Chapter 6 - Intro to Operant Conditioning

Question 1

Who was responsible for the first experiments on operant conditioning?

Answer 1

Edward Thorndike

Question 2

Cameron and Pierce (1994) found what about the effects of extrinsic motivation on intrinsic interest in their meta-analysis?

Answer 2

That extrinsic motivations decrease intrinsic interest if the motivations are expected, tangible (e.g. money) and are supplied just for competing the behaviour.
Extrinsic motivations increase intrinsic interest if the motivations are verbal and are only given based on high performance of the behaviour

Question 3

What is avoidance behaviour?

Answer 3

Behaviour that occurs before the aversive stimulus is presented and thereby prevents its delivery.

Question 4

What are contrived reinforcers?

Answer 4

Artificial reinforcers, which have been deliberately arranged to modify a behaviour - they are not a typical consequence of the behaviour in that setting.

Question 5

What is a discriminative stimulus?

Answer 5

A stimulus in the presence of which responses are reinforced and in the absence of which they are not reinforced.

Question 6

What is a discriminative stimulus for extinction?

Answer 6

A stimulus that signals the absence of reinforcement.

Question 7

What is a discriminative stimulus for punishment?

Answer 7

A stimulus that signals that a response will be punished.

Question 8

What is escape behaviour?

Answer 8

A behaviour that results in the termination of an aversive stimulus.

Question 9

What is extrinsic reinforcement?

Answer 9

The reinforcement provided by a consequence that is external to the behaviour.

Question 10

What is a generalised (secondary) reinforcer?

Answer 10

A type of secondary reinforcer that has been associated with several other reinforcers.

Question 11

What is intrinsic reinforcement?

Answer 11

Reinforcement provided by the mere act of performing the behaviour - performance is inherently reinforcing

Question 12

What is the law of effect?

Answer 12

Thorndike’s proposal that satisfying behaviours are ‘stamped in’, while annoying or unsatisfying behaviours are ‘stamped out’.

Question 13

What are natural reinforcers?

Answer 13

Reinforcers that are naturally provided for a certain behaviour - they are a typical consequence of the behaviour within that setting.

Question 14

What is negative punishment?

Answer 14

The removal of a (pleasurable) stimulus following a response, which acts to decrease the likelihood of that response in the future.

Question 15

What is negative reinforcement?

Answer 15

The removal of an unpleasant or aversive stimulus, following a response, which acts to increase the likelihood of that response in the future.

Question 16

What is operant behaviour?

Answer 16

A class of emitted responses that result in certain consequences, which in turn affect the future probability of those responses.

Question 17

What is operant conditioning?

Answer 17

A type of learning in which the future probability of a behaviour is affected by its consequences.

Question 18

What is positive punishment?

Answer 18

The presentation of an unpleasant or aversive stimulus following a response, which serves to decrease the strength/likelihood of that response

Question 19

What is positive reinforcement?

Answer 19

The presentation of a pleasant stimulus following a response, which leads to an increase in the future strength of that response.

Question 20

What is a primary reinforcer?

Answer 20

An event that is innately reinforcing.

Question 21

What is another name for an unconditioned reinforcer?

Answer 21

Primary reinforcer

Question 22

What is a punisher?

Answer 22

An event that follows a behaviour to decrease its future probability.

Question 23

What is a reinforcer?

Answer 23

An event that follows a behaviour to increase its future probability.

Question 24

What is a secondary reinforcer?

Answer 24

An event that is reinforcing because it has been associated with some other behaviour.

Question 25

What is another name for a conditioned reinforcer?

Answer 25

Secondary reinforcer

Question 26

What is shaping?

Answer 26

The gradual creation of new operant behaviour through reinforcement of successive approximations toward that behaviour.

Question 27

What is three-term contingency?

Answer 27

The relationship between a discriminative stimulus, an operant behaviour and a reinforcer or punisher.