7.3 - Operant Conditioning Flashcards
Edward Thorndike
Focused on instrumental behaviours; created a puzzle box to show the Law of Effect
Law of Effect
The principle that behaviours that are followed by a “satisfying state of affairs” tend to be repeated, and those that produce an “unpleasant state of affairs” are less likely to be repeated.
Operant Conditioning
A type of learning in which the consequences of an organism’s behaviour determine whether it will repeat that behaviour in the future.
Operant Behaviour
Behaviour that an organism produces that has some impact on the environment; coined by BF Skinner
Reinforcer
Any stimulus or event that increases the likelihood of the behaviour that led to it.
Punisher
Any stimulus or event that decreases the likelihood of the behaviour that led to it.
What’s the difference between Primary and Secondary Reinforcers
Primary - Satisfy biological needs (food, comfort, shelter, warmth)
Secondary - Are linked/associated with Primary Reinforcers (verbal approval, trophies, money)
Overjustification Effect
Circumstances when external awards can undermine the intrinsic satisfaction of performing a behaviour
What does “positive” mean in the context of operant conditioning?
It means “adding” something; a stimulus or punishment
Immediate vs. Delayed Reinforcement / Punishment
Reinforcers lose effectiveness as time passes
Delaying reinforcement renders it almost completely ineffective
Discriminative Stimulus
a type of stimulus that is used consistently to gain a specific response and that increases the possibility that the desired response will occur
What is “Stimulus Control”
Develops when a particular response occurs only when an appropriate discriminative stimulus ( a stimulus that indicates that a response will be reinforced) is present.
Extinction
As in Classical Conditioning, this happens when reinforcements with operant behaviour stop.
Interval Schedules
Based on time intervals between reinforcements
Ratio Schedules
Based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements
Fixed-Interval Schedule (FI)
An operant conditioning principle whereby reinforcers are presented at fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made.
Variable-Interval Schedule (VI)
An operant conditioning principle whereby behaviour is reinforced on the basis of an average time that has expired since the last reinforcement.
(Takes the longest time to learn)
Fixed-Ratio Schedule (FR)
An operant conditioning principle whereby reinforcement is delivered after a specific number of responses have been made.
Variable-Ratio Schedule (VR)
An operant conditioning principle whereby the delivery of reinforcement is based on a particular average number of responses.
Intermittent Reinforcement
An operant conditioning principle whereby only some of the responses made are followed by reinforcement.
Shaping
Learning that results from the reinforcement of successive steps to a final desired behaviour
Superstitious Behaviour
Rare or odd behaviours may be repeated if they are accidentally reinforced, which may lead to mistaken beliefs regarding causal relationships
Intermittent Reinforcement Effect
The fact that operant behaviours that are maintained under intermittent reinforcement schedules resist extinction better than those maintained under continuous reinforcement.
Latent Learning
A process in which something is learned, but it is not manifested as a behavioural change until sometime in the future. Not demonstrated immediately
Cognitive Map
Mental representation of the physical features of the environment
Tolman’s mice
Edward Tolman
Saw operant conditioning as a means-ends relationship.
He provided evidence of a rats cognitive map/mental picture of a maze.
What is a mouse’s process for finding food efficiently?
- consider evolutionary foraging method of finding food
Mice won’t repeat/revisit the places they’ve found food in the past.
Where are the pleasure centres of the brain located?
Nucleus accumbens
Hypothalamus
Medial forebrain bundle
Which parts of the brain deliver rewards through stimulation?
Medial forebrain bundle
Hypothalamus
Hippocampus
What do dopamine neurons play an important role in?
Generating the “reward prediction error”
Instrumental Behaviours
Behaviour that requires an organism to do something, solve a problem, or otherwise manipulate elements of its environment
