Chapter 5 - Basic Principles of Operant Conditioning Flashcards
Every time Joey makes his bed his mother gives him a star sticker. Joey then uses these stars to buy “TV time.” Joey is likely to make his bed more often in the future.
Consequence (apply or remove a stimulus):
Future Behavior (increase or decrease):
Principle:
apply a stimulus
increase future behavior
positive reinforcement
Molly loses her glasses while playing at the park. Her parents spank her for losing them. Molly is less likely to lose her glasses in the future.
Consequence (apply or remove a stimulus):
Future Behavior (increase or decrease):
Principle:
apply a stimulus
decrease future behavior
positive punishment
Duchess is a dog in a suburban neighborhood. Duchess’s owners are concerned about Duchess running into the street, so they get her an electric collar that administers an electric shock whenever she leaves the perimeter of the yard. Shortly after the owners begin this program, Duchess runs out into the street and receives a painful shock that does not stop until she returns to the yard. Duchess is less likely to run into the street in the future.
Consequence (apply or remove a stimulus):
Future Behavior (increase or decrease):
Principle:
apply a stimulus
decrease future behavior
positive punishment
Sean is asked to stay still when getting a checkup at the doctor’s office. After staying still for the doctor Sean is given a lollipop for good behavior. Sean will most likely stay still for checkups in the future.
Consequence (apply or remove a stimulus):
Future Behavior (increase or decrease):
Principle:
apply a stimulus
increase future behavior
positive reinforcement
A teacher tells her bored class that if everyone participates during the discussion she will let them out of class early. The children happily participate in the discussion in order to get out of the boring class early. As a result, the children are more likely to participate in class discussions in the future.
Consequence (apply or remove a stimulus):
Future Behavior (increase or decrease):
Principle:
remove a stimulus
increase future behavior
negative reinforcement
Oscar the pug likes to chew on the blanket while on the couch. When she chews on the blanket she gets put on the floor and cannot come back on the couch for a few minutes. As a result, Oscar is less likely to chew on the blanket in the future.
Consequence (apply or remove a stimulus):
Future Behavior (increase or decrease):
Principle:
remove a stimulus
decrease future behavior
negative punishment
Mitch plays roller hockey in front of his neighbor’s house. In a goal attempt, his hockey puck breaks the neighbor’s window. His father yells at him and demands that he get an afterschool job to earn the money to replace the neighbor’s window. Mitch is less likely to play hockey in front of the neighbor’s house in the future.
Consequence (apply or remove a stimulus):
Future Behavior (increase or decrease):
Principle:
apply a stimulus
decrease future behavior
positive punishment
All of the following can be observed in both classical and operant conditioning except
A) generalization
B) extinction
C) punishment
D) spontaneous recovery
C) punishment
In operant conditioning, the association that is learned is between _______________________.
A) one’s thoughts and actions
B) rewards and punishments
C) an event and its signal
D) one’s behavior and its consequences
D) one’s behavior and its consequences
Edward Thorndike described the phenomenon that responses that are followed by pleasant or satisfying stimuli will be strengthened and will occur more often in the future. He defined this phenomenon as __________________.
A) the law of contiguity
B) the law of effect
C) insight learning
D) cognitive mapping
B) the law of effect
In photographing cats in the puzzle box, Guthrie and Horton found that the behaviors of an individual cat were _________________ from trial to trial, but they were ________________ from cat to cat.
A) similar; different
B) similar; similar
C) different; similar
D) different; different
A) similar; different
If a response is strengthened when, by accident or mere coincidence, it is followed by a reinforcer, it is called a ________________.
A) species- specific defense reaction (SSDR)
B) superstitious behavior
C) tropism
D) nondifferential behavior
B) superstitious behavior
Research using Thorndike’s puzzle box or involving a maze involve a ___________________, since a trial begins each time a subject is placed in the apparatus and the subject can make one and only one response on each trial.
A) generalization- latency procedure
B) discrete trial procedure
C) free operant procedure
D) primary procedure
B) discrete trial procedure
According to B. F. Skinner, which of the following is not part of the three-term contingency?
A) discriminative stimulus
B) reinforcer
C) operant response
D) conditioned stimulus
D) conditioned stimulus
The procedure of selectively reinforcing successively closer approximations of a goal behavior until the goal behavior is displayed is called ___________________.
A) stimulus discrimination
B) shaping
C) the zoning approach
D) differential reinforcement of high rates (DRH)
B) shaping
