Lecture 22 Flashcards
What is a conditioned reinforcer, conditioned punisher and token reinforcer?
Primary reinforcers of punishers seem inherently reinforcing or punishing, other stimuli acquire reinforcing or punishing properties by association with primary reinforcers or punishers (e.g praise, conditioned reinforcer or no, conditioned punisher). A token reinforcer can be exchanged for primary reinforcers at a later date e.g money.
How is systematic study of relation between behaviour and consequences done?
Systematic study of relation between behaviour and its consequences is typically done in Skinner boxes, these allow for very controlled conditions. These used an analog method of a rotating drum and a pen which raises when the rat does the task, allowing for a method to see tasks done over time.
What are the two overall reinforcement types?
A schedule of reinforcement is a specific pattern of presenting reinforcers over time, these can be:
Continuous reinforcement, (every instance of a response is reinforced), this is useful for learning new behaviours and influencing ongoing patterns of behaviour quickly.
Partial reinforcement, (a response is only reinforced some of the time, this is useful for maintaining behaviours, four of the most simple schedules are ratio (based on number of responses), interval (depends largely on the passage of time)).
What is a fixed and variable ratio schedule?
A fixed ratio schedule is when the reinforcer is given after a fixed number of non-reinforced responses, these typically lead to bursts of responses from the animal until the next reinforcer. A variable ratio schedule is when the reinforcer is given after a variable number of non-reinforced responses. The number of non-reinforced responses varies around a predetermined average. This leads to a high steady rate of response with occasional pauses (like gambling).
What is a fixed and variable interval schedule?
A fixed-interval schedule is when the reinforcer is given for the first response after a fixed period of time has elapsed. This leads to a pause after the reinforcer and steadily increasing response rate as the interval elapses.
A variable-interval schedule is when the reinforcer is given for the first response after a variable time interval has elapsed. This varies around a predetermined average. This leads to a high steady rate of response, although not quite as high as with variable ratio schedules, occasional pauses.
What reinforcement schedule resists extinction more and why?
partial-reinforcement schedules provide greater resistance to extinction this is because a subject trained this was has learned reinforcement follows non reinforcement, learned to persist in face of frustration due to absence of reinforcement and discriminates that situation is different.
