Learning

Question 1

What is the Law of Effect?

Answer 1

If a behaviour is closely followed by a favourable consequence, the probability that the behaviour will be repeated is increased.

Question 2

Describe Operant conditioning.

Answer 2

Learning an association between a response and its consequences.

Question 3

Describe Operant behaviour.

Answer 3

Behaviour that is controlled by its consequences.

Question 4

What is considered a Reinforcer?

Answer 4

An environmental event (stimulus) which increases the probability, or rate, of responses which it follows.

Question 5

Describe how you can train a new response.

Answer 5

Shaping or the Method of Successive Approximations:

reinforcing closer and closer approximations to the desired behaviour. Invented by BF Skinner

Question 6

What is a Primary Reinforcer?

Answer 6

A stimulus which increases the probability of responses which it follows because of its intrinsic biological, or survival value to the organism. e.g. food to a hungry pigeon

Question 7

What is a Secondary Reinforcer?

Answer 7

A previously neutral stimulus which has acquired its reinforcing effect because it has been repeatedly paired with a primary reinforcer. e.g. the sound of the wheat hopper being raised in an experimental chamber, which has been paired with the availability of food.

Question 8

what is a positive reinforcer?

Answer 8

an appetitive stimulus is presented contingent on a response. Increases behaviour. e.g. lollies for answering lecturers question

Question 9

what is a negative reinforcer?

Answer 9

an aversive stimulus is withdrawn contingent on a response. Increases behaviour. If you mow the lawns, your partner will stop nagging you

Question 10

what is a positive punishment?

Answer 10

an aversive stimulus is presented contingent on a response. Decreases behaviour. A dog gets a shock when it barks

Question 11

what is a negative punishment?

Answer 11

an appetitive stimulus is withdrawn contingent on a response. Decreases behaviour. If you get caught speeding, you lose your licence.

Question 12

What is Extinction?

Answer 12

A response has no consequences (is not reinforced or punished) resulting in decreased response

Question 13

What is Escape?

Answer 13

A response terminates an ongoing aversive stimulus. Leaving a lecture early that is really boring

Question 14

What is avoidance?

Answer 14

A response prevents an aversive stimulus from occurring. Jumping to the other side of the cage to escape the electric shock

Question 15

What is the difference between continuous and intermittent reinforcement?

Answer 15

Continuous - every response is reinforced.

Intermittent - only some responses are reinforced, according to a schedule of reinforcement.

Question 16

Describe the Partial Reinforcement Effect (PRE)

Answer 16

Responding which has been reinforced intermittently will be harder to extinguish than responding which has been reinforced continuously.

Question 17

What is a Schedule of reinforcement?

Answer 17

a specification of the relation between responding and reinforcing. e.g. when and how often you are going to reinforce a response

Question 18

Describe a Fixed-Interval (FI) schedule

Answer 18

a response is reinforced when a fixed amount of time has elapsed since the last reinforcer.

Question 19

Describe a Fixed-Ratio (FR) schedule

Answer 19

A response is reinforced once a fixed number of responses has been emitted since the last reinforcer.

Question 20

Describe a Variable-Interval (VI) schedule

Answer 20

A response is reinforced when a variable amout of time has elapsed since the last reinforcer.

Question 21

Describe a Variable-Ratio (VR) schedule

Answer 21

A response is reinforced when a variable number of responses has been emitted since the last reinforcer.

Question 22

What is Omission training and how is it used?

Answer 22

Omission training, or Differential-Reinforcement-of-Other-Behaviour (DRO) schedule: a reinforcer is delivered when a fixed amount of time has elapsed since the last response. In this case the response is not wanted. Therefore, if the response does occur the time restarts.

Question 23

What happens when there is no response-reinforcer contingency?

Answer 23

If there is no response related to the reinforcer as in a FT schedule the subject will associate the reinforcer with a behaviour that they were doing at the time the first reinforcer was given.
This can help explain human superstitions.

Question 24

What happens if you use multiple schedules?

Answer 24

Two or more simple schedules of reinforcement are alternately available, each signalled by a particular discriminative stimulus.

Question 25

What is stimulus control?

Answer 25

The extent to which stimuli which precede or accompany behaviour control the rate or probability of the behaviour.

Question 26

What is discrimination?

Answer 26

Responding differently in the presence of different stimuli.

Question 27

What is generalisation?

Answer 27

Responding in a similar way in the presence of stimuli similar to the training stimulus.

Question 28

What is it called when there is more than one dimension to a stimulus? e.g. A red key with a white triangle on it

Answer 28

Compound stimulus

Question 29

Explain the use of a transfer test.

Answer 29

When there are compound stimuli to determine which stimulus is gaining the response we conduct a transfer test. This is done by presenting the elements of the compound stimuli separately, in extinction, and the number of responses to each stimuli is recorded. If one pair of elements (one dimension) shows a bigger difference in responding than the other, we can infer that that dimension was controlling the original discrimination.

Question 30

What is the difference between respondent (classical) and Operant conditioning?

Answer 30

Operant - based on voluntary behaviour.

Classical - based on involuntary reflexive behaviours.

Question 31

What is respondent conditioning?

Answer 31

Classical or Pavlovian conditioning - learning an association between two stimuli. Elicited by stimuli.

Question 32

What is an unconditioned stimulus?

Answer 32

UCS or US - a stimulus which reliably elicits an unconditioned response (UCR or UR) with no explicit training. e.g. a puff of air to the eye reliably elicits the eye-blink reflex.

Question 33

What is a conditioned stimulus?

Answer 33

CS - A previously neutral stimulus which now elicits a conditioned response (CS) because it has been repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus. e.g. a 1000Hz tone which has been repeatedly paired with the air puff UCS comes to elicit the eye-blink reflex, which is now a CR.

Question 34

Why would you use a concurrent schedule of reinforcement?

Answer 34

Using a concurrent schedule of reinforcement is used for the study of choice in behaviour.

Two or more simple schedules of reinforcement are available at the same time, each signalled by its own discriminative stimulus. The subject is free to respond on either schedule at any time.

Question 35

What is an adventitious reinforcer?

Answer 35

A reinforcer which follows a response by chance, not because there was a contingency between the response and the reinforcer. Also called response-independent reinforcer.