Chapter 5

Question 1

Instrumental conditioning

Answer 1

Behaviors that occurs because it was previously effective in producing certain consequences

Question 2

law of effect

Answer 2

Proposed by Thorndike. The law of effect states that if a response R in the presence of a stimulus S is followed by a satisfying event, the association between the stimulus S and the response R becomes strengthened. If the response is followed by an annoying event, the S-R association is weakened.

Question 3

discrete-trial procedures

Answer 3

Each training trial begins with putting the animal in the apparatus and ends with removal of the animal after the instrumental response has been performed.

Question 4

latency

Answer 4

The latency is the time it takes the animal to leave the start box and begin running down the alley. Typically, latencies become shorter as training progresses.

Question 5

free-operant procedures

Answer 5

experimental procedures that allow the animal to repeat the instrumental response without constraint over and over again without being taken out of the apparatus until the end of an experimental session.

B.F. Skinner

Question 6

operant response

Answer 6

is defined in terms of the effect that the behavior has on the environment.

Behavior is not defined in terms of particular muscle movements but in terms of how the behavior operates on the environment.

Question 7

instrumental response

Answer 7

any response that is required to produce a desired consequence because it is instrumental in producing a particular outcome

Question 8

magazine training

Answer 8

The preliminary phase of instrumental conditioning in which a stimulus is repeatedly paired with teh reinforcer to enable the participant to learn to go and get the reinforcer when it is presented. The sound of the food-delivery device, for example, may be repeatedly paired with food so that the animal will learn to go to the food cup when food is delivered

Question 9

response shaping

Answer 9

reinforcement of successive approximations to a desired instrumental response

Question 10

Successful shaping of behavior involves 3 components

Answer 10

(1) clearly define the final response you want the trainee to respond
(2) you have to clearly assess the starting level of performance
(3) you have to divide the progression from the starting point to the final target behavior into appropriate training steps or successive approximations.

Question 11

appetitive stimulus

Answer 11

A pleasant event

Question 12

aversive stimulus

Answer 12

An unpleasant stimulus

Question 13

Positive reinforcement

Answer 13

Response-outcome contingency - Positive: response produces an appetitive stimulus

Result: reinforcement or increase in response rate

Question 14

Punishment

Answer 14

Also known as positive punishment

Response-outcome contingency - Positive: response produces an aversive stimulus

Result: punishment or decrease in response rate

Question 15

Negative reinforcement

Answer 15

Response-outcome contingency - Negative: Response eliminates or prevents the occurence of an aversive stimulus

Result: reinforcement or increase in response rate

Question 16

Omission training (DRO, differential reinforcement of other behavior) or negative punishment

Answer 16

Response-outcome contingency - Negative: Response eliminates or prevents the occurrence of an appetitive stimulus

Result: Punishment or decrease in response rate

Involves the reinforcement of other behavior

Question 17

How did Thorndike and Skinner differ on explaining instrumental behavior?

Answer 17

Thorndike described instrumental behavior as involving the stamping in of an S-R association.

Skinner wrote about behavior being strengthened or reinforced.

However, they were both wrong to suggest that this is an inevitable outcome - novel response forms can be readily produced by instrumental conditioning if the response variation is a requirement for reinforcement.

Question 18

VAR and YOKED

Answer 18

__

Question 19

instinctive drift

Answer 19

A gradual drift of instrumental behavior away from the responses required for reinforcement to species-typical, or instinctive, responses related to the reinforcer and to other stimuli in the experimental situation.

Question 20

Shifts in reinforcer quality or quantity

Answer 20

The effectiveness of a reinforcer depends not only on its own properties but also on how that reinforcer compares with others the individual received in the recent past.

Question 21

Behavioral contrast effects

Answer 21

Change in the value of a reinforcer produced by prior experience with a reinforcer of a higher or lower value. Prior experience with a lower valued reinforcer increases reinforcer value (positive behavioral contrast), and prior experience with a higher valued reinforcer reduces reinforcer value (negative behavioral contrast)

Question 22

anticipatory negative contrast

Answer 22

___

Question 23

temporal relation

Answer 23

the time between the response and the reinforcer

Question 24

temporal contiguity

Answer 24

the delivery of the reinforcer immediately after the response.

Question 25

response-reinforcer contingency

Answer 25

the extent to which the instrumental response is necessary and sufficient to produce the reinforcer

Question 26

conditioned reinforcer

Answer 26

a conditioned stimulus that was previously associated with the reinforcer

Question 27

marking procedure

Answer 27

A procedure in which the instrumental response is immediately followed by a distinctive event (the participant is picked up or a flash of light is presented) that makes the instrumental response more memorable and helps overcome the deleterious effects of delayed reinforcement.

Question 28

contiguity

Answer 28

the occurence of two events, such as a response and a reinforcer, at the same time or very close together in time.

Question 29

superstitious behavior

Answer 29

behavior caused by accidental reinforcement.

Question 30

terminal responses

Answer 30

responses in superstitious behavior that were performed right before delivery of the reinforcer

Question 31

interim responses

Answer 31

responses in superstitious behavior that were performed between reinforcers

Question 32

learned-helplessness effect

Answer 32

interference with the learning of a new instrumental responses as a result of exposure to inescapable and unavoidable aversive stimulation

Question 33

Triadic design

Answer 33

____

Question 34

learned-helplessness hypothesis

Answer 34

assumes that during exposure to uncontrollable shocks, animals learn that the shocks are independent of their behavior - that there is nothing they can do to control the shocks.

Question 35

activity deficit hypothesis

Answer 35

animals in group show a learning deficit following exposure to inescapable shock because inescapable shocks encourage animals to become inactive or freeze

Question 36

attention deficit hypothesis

Answer 36

according to the attention deficit hypothesis, exposure to inescapable shock reduces the extent to which animals pay attention to their own behavior, and that is why these animals show a learning deficit.

Question 37

stimulus relations in escape conditioning

Answer 37

____