Mawhiney & Mawhiney: Operant Terms and Concepts Applied to Industry

Question 1

Reinforcement Schedules

Answer 1

The presumption is that one can accurately isolate what are reinforcers and punishers that can be made contingent upon a response by a schedule

Psychologists have exhibited some difficulty with the task of accurately identifying and defining reinforcers in both theoretical discussions and field tests of operant principles of reinforcement

Question 2

Reinforcement

Answer 2

The term reinforcement always refers to increasing (or maintaining) the strength or rate of response by manipulation of its consequences

Reinforcement of a response involves altering the environment in which behavior occurs – “stimulus consequences”

Question 3

Positive reinforcement

Answer 3

Reinforcement effected by contingent presentation of the stimulus consequence

The stimulus consequence is called a Positive Reinforcer

Question 4

Negative Reinforcement

Answer 4

Reinforcement effected by contingent removal of a stimulus as a stimulus consequence

The removal is called a Negative Reinforcer

Question 5

Punishment

Answer 5

The reduction of response rate by contingent presentations of aversive consequences or removal of appetitive consequences

Question 6

Extinction

Answer 6

The discontinuance of a contingency following a conditioning procedure

Question 7

Premack

Answer 7

A positive reinforcer in one circumstance can be made to function as a positive punisher in another circumstance

The controlling factor is relative deprivation/satiation for the stimulus consequence

Question 8

Topography

Answer 8

Characteristics of the response, not just the response itself

The term “operant response” is typically used to refer to the effect of a response upon its environment – without reference to topography

To say the lever’s press says nothing about the pattern of movements, or the force that is exerted in achieving the response

Question 9

Purposive Behavior

Answer 9

the purpose of behavior is its historic consequences

This is the basic subject matter of operant psychology

The operant paradigm represents an attempt to describe the determinants of purposive behavior from the point of view of an objective third person observer

Question 10

Misconceptions/misapplications by I/O Psych

Answer 10

Overapplication of operant concepts

Use of cognitions and intentions

Omission of reinforcement histories – they only consider responses and schedules of reinforcement
I.e. they only look at two-term operant contingencies, and neglect the history and antecedent

2-term contingencies don’t allow understanding of purposiveness or intent

Social situations yield compliance with contingencies, but do not necessarily yield satisfaction

Question 11

Antecedent Stimuli

Answer 11

Environment in which a response occurs

Question 12

Stimulus Consequences

Answer 12

Reinforcement or punishment

Changes response rate or strength of response by contingent presentation or withdrawal of consequences

Question 13

Two ways to define “purposive” behavior

Answer 13

1. Implication of future tense – goal theory
2. Descriptive – state the present behavior and conjoin it with what happened in the past – Operant Theory
   * *only definition appropriate for scientific analysis