Ch. 4: Reinforcement Flashcards
Define Operant, Learning & Operant Learning
Operant: A class of behaviour that operates on the environment to produce a common environmental consequence.
Learning: A change in behaviour due to experience
Operant Learning: A change in a class of behaviour as a function of the consequences that followed it.
Learning = conditioning
Reinforcing consequences
Increase frequency, duration, intensity, quickness, variability
Two Ways of Reinforcing
- Add a stimulus + positive reinforcement
- Remove a stimulus - Negative Reinforcement
Reward vs. Reinforcer
Reward does not equate to reinforcer
Ex. Giving a dog a treat for rolling over, later asking the dog to roll over and he doesn’t means the reward didn’t function as a reinforcer.
Plateau
Maximum amount of behaviour that can be conceivably admitted. Behaviour can never exceed a probability of one.
Is Reinforcement a theory?
No reinforcement is not a theory. It is a functional description. It is not circular.
What are the two types of reinforcement?
- Unconditional (Primary) Reinforcer
- Conditional (Secondary) Reinforcer
Unconditional (primary) reinforcer
A motivating stimulus that does not need to be learned, such as food, water, warmth, oxygen, shelter, etc.
-depends on some amount of deprivation
-Often species specific
Conditional (Secondary) Reinforcer
Stimuli, objects, or events that become reinforcing based on their association with a primary reinforcer.
Ex. A dog isn’t born wanting to sit on cue, but when sitting is paired with primary reinforcers such as treats or social interaction, it becomes a secondary reinforcer.
Liberman, et al. 1973
Institutionalize patients with schizophrenia. Reinforced “rational talk” by positive interactions with patients and did not reinforce “irrational talk” by having negative interactions with patients.
Conditional Reinforcement
Conditional reinforcement is when something becomes rewarding because it’s linked to a real reward.
For example, if you give a dog a treat every time you click a button, the dog will start to like the sound of the click because it knows a treat is coming. The click becomes a conditional reinforcer.
Contingency
The degree of correlation between a behaviour and its consequence.
Reinforcement variables: Contiguity
Nearness of events in time (temporal contiguity) or space (spatial contiguity).
High contiguity often referred to “pairing”
Less contiguity (longer delays) between the operant response and the reinforcer, diminishes the effectiveness of the reinforcer.
Reinforcement variables: Temporal vs spatial contiguity
Temporal contiguity: means that two things happen close together in time. In learning, it refers to how closely in time a behavior and its consequence (like a reward or punishment) are linked. The closer they happen, the stronger the connection the brain makes between them. For example, if you give a dog a treat right after it sits, it’s more likely to connect sitting with getting the treat because the two events are closely timed.
Spatial contiguity: means that two things happen close together in space. In learning, it refers to how close things are physically when you’re trying to learn something. For example, if words and pictures are shown next to each other on a page, it’s easier to learn because they’re close together. The brain connects them more easily when they’re near each other.
Hyperbolic decay function
Describes how something (like a reward or value) becomes less important or less impactful as time passes, but not in a straight line. Instead, it drops quickly at first, then slows down over time.
In simple terms, it’s like saying, “The longer you wait for something, the less you care about it, but that drop in how much you care happens fast at first and then slows down later.”
For example, if you’re waiting for a reward, you might be really excited at first, but the longer you wait, the less excited you get, though your excitement doesn’t disappear completely.
