Learning Flashcards
This person pioneered behaviorism, and a cornerstone of the behaviorist worldview is that reinforcement and punishment can change the frequency of behaviors. What has been described here is an operant conditioning protocol with a continuous reinforcement reward schedule for the acquisition phase followed by a variable ratio schedule.
B. F. Skinner
The western gray squirrel (Sciurus griseus) is native to North America and found in many urban and semi-urban environments. Urban populations of Sciurus griseus have been observed to remain in much closer proximity to both humans and other predators than wild-living relatives. This behavior is best explained by:
Habituation. Repeated exposure to the same stimulus can diminish the response of the learner. In this case, humans and other predators are an unconditioned, aversive stimulus that normally causes flight in the animal. Failure to flee suggests that the urban western gray squirrel has been habituated to these stimuli.
A group of dik-diks are individually placed in cages surrounded by loudspeakers. Periodically, a loud, aversive sound is played for 15 seconds. In a separate procedure, the dik-diks are each conditioned to nuzzle a lever in the cage with their noses. After 15-20 trials of exposure to the loud, aversive sound each dik-dik has discovered that they can nuzzle the lever to terminate the sound early. What kind of learning are these dik-diks displaying?
Escape Learning
Type of learning that occurs when a behavior is performed before a stimulus occurs, not after.
Avoidance learning
Type of learning where a behavior is performed to eliminate a stimulus after it has occurred.
Escape Learning
A continuous reinforcement schedule is best for which kind of learning?
The initial phase of learning about a desired behavior happens fastest under a continuous reinforcement schedule - that means the learner is either rewarded for every single correct response, or even for partially correct responses (such as in shaping).
Two people get into a heated argument. One ends up locked outside the door. It starts raining heavily, and the locked out person asks to be let in. The person controlling the door from the inside says: “You can come in, but first you have to apologize”. From a behaviorist perspective, how is this person trying to motivate the other’s behavior?
An aversive stimulus (rain) is being removed and a behavior (apologizing) is being increased. Therefore this situation is a demonstration of negative reinforcement in action.
Every single response is rewarded
Continuous reinforcement
After an unpredictable number of responses, a reward is given
Variable ratio
Every set number of responses earns a reward
Fixed ratio
After a set period of time, a reward is given
Fixed interval
After an unpredictable period of time a reward is given
variable interval
An experimental cohort of chinchillas are individually placed in cages with electrically wired floor mats. A humming sound is played, then a second later, a brief electrical impulse that the chinchillas find painful is sent through the floor. After 3-7 trials, all chinchillas have learned to jump in the air approximately 1 second after the humming sound is played. What kind of learning are these adorable fuzzballs displaying?
The chinchillas are displaying avoidance learning, which is a process in which the exposure to an aversive stimulus is entirely avoided.
Corporal punishment has an extensive history as an instrument of control in educational institutions. A nun in a boarding school cracks a ruler as a makeshift whip to reprimand inattentive students. What quadrant of operant conditioning is she attempting to use?
(Note: We do not condone such practices, nor are they effective.)
The nun is using positive punishment. A stimulus is added, and that stimulus is punishing by virtue of being painful.
Addition of a pleasant stimulus
Positive Reinforcement
