Avoidance Punishment Flashcards
Shuttle Avoidance Task
Negative reinforcement: Learn to escape first, then we learn to avoid
Ex: an animal has to shuttle back and forth in a box to avoid an aversive stimulus
Escape
light&shock: cross barrier -> removal of shock
SD R SR
THEN…
Avoidance:
light: cross barrier -> avoidance of shock
SD R SR
Two-Process Theory of Avoidance
Hobard Mowrer: explained the motivation for avoidance behaviour - two processes are involved in learning an avoidance response: classical + operant conditioning
Process 1 of TPTA
ESCAPE:
- CC of a fear response to a CS - light(NS/CS) is paired with a shock (US)
Light: Shock -> Fear
NS US UR
Light -> Fear
CS CR
Process 2 of TPTA
AVOIDANCE
- OC of a fear response to an SD
- reduction of fear: negative reinforcement (moving away from the CS (light))
Light: cross barrier -> reduction in fear
SD R SR
fear response is elicited by a conditioned stimulus, that becomes an SD which signals the feared thing - which initiates negative reinforcement to avoid the feared thing
Problems with TPTA
Many difficulties
- avoidance responses are often persistent so even when avoidance isn’t necessary, animals would still perform the act- if an animal repeatedly encounters the CS in the absence of the US, the fear of CS should extinguish, but the behavior doesn’t extinguish, exposures to the CS are too brief for extinction to take place
Theory of incubation
if you associate a fearful event with a stimulus you will avoid that stimulus whenever possible
brief exposures might sometimes strengthen a conditioned fear response which counteracts processes of extinction
ex: each time you briefly encounter a dog, your fear response grows stronger
Avoidance conditioning and Phobias
when you constantly avoid the CS, you’ll never learn to be unfearful of it, so avoidance learning is linked to the development and maintenance of phobias
limitations to applying models of experimental avoidance conditioning to human phobias
1: usually takes several trials, real phobias as often acquired after a single exposure
2. humans avoid the CS at all costs not just what it signals
approach avoidance conflict
- when an event is far away, the rewarding aspects outweigh the punishing ones
- as the event approaches the aversive aspect increases more than the rewarding ones
avoidance conditioning and OCD
repetitive stereotypes actions that are carried out in response to the obsessions
- may have an obsessive worry about germs and have a compulsive tendency to shower many times each day
- people feel responsible for events that are highly improbable and are unable to recall a conditioning event that could account for the obsessional anxiety response
OCD + 2 process theory: obsessions, compulsions, and their effects on anxiety:
they have opposite effects on anxiety
obsessions: increased anxiety
compulsions: decrease anxiety
OCD vs. Phobias
OCD involves an active avoidance response
- will do something to decrease the anxiety
Phobic involves a passive avoidance response
- don’t do something so reduce the anxiety
Exposure and response prevention
- A method of treating OCD - first effective treatment
- gradual increases in prolonged exposure to the anxiety arousing event, while not engaging in the compulsive behaviour pattern that reduces anxiety
1. systematic desensitization - pairs relaxation with a succession of stimuli that elicit increasing lvls of fear - imagining the fearful thing
2. flooding therapy - prolonged exposure to a feared stimulus (not gradual exposure)
cannot perform compulsive behaviours during!!
hyperactivity and OCD
people with OCD have hyperactivity in the frontal part of the brain which control inhibition, error monitoring, feelings of rightness
healthy controls don’t have the same amount of intrusive thoughts
brain volume and OCD
lower grey matter volume in different parts of the region
treatment of OCD
- exposure therapy
- SSRI’s
- DBS
- search for other targets
Punishment (Sp)
weakening of a behavior through the removal of an appetitive stimulus or the addition of an aversive stimulus
positive punishment (SP+)
negative punishment (SP-)
2 main negative punishments
time out, response cost
time out
loss of access to rewards for a brief period of time following the occurrence of a problem behaviour
- popular with modern-day parents (sending to room, sitting in corner)
limitations: little effect on behaviour itself
- consider the setting (child might like room - more reinforcing)
- consider length (may not be long/consistent enough
- want good behaviors to be taught, not suppressed
DRI: reinforce behaviour that is incompatible with the target behaviour - praise the child when they’re interacting friendly with their sibling
response cost
removal of a reinforcer following problematic behaviours
- taking a child toy away if they are playing too roughly
advantage: you can adjust the punishment to suit the level of misbehaviour
limitation: must clearly identify the reinforcer that if removed will have an impact
negative punishment vs. extinction
both remove a reinforcer and result in a decrease in the strength of a behaviour, with extinction you remove a previous reinforcement but with neg punishment, you’re removing a stimulus following a response
both decrease strength in response
ex: not receiving candy after whining when he used to vs. getting candy and then whining for soda and getting the candy removed
problems with punishment
- it doesn’t directly strengthen the occurence of appropriate behaviour, it may have a negative impact
ex: student may just want to stop showing up to class - he person delivering the punishment could become an SD for punishment - so the unwanted behavior may not happen only when that person is present
ex: when father is around the child might behave but when he’s not there they will act out - it might teach the individual to avoid the person who delivers the punishment
4+5: it elicits a strong emotional + aggressive response
ex: crying, screaming - interferes with teaching them appropriate behaviour
6: might teach the person that punishment is acceptable to punish behaviour
7. is results are good, then it might entice someone to punish more and become more aggressive
benefits of punishment
- can lead to an increase in social behavior
- paying with siblings - improvement in mood
- child may stop crying - increased attention to the environment
- child may show increased eye contact + interest
effective use of punishment
- should be immediate rather than delayed
- should be consistent and follow the unwanted behaviour
- should be intense enough to suppress the target behaviour (this is where it can lead to abuse)
- negative punishment is preferred
5.accompanied with an explanation/ feedback - combined with positive reinforcement for appropriate behaviour
non-contingent punishment
there is a lack of connection between a predictable behaviour and its consequence
- the delivery of punishment is not dependent upon the occurrence of a behaviour
learned helplessness seligman & maier
- they wanted to develop therapeutic behavioural interventions for treating depression, so they needed to induce depression and did this by giving shocks at random intervals
- tone + shock, dogs couldn’t control when they’d get shocked and just lay down
- when there was another side to avoid the shock they jumped over the barrier
- dogs that already were exposed to shocks they just stayed put and didn’t jump over the barrier - learned helplessness - accepted the punishment as they thought it was inescapable
learned helplessness
reduction in learning ability that results from repeated exposure to uncontrollable aversive events
ex: marital problems, loss of employment, health problems
