Lecture 13: Operant-Pavlovian Interactions

Question 1

What motivates instrumental responding?

Answer 1

• More than just interaction b/n response and reinforcer

- Includes associative structure of instrumental learning

Question 2

What did the associative structure of instrumental learning originate with?

Answer 2

• Thorndike’s attempts to identify a role for associative processes in instrumental learning
• Employed methods that originated to investigate Pavlovian conditioning

Question 3

What perspective does the associative structure of instrumental learning take?

Answer 3

• Molecular perspective

- Focusing on individual responses and specific stimulus antecedents and response outcomes

Question 4

What is context in operant conditioning?

Answer 4

• Behaviour occurs within a context
• Context (S) forms an association with behaviour (R)
• Outcome (O) ‘stamps in’ S-R association
• According to Thorndike, S-R associations solely responsible for instrumental behaviour

Question 5

What is the antecedent stimulus usually?

Answer 5

• Most of the time, isn’t surprising/unexpected (ex. turning on car)

Question 6

What is the S-R association?

Answer 6

• Key component of Thorndike’s Law of Effect

Question 7

What is the basic motivation for instrumental behaviour?

Answer 7

• Activation of S-R association

- Stimulus triggers response

Question 8

What is the function of the outcome in S-R association?

Answer 8

• Only function of the outcome is to strengthen S-R association
• R-O association is not relevant to Law of Effect

Question 9

What is the underlying mechanism for habitual behaviour?

Answer 9

• S-R association
• Strongly reinforced by the O
• Over time, S triggers R regardless of the O
• Representation of outcome before habit is made, later switches to S-R association and S triggers R without representation of outcome

Question 10

What is an example of habitual behaviour?

Answer 10

• Drug-associated stimuli maintain high rates of drug seeking
• Ex. Man asked to use breathalyzer, and when it looks like a flask so he tries to drink out of it

Question 11

What does degeneration of the dorsal striatum lead to?

Answer 11

• Over reliance on goal-directed behaviour

Question 12

What is the expectancy of reward in the S-O association?

Answer 12

• Animals learn to expect something when a stimulus activates a memory of past response eliciting a reward
• Antecedent stimuli are associated with reward
• “Signal learning”

Question 13

What is “signal learning”?

Answer 13

• Environmental cues signal that a reward is coming
• May be established through Pavlovian processes interacting with instrumental processes
• Context of reinforcement becomes associated with the outcome

Question 14

What is the Two Process Theory?

Answer 14

• Two types of learning

- Instrumental and Pavlovian

Question 15

What is instrumental learning in the Two Process theory?

Answer 15

• Presence of the stimulus (S) comes to evoke the response (R) directly through outcome ‘stamping’ in that S-R learning
• As S-R learning progresses, association b/n S-O facilitated by Pavlovian conditioning

Question 16

What is Pavlovian learning in the Two Process theory?

Answer 16

• The stimulus (S) that occurs in the presence of a response becomes associated with the outcome (O)
• Activates an ‘emotional’ (appetitive or aversive) state that motivates the instrumental behaviour

Question 17

What are the three phases of a Pavlovian-to-Instrumental Transfer Test?

Answer 17

One: Instrumental training
- Lever press (R) -> Food (O)
Two: Pavlovian training
- Tone (CS/S) -> Food (US/O)
Three: Transfer Phase
- Pavlovian CS presented during performance of instrumental response (play tone while lever pressing for food is ongoing)
- Lever pressing will increase in the presence of an appetitive tone (CS/S)

Question 18

What is conditioned suppression?

Answer 18

• PIT Test
• In Phase Two, the tone is associated with a shock (aversive US)
• Lever pressing will decrease in presence of an aversive tone (CS/S)

Question 19

What can devaluation be used to assess?

Answer 19

• R-O associations
• If devaluation of the outcome disrupts instrumental conditioning, memory/representation of outcome was necessary for motivating behaviour (R-O association dominates)
• If devaluation of outcome does not disrupt instrumental conditioning, memory/representation of the outcome was not necessary for motivating behaviour (S-R association dominates)

Question 20

What type of behaviour does response-outcome association evoke?

Answer 20

• Goal-directed behaviour

- More effective in devaluation

Question 21

What type of behaviour does stimulus-response associations evoke?

Answer 21

• Habitual behaviour
• See stimulus, triggers response
• Less effective devaluation

Question 22

What does the development of an S-R habit lead to?

Answer 22

• Resistance to reinforcer devaluation

Question 23

Is cocaine seeking resistant to reinforcer devaluation?

Answer 23

• Yes
• After a long cocaine taking history
• Lower seeking with brief history (devalued)

Question 24

What does the inactivation of the dorsolateral striatum lead to?

Answer 24

• Sensitivity to reinforcer devaluation (goal-directed)
• Leads to habit in reward activity
• Habitual -> goal-directed
• Less responding without dorsolateral striatum

Question 25

What is Skinner’s three-term contingency?

Answer 25

• S(R-O) Associations
• Under some circumstances, S not only activates representation of R or of O, but rather activates the representation of the R-O association