Chap 11-13 Flashcards
what is a discriminatory stimulus (Sd) ?
A stimulus that elicits a response that is to be reinforced
what is an extinction stimulus (S∆) ?
A stimulus that may elicit a response but that won’t be reinforced
What is two-choice discrimination ? Give an example
Stimulus A produces a response that is reinforced while stimulus B’s response is not reinforced
For example: given a red and a green key, pigeons learned that pushing only on the red key rewarded them with food
What is conditional discrimination?
The reinforcement of a response to a stimulus is dependent on other dimensions and stimuli
What is stimulus generalization? Give an example
The process of reinforcing a response to a specific stimulus increasing the likelihood of the same response following other similar stimuli or situations
For example: children may learn to classify all cars together under the rules that they have 4 wheels, a steering wheel etc.
What is stimulus equivalence? Give an example
The process of associating stimuli that are not similar and responding to them in the same way.
For example: In one experiment, children learned to associate 3 with III.
What factors maximize stimulus discrimination ?
- Choose a distinct discriminatory stimulus (Sd)
- Minimize the risk of confusion or incorrect response by allowing the Sd to be clear
- Maximize practice
- Provide a specific set of rules
What is fading?
the process of gradually changing the stimulus using successive trials so that response eventually occurs following an adapted or new antecedent stimulus
For example: recall the child who was developmentally delayed learning to respond to the question “what is your name”
What is errorless discrimination?
Using fading to eliminate the possibility of error
What are the advantages of errorless discrimination ?
- Errors consume time
- Prevents the need for extinction of undesirable behaviors
- Minimizes aggression, frustration that often occurs when mistakes are made
What are some factors that aide in the effectiveness of fading ?
- Choose an appropriate target stimuli
- Use prompts (hand gestures, environmental cues)
- Choose the fading steps appropriately
What is behavior chaining? Give an example
A sequence of stimuli where each response acts as a stimulus for the next response, where the last response is reinforced
For example: A person playing golf may use chaining to establish a throrough pre-putting routine
What are the 3 methods of teaching chaining?
- Total-task presentation (TTP)
- Backward chaining (BC)
- Forward chaining (FC)
Describe the TTP method of chaining
An individual will attempt all steps of the task from beginning to end and continues total task trials until the behavior is learned. Prompting may be used at each step, but only the last step is reinforced
Describe the difference between the FC and BC
FC is when the first step in the behavioral sequence is learned, followed by the second, third and so on, where each step is linked in between.
BC is when the last step is taught first, then the next-to-last step and so on
