Lecture 7 - Variables that influence the effectiveness of conditioning and choice behavior

Question 1

What is a schedule of reinforcement?

Answer 1

A schedule of reinforcement is a program or rule that determines which occurrence of a response is followed by the reinforcer.

Question 2

What is it called when every response results in delivery of the reinforcer?

Answer 2

continuous reinforcement (CRF)

Question 3

What are the types of Simple Schedules of Intermittent Reinforcement?

Answer 3

Fixed-Ratio Schedule
Variable-Ratio Schedule
Fixed-Interval Schedule
Variable-Interval Schedule

Question 4

Simple Schedules of Intermittent Reinforcement

What is the pattern of responding for Fixed-Ratio Schedule?

Answer 4

There is a steady and high rate of responding once the behavior gets under way. But there may be a pause before the start of the required number of responses

The zero rate of responding that typically occurs just after reinforcement on a fixed ratio schedule is called the post-reinforcement pause

The high and steady rate of responding that completes each ratio requirement is called the ratio run

Question 5

What is a cumulative record?

Answer 5

A cumulative record is a special way of representing how a response is repeated over time

Question 6

What is the post-reinforcement pause?

What is the ratio run?

Answer 6

The zero rate of responding that typically occurs just after reinforcement on a fixed ratio schedule is called the post-reinforcement pause.

The high and steady rate of responding that completes each ratio requirement is called the ratio run

Question 7

What is ratio strain?

Answer 7

If the ratio requirement is increased a little (e.g., from FR 120 to FR 150), the rate of responding during the ratio run may remain the same. However, with higher ratio requirements, longer post-reinforcement pauses occur

This effect is called ratio strain

Question 8

Simple Schedules of Intermittent Reinforcement

What is the pattern of responding for Variable-Ratio Schedule?

Answer 8

Because the number of responses required for reinforcement is not predictable, predictable pauses in the rate of responding are less likely with VR schedules than with FR schedules. Rather, organisms respond at a fairly steady rate on VR schedules.

Question 9

Simple Schedules of Intermittent Reinforcement

What is the pattern of responding for Fixed-Interval Schedule?

Answer 9

As the time for the availability of the next reinforcer draws closer, the response rate increases. This increase in response rate is evident as an acceleration in the cumulative record toward the end of each fixed interval and is called the fixed-interval scallop.

Question 10

Simple Schedules of Intermittent Reinforcement

What is the pattern of responding for Variable-Interval Schedule?

Answer 10

Like VR schedules, VI schedules maintain steady and stable rates of
responding without regular pauses

Question 11

Interval Schedules

What is a limited hold?

Answer 11

A restriction on how long a reinforcer remains available

Question 12

Comparison of Ratio and Interval Schedules

How does Reinforcement of Inter-Response Times result in different rate of responding?

Answer 12

If the participant is reinforced for a response that occurs shortly after the preceding one, then a short IRT is reinforced and short IRTs become more likely in the future. On the other hand, if the participant is reinforced for a response that ends a long IRT, then a long IRT is reinforced and long IRTs become more likely in the future.

Question 13

Comparison of Ratio and Interval Schedules

What are feedback functions?

How do Feedback Functions result in different rate of responding?

Answer 13

the relationship between response rates and reinforcement rates calculated over an entire experimental session or an extended period of time

the faster the participant completes the ratio requirement, the faster it obtains the next reinforcer

Interval schedules have an upper limit on the number of reinforcers a participant can earn

Question 14

Choice Behavior: Concurrent Schedules

Measures of Choice Behavior

How to calculate the relative rate of responding on each alternative?

Answer 14

BL/(BL+BR)

Question 15

Choice Behavior: Concurrent Schedules

Measures of Choice Behavior

How to calculate the relative rate of reinforcement on each alternative?

Answer 15

rL/(rL+rR)

Question 16

What is The Matching Law?

Answer 16

relative rates of responding match relative rates of reinforcement

BL/(BL+BR) = rL/(rL+rR)

BL/BR = rL/rR

Question 17

What is the generalized form of the matching law?

How is under/overmatching and response bias accounted for?

Answer 17

BL/BR = b(rL/rR)^s

The exponent s represents sensitivity of the choice behavior to the relative rates of reinforcement for the response alternatives or the discriminability of the alternatives

undermatching - s < 1

b - response bias

Question 18

What is the difference between molar theories and molecular theories?

Answer 18

Molar theories explain aggregates of responses. They deal with the distribution of responses and reinforcers in choice situations during an entire experimental session

In contrast to molar theories, other explanations of the matching relation operate on a shorter time frame and focus on what happens at the level of individual responses. Such explanations are called molecular theories

Question 19

Mechanisms of the Matching Law

What is Molecular Maximizing?

Answer 19

organisms always choose whichever response alternative is most likely to be reinforced at a given moment in time

According to a more recent molecular account, a situation involving two response Alternatives A and B actually involves four different behavioral options: staying with Alternative A, switching from A to B, staying with Alternative B, and switching from B to A

Question 20

What is Melioration?

Answer 20

operates on a time scale between molar and molecular mechanisms. Instead of aggregating data over an entire session or focusing on individual responses, melioration theory focuses on local rates of responding and reinforcement

Local rates are calculated only over the time period that a participant devotes to a particular choice alternative.

Question 21

What is the concurrent-chain schedule of reinforcement?

Answer 21

To study how organisms make choices that involve commitment to one alternative or the other

The first is called the choice link. In this link, the participant is allowed to choose between two schedule alternatives by making one of two responses

The opportunity for reinforcement occurs only after the initial choice has been made and the pigeon has entered the terminal link

concurrent-chain schedules involve choice with commitment

the terminal link stimulus becomes a conditioned reinforcer

Question 22

Self-Control Choice and Delay Discounting

What might the mathematical form of the value discounting function be?

Answer 22

The current consensus is that the value of a reinforcer (V) is directly related to reward magnitude (M) and inversely related to reward delay (D), according to the formula where k is the discounting rate parameter

V = M/(1+kD)

Question 23

Self-Control Choice and Delay Discounting

What is the effect of longer delays from the small and large reward?

Answer 23

Higher tendency to select the larger reward

Question 24

What can delay discounting be affected by?

Answer 24

Delay from the smaller and larger reward
Personality traits
Training

Question 25

How can self-control in delay-discounting be trained?

Answer 25

• training with delayed reward
• a shaping procedure in which the large reward is initially presented without a delay, and the delay is then gradually increased across trials
• introduce a distracting task during the delay to the large reward or distract attention from the large reward during the delay period