Learning Theory & Behavior Therapy 3 Flashcards
Priority 1
Name the two types of negative reinforcement.
Escape conditioning and avoidance conditioning.
Describe escape conditioning.
A target behavior results in the removal of an aversive stimulus, e.g., torture stops when a prisoner confesses.
Describe avoidance conditioning and Mowrer’s two-factor theory.
Factor 1: situations, behaviors, and objects are avoided due to pairing with aversive stimuli (classical conditioning). Factor 2: termination of fear or anxiety when situations, behaviors, and objects are avoided negatively reinforces avoidance (operant conditioning). Factor 1 may initiate avoidance; factor 2 continues it.
Distinguish between stimulus discrimination, a discriminative stimulus, and an S-delta stimulus.
Stimulus discrimination refers to an organism’s act of emitting behavior in the presence of one stimulus, but not another (usually similar). A discriminative stimulus is one that indicates that a behavior will be reinforced. An S-delta stimulus is one that indicates that a behavior will not be reinforced.
Describe chaining in operant conditioning.
The process by which a series of simple, related behaviors are linked together to form a more complex behavior. Each response acts as both a secondary reinforcer for preceding behaviors and discriminative stimulus for the subsequent behavior.
What is backward chaining in operant conditioning?
Chaining in which the training begins from the final task.
What is response generalization in operant conditioning?
Reinforcement of one behavior increases emission of other (usually similar) behaviors. For example, I get a quarter for cleaning my room, so I take out the trash (in the hopes of getting a quarter for that, too).
What is the “method of successive approximations” and how does it relate to shaping in operant conditioning?
A subject is reinforced for behaviors that vaguely resemble a target behavior, then reinforced only as the behavior becomes increasingly close, and eventually identical to, the target behavior. The process is shaping; the method is the means by which shaping is accomplished.
What is adventitious reinforcement in operant conditioning?
Reinforcement of behavior by coincidence. A rain dance is an example.
List five ways in which the effectiveness of reinforcement is optimized.
NAME?
What happens to a target behavior when punishment is removed?
Non-target behavior will increase beyond baseline, then return to baseline.
List six ways in which the effectiveness of punishment is optimized.
NAME?
What is the Premack Principle?
Use of a high-probability behavior to reinforce a low-probability behavior. A.k.a., probability-differential theory, or “work before play.”
What operant principles underlie the effectiveness of time-outs in behavior therapy?
The child is removed from reinforcing stimuli, which is extinction. Also, social isolation is an aversive stimulus, so it is also a positive punishment.
What is overcorrection in behavior therapy?
Correction of undesirable behavior followed by repeated and exaggerated practice of alternative, desirable behavior.