9- Basic SR Schedules Guided Notes Flashcards
What are schedules of reinforcement?
Study of intermittent (INT) relations between behavior and its consequences
Interest in schedules of reinforcement can be traced to the work of which psychologist?
B.F. Skinner in the mid-1930’s
- Before Skinner, only extremes o/ the schedules were studied (every response was reinforced or no responses were reinforced)
Why did Skinner become interested in INT reinforcement?
- Today, you can hop on line and order a supply a food for your rats (or pigeons).
- But in the early 1930’s (when Skinner was conducting his research), this was not the case.
How did Skinner get food for his rats?
- Baked food for his pellets
- Had to give rats pellets for EVERY response
- Baking pellets himself was not practical
What was Skinner’s solution to his food pellet problem? What did he figure out from his solution?
1) Mash the dough into these molds, ensures food pellets are the exact SAME SIZE
Solution- INT scheduling o/ reinforcers could organize & sustain behavior over periods o/ time
What are the two jobs of science?
- To find the like in the apparently unlike.
- To find ___order_________________in nature.
From a purely scientific perspective…the utility of schedules lies in their ability to produce orderly and ________________ patterns of behavior across a variety of conditions.
Predictable
From a practical perspective…understanding the behavior produced by reinforcement schedules can be used for particular ____________________problems.
Applied
How do reinforcement schedules occur in a lab? (Hint: Explain the drug example)
- You have a drug that is designed to reduce locomotor activity (e.g., movements fidgeting)
- Before you administer drug, would you want behavior to occur at a HIGH rate so you can determine the EFFECT o/ the drug
- Because behavior was occurring at a high rate without the drug, and lower rate with the drug, we might conclude that the drug has had its intended effect
Give examples of reinforcement schedules occurring outside of the lab.
a. Lottery (any form o/ gambling)
b. When you decide to take course quizzes
c. Texting w/ a friend (and their responses)
d. Posts on Facebook (and “likes”)
How can basic reinforcement schedules can be used to describe “procrastination” by members of the US Congress?
Congress meets 2x/year
Objective: Pass bills
- Bills can be passed at any time
- Researchers studied 52 yrs o/ Congressional bill enactment to determine when work (passing of bills) was completed
- Most of the work gets done, reliably, right before one of the two sessions/year
What are schedules of reinforcement, and what are the categories of operant behavior?
Prescriptions for arranging reinforcing consequences w/ respect to operant behavior (i.e., rules for how to earn reinforcers)
1. Descriptive operant
2. Functional operant
What is a descriptive operant?
Class o/ responses to be reinforced
What is a functional operant?
Description o/ the behavior produced by contact w/ the prescribed schedule
Explain “Interval” in schedule of reinforcement.
Arrange for responses to be reinforced after the passage of time
- Required:
1) Passage of time
2) Response
Explain “Time” in schedule of reinforcement.
Arrange for stimulus presentation (reinforcer) after the passage of time alone
- Responses are NOT required
Explain “Ratio” in schedule of reinforcement.
Arrange for responses to be reinforced after some number of responses
- Time is NOT important
- The more behavior you engage in, the more reinforcers you’ll earn
Explain “Fixed” in schedule of reinforcement.
Reinforcer delivery is ALWAYS the SAME
- Follows identical units o/ time (interval and time schedules) or identical # of responses (ratio schedules)
Explain “Variable” in schedule of reinforcement.
Reinforcer delivery VARIES
- Follows different passages o/ time (interval and time schedules) or diff. # o/ responses (ratio schedules)
What is the most common measure of behavior?
Frequency o/ its occurence
Explain the concept of fixed ratio (FR).
Last of a specified # o/ responses is reinforced (the number is always the same)
- Emit 20 lever presses, get one food pellet: FR 20
- Sell 1000 boxes of cookies, get one iPad: FR 1000
- Move 50 boxes from the garage, earn $20: FR 50
FR patterning produces what kind of rate of responding?
High rate o/ responding
What are the key features of FR patterning?
1) PRP
- Pre-ratio pause OR Post-reinforcement pause
2) Size o/ PRP is determined by size o/ FR (larger FR🡪 longer PRP)
- e.g. Hiking a trail with a number of overlooks. How long would you pause if there were 1 mile to the next overlook? What if the next overlook was 10 miles away?
Explain the concept of variable ratio (VR).
The last of a specified # o/ responses is reinforced, the number varies from one reinforcer to the next, but revolves around some mean value
- Payoff is going to happen after some # o/ responses, not time passing
- # o/ responses will vary
Examples of variable ratio
a. Gambling
b. Shooting basketballs
What are the key features of VR patterning?
- Highest rate o/ responding o/ all the simple schedules
- High slope on graph
- No PRP
- Reinforcers are NOT equidistant from one another
- Tells us that reinforcer distributions is VARIABLE, not fixed
The last of a specified number of responses is reinforced, the number varies from one reinforcer to the next, but revolves around some mean value. What does this mean?
You would like to program a VR 6 schedule. On average, every 6th math problem will produce a reinforcer
- Before experimental session, develop a list of numbers whose mean = 6, when averaged
- Can view this list on paper, or on a computer, next to you
What can we conclude from ratio schedules?
1) Rate of responding determines rate o/ REINFORCEMENT
2) Or, you can earn MORE reinforcers by making more responses
Explain the concept of a fixed interval (FI).
- 1st response that occurs after x (fixed) period o/ time is reinforced
- Conditionalities:
1. Passage of a min. amt. o/ time
2. The emission o/ a response
What are the key features of FI patterning?
1) Early responses before the time value have no effect, so these ↓ in frequency, w/ practice
2. Produces a “scallop” pattern on graph
Examples of FI patterning.
FI 30-s schedule
- A response is reinforced given the passage of x (30 s in this case), and a response
a. Does this subject earn a reinforcer? NO
b. How many reinforcers does this subject earn? NONE
c. When in time is the reinforcer earned?- 1st response after 30 sec
Explain the concept of variable interval (VI)
- 1st response that occurs after x period o/ time, is reinforced, but time value revolves around some mean.
- We determine the values as we did w/ the VR. The unit for a VI is seconds—this is key.
- Payoff is going to happen after you responds after the passage of some amount of time
- Duration o/ time will vary
Examples of VI
a. Checking your mailbox
b. Fishing
What are the key features of VI patterning?
- Generates a low & STEADY rate o/ responding
- Responding tends to occur steadily throughout the interval, no PRP
What can we conclude from interval schedules?
1) Rate o/ responding does NOT determine rate o/ reinforcement
2) Responding very fast does NOT mean you’ll get more reinforcers
Why- Some min. amt. o/ time has to pass before a response is reinforced
