Ch.4: Operant Conditioning Flashcards
Why did other writers consider Skinner anti-theory?
They considered him anti-theory because he believed in keeping psychology simple. He preached that psychology should be observed and explained in the most direct way possible.
What are the three important rules in Skinner’s behaviourism?
First psychology is an objective science (i.e. that we don’t theorize data). Secondly, we rely solely on directly observable phenomena. Lastly, we analyze behaviour without appeal to subjective mental events (i.e. we don’t analyze it).
What are the two fundamental assumptions that Skinner’s theory is based on?
Human behaviours follow certain laws (1) and that causes of behaviours are outside a person, and that can be observed and studied (2).
What do we need to start doing in order to make psychology an objective discipline?
In order to make psychology an objective discipline we need to communicate in a language that can be well understood by others. He used the scientific method - the cause of the behaviour could be manipulated and was an independent variable, and the effect of the behaviour could be measured and was a dependent variable.
What are the two descriptors that describe the way organisms behave, according to Skinner?
One is involuntary and follows the classical conditioning approach. These are respondents, when responses are brought about by a stimulus involuntarily. Classical conditioning however does not describe all behaviours. The second way is voluntarily and follows the instrumental conditioning approach. These are operants, when responses are simply brought about by an organism in the environment. Most of the behaviours in which people engage in are operant.
Does the presentation or removal of a positive and/or negative reinforcer increase behaviour?
Presentation of a positive reinforcer and removal of a negative reinforcer will increase behaviour.
What are the three things you measure in dependent variables?
Rate of acquisition (rate at which something is acquired), rate of responding, and extinction rate.
What are two things you manipulate in independent variables?
When and how often the reward is going to be administered.
What are the three types of reinforcement schedules?
Continuous reinforcement schedule (every desired response is reinforced), intermittent reinforcement schedule (reinforcement only occurs sometimes), and combination of both.
Define fixed vs. random and ratio vs. interval.
Fixed vs. random is when there is some order to it vs. when there isn’t respectively. Ratio vs. interval is when there are numbers vs. time respectively.
When is the rate of responding the highest?
The rate of responding is the highest when an organism does not know when they are going to be rewarded.
Define magazine training.
Magazine training is teaching the organism where to go to get its reward.
In which type of schedule will extinction occur faster?
Fixed schedule extinction will occur faster than variable schedule extinction because with fixed schedule extinction, individuals will know exactly when they are going to be rewarded, hence motivation will decrease. Meanwhile, with variable schedule extinction, individuals will not know for sure if you have reached extinction, hence motivation can still be present.
Emily hates vegetables, however her mom knows it’s healthy for her and still wants her to eat it. She decided to tell Emily that if she eats her vegetables, she will be given a scoop of ice cream. What principle is Emily’s mother following?
Emily’s mother is following the premack principle. The premack principle states that more preferred activities can be reinforced with less preferred activities.
What is a practical application of operant conditioning? Provide an example.
One practical application of operant conditioning is attention economy. It is when companies try to buy your attention, and try to keep you on the platform. For example, when you have finished an episode on Netflix, instead of making you do all the extra work and click on the next episode, they automatically play it for you.
