Instrumental Conditioning

Question 1

Instrumental Conditioning

Answer 1

• If classical conditioning involves forming new reflexive responses, instrumental conditioning involves forming new voluntary behaviours that direct goal-centered actions.

Question 2

Law of effect aka cats in a box experiment

Answer 2

• At first and overtime, the frequency of irrelevant behaviour gradually decreased, while the cat’s tendency to perform correctly increased.
• Considered this response as “stamped in” when target response is followed.
• Random, irrelevant behaviours are “stamped out”.

Question 3

Primary reinforcers

Answer 3

• Reinforcer with intrinsic value such as food, water or a mate

Question 4

Secondary Reinforcers

Answer 4

• Only comes to be reinforced through previous learning.
  EX. Money

Question 5

Generalization and Discrimination

Answer 5

• Asks when a contingency is valid
• S+ is when the contingency is valid
• S- is when the contingency is not valid
  EX. pigeon pecks button when it lights green…food is dispensed. But with red light, not food is dispensed..,therefore the pigeon can discriminate colours as it gets in-enforced.

Question 6

Reinforcer

Answer 6

• Any stimulus that is presented after a response that impact the frequency that the response is performed.
• Positive and negative reinforcers can be removed.

Question 7

Reward training

Answer 7

• Presentation of a positive reinforcer leads to increase in positive behaviour
  EX. Give a dog a treat when they learn a new trick.

Question 8

Punishment training

Answer 8

• Presentation of a negative reinforcer will decrease negative behaviour.
  EX. Zapping??

Question 9

Escape training

Answer 9

• Removal of a negative reinforcer will increase positive behaviour.
  EX. No reed to wash dishes if all homework is done.

Question 10

Omission Training

Answer 10

• Removal of positive reinforcer will decrease negative behaviour.
  EX. Staying in and not playing outside with friends.

Question 11

Immediate and delayed consequences

Answer 11

• Training is most effective when the consequence immediately follows the target behaviour rather than being delayed. This allows an organism to accurately associate the correct behaviour with the reinforcer.

Question 12

Shaping

Answer 12

• By successive approximation which can be used to brain complex response.
• Broken down into gradual stages of behaviour and reinforcement, a sequence of improvement.
• Shaping can drastically reduce acquisition time.

Question 13

Chaining

Answer 13

• Develop a sequence (chain) of responses to build even more complex behaviours. The reinforcement is the opportunity to perform the next response.
• Rewards start at the final behaviour and move backward in training.

Question 14

Continuous reinforcement (CRF)

Answer 14

• A reinforcer follows every correct response made by the individual.

Question 15

Partial reinforcement (PRF)

Answer 15

• Where the reinforcer follows only some of the responses.
• In cases where reinforcement is not continuous, there are two basic methods for determining when reinforcement will be delivered:
  1. RATIO: Made based on the number of responses that are made…although not every response is reinforced, the more responses that are made, the more reinforcements will be obtained.
  2. INTERVAL: Based on time elaspsed since the last reinforcer was delivered, not the number of responses made. Aka when the response is made.

Question 16

Fixed

Answer 16

• The number of responses required, or the time that must pass before reinforcement is available, is made always the same.

Question 17

Variable

Answer 17

• The number of responses (ratio variable) or the interval of time (interval ratio) before a reinforcer is delivered varies randomly.
• More resistant to extinction than fixed schedule since individuals are less likely to have expectations about when reinforcement is coming, thus it takes longer to realize reinforcement is never coming again.

Question 18

Fixed Ratio (FR)

Answer 18

• reinforcement follows after a fixed number of responses.
  EX. FR-5 schedule where a rat is reinforced after completing 5 lever presses.

Question 19

Ratio strain

Answer 19

• As the number of responses required for reward increases, the post-reinforcement pause tends to get longer. If the required responses continue to increase, the organism will eventually reach a break point and stop responding completely.
  EX. a rat might press a lever 5,10,50 times before they are rewarded only 1 food pellet.

Question 20

Variable Ratio (VR) schedule

Answer 20

• reinforcement follows after a variable number of responses have been completed.
  EX. Unlike a FR-5 trial where reward is presented after 5 trials, the VR-5 trial is reward on average after 5 trails are completed.
  EX. 20 responses completed, reinforcement may follow after response 4,7,11,19.
• Produces high, steady rates of responding without the reinforcement cause.

Question 21

Fixed interval (FI)

Answer 21

• The first correct response that occurs after a fixed interval of time is reinforced.
  EX. FI-1 min schedule where rat is reinforced after at least 1 minute after the last reinforcement was delivered
• FI scalloped

Question 22

Variable Interval (VI)

Answer 22

• Reinforcement follows the first correct response to occur after a variable interval of time has passed. The average time required characterizes a particular VI schedule.
  EX. VI-5 min schedule, rat is reinforced for the first level press that occurs after an average interval of 5 minutes. However, the actual amount of time that must elaspe before reinforcement is avaliable will vary from trail to trail.
  —– 30 minutes, rewarded 5 times, in 4,9,16,19,22, 30 minutes

Question 23

Autoshaping

Answer 23

• Learning without direct guidance.