 types of complex schedules of reinforcement?

Answer 28

→ Conjunctive Schedules
→ Adjusting Schedules
→ Chained Schedules

Question 29

What are the 3 simple schedules of reinforcement?

Answer 29

• Duration
• Response-rate
  –> Differential reinforcement on high rates
  –> Differential reinforcement on low rates
• Non-contingent
  –> Fixed time schedule
  –> Variable time schedule

Question 30

What is a conjunctive schedule?

Answer 30

• A type of complex schedule in which the requirements of two or more simple schedules must be met before a reinforcer is delivered
• Example:
  → Earning wages at your paper delivery job.
  1) You must work a certain number of hours each week (FD 40-hrs)
  2) And you must work hard (ie. FR 50)
  → If one of these schedules is not met, you don’t get paid
  → contingent on working a certain amount of hours each week and getting a certain amount of work done
• p.ex: if you marry someone because they’re kind, caring and compassionate, if any of these components were missing, you might not have married them
  → because you may not have gotten that reinforcer

Question 31

What is an adjusting schedule?

Answer 31

• In an adjusting schedule, the response requirement changes as a function of the organism’s performance while responding for the previous reinforcer
• Example:
  → In a similar fashion, when Seema displayed excellent ability in mastering her violin lessons, she and her parents decided to increase the amount she had to learn each week
  → the reverse can also happen; if you do poorly on an exam, your parents might decrease the amount of work you have to do
• The process of shaping (previously learned) also involves an adjusting schedule

Question 32

What is a chained schedule?

Answer 32

• A sequence of two or more simple schedules, each of which has its own SD and the last of which results in a terminal reinforcer
  → the person or animal must work through a series of component schedules to obtain the sought after reinforcer
• Must be completed in a particular order (contrary to the other schedules)
• Example:
  → A pigeon is presented with a VR 20 schedule on a green key, followed by an FI 10-sec schedule on a red key, which then leads to the terminal reinforcer of food
  → Green key (Sd): Peck (R) -> Red key (Sr/Sd): Peck (R) -> food (Sr)
  → an average of 20 responses on the green key will result in a change of key colour to red (first step), following which the first response on the red key after a 10 second interval which will then be reinforced by food
  → the food is the terminal reinforcer that supports the entire chain
  → the presentation of the red key is both a secondary reinforcer for completing the preceding VR 20 and an Sd for responding on the subsequent FI 10 schedule
  → we refer to this as a 2 link chain, with VR 20 schedule constituting first or initial link and FI 10sec consisting the second or terminal link

Question 33

What is the response to a chained schedule?

Answer 33

• The earlier links of the chain are associated with weaker responding
• The terminal reinforcer is more immediate and hence more influential
• Goal gradient effect: an increase in the strength and/or efficiency of responding as one draws near to the goal
• Example:
  → Rats tend to run faster and make fewer wrong turns running through a maze as they near the goal box
  → a student is more likely to take shorter breaks and work more intensely the closer they get to finishing a paper
• operant equivalent of higher-order classical conditioning

Question 34

What is backwards chaining?

Answer 34

• Training the final link first and the initial link last, in order to make the chain more effective
• The sight of each stimulus is both a secondary reinforcer for the previous behaviour and a discriminative stimulus for the next behaviour
  → Green key: Peck -> red key: Peck -> Food
  → the pigeon would first be trained to respond on the red key to obtain food, this will establish the red key as a secondary reinforcer to its association with food
  → the red key can also be associated with the green key; once this is established, the presentation of the green key “predicts” the presentation of food in its association
  → each link in the chain requires the same type of behaviour (pecking)
• In this manner, very long chains of behaviour can be established
  → a rat would first be train to run through the tunnel for food, once that’s established, we can have the rat go through obstacles, with the view of the tunnel establishing the idea of food

Question 35

Explain how a chained schedule can be linked to human behaviour.

Answer 35

• Most human endeavours involve response chains, some of which are very long
  → p.ex: reading many sections of a book for a class for multiple chapters, we do so because we’re trying to get to the terminal reinforcer which is finishing the book
  → here, completing each section serves as both secondary reinforcer for having read that section, as well as a discriminative stimulus for reading the next section
• For humans, response chains are often established through instructions
• The terminal reinforcer is extremely distant (getting good grades to graduate), so behaviour is easily disrupted during the early part of the chain
  → Try to have small reinforcers along the way

Question 36

What is drive reduction theory?

Answer 36

• An event is reinforcing to the extent that it is associated with a reduction in some type of physiological drive
  → whatever behaviour led you to obtain the food or preceded obtaining the food, that behaviour will be strengthened
  → p.ex: walking around the house and opening the fridge leads to getting food; thus this behaviour is being reinforced
• Example:
  → Food deprivation produces a “hunger drive,” which then propels the animal to behave in order to receive food

Question 37

True or false: Not all behaviours appear associated with a reduction in a physiological drive.

Answer 37

True: A chimpanzee will press a button so that it can obtain a peek into another room
→ You may choose Dr. Pepper over 7-up
→ Both would reduce your physiological thirst drive
→ Both would serve as primary reinforcers for ‘sweetness’
→ You may just prefer one over the other
→ Even events that seem to be clearly associated with drive reduction can be strongly affected by incentive factors

Question 38

What is incentive motivation?

Answer 38

• Motivation that is derived from some rewarding property of the reinforcer, as opposed to an internal drive state
• Examples:
  → Drinking Dr. Pepper
  → Playing a video game for the fun of it
  → attending a concert because you enjoy the music
• Even events that seem to be associated with drive reduction can be strongly affected by incentive factors
  → going to a restaurant might be motivated by your hunger drive, but a liking for hot and spicy food is incentive

Question 39

Explain the premack principle.

Answer 39

• Premack Principle: a high-probability behaviour can be used to reinforce a low-probability behaviour
• The process of reinforcement can be conceptualized as a sequence of two behaviours:
  1) the behaviour that is being reinforced, followed by
  2) the behaviour that is the reinforcer
• Example:
  → Lever pressing (low probability behaviour) is reinforced by eating food (high probability behaviour)
• By focusing on the relative probabilities of behaviours, the Premack principle allows us to quickly identify potential reinforcers in the real world
• Example:
  → Noah spends only a few minutes each evening studying , but at least an hour playing on his iPhone
  → The opportunity to play on his iPhone (HPB) can be used to reinforce studying (LPB)

Question 40

Explain the response deprivation hypothesis.

Answer 40

• A behaviour can serve as a reinforcer when:
  1) access to the behaviour is restricted and
  2) its frequency thereby falls below its preferred level of occurrence
• The preferred level is its baseline level of occurrence when the organism can freely engage in that activity
• Example:
  → If given free access, Noah might play on his iPhone for 3- hrs per night
  → If his access to his phone is restricted to only 15 minutes per day, it he will be unable to reach his preferred level
  → He will be in a state of deprivation with regard to playing on his iPhone
  → He will now be willing to work to obtain additional time on his phone