misconception/reality checks

Question 1

Misconception:
In Pavlov’s demonstration of the conditioned reflex, the conditioned stimulus was the ringing of a bell.

Answer 1

Reality:
The details of Pavlov’s studies have been distorted over the years. Pavlov did try using a bell as a CS, but in his classic 1906 article he reported that a bell was not a very effective stimulus because it tended to startle the dogs and disrupt their behaviour (Goodwin, 1991). Pavlov used a variety of conditioned stimuli including a metronome; the sound of a tone was the preferred auditory stimulus.

Question 2

Misconception:
The best way to ensure that a desired behaviour will persist is to reward the behaviour every time it occurs.

Answer 2

Reality:
This statement certainly sounds logical, but research clearly shows that continuous reinforcement generates less resistance to extinction than intermittent reinforcement. If you want a response to remain strong in the absence of reinforcement, you should reinforce the response intermittently so that the organism becomes accustomed to some degree of nonreinforcement.

Question 3

Misconception:
Negative reinforcement is essentially the same thing as punishment.

Answer 3

Reality:
Negative reinforcement and punishment both involve aversive stimuli, but the similarity ends there. Negative reinforcement involves the removal of an unpleasant stimulus, thereby strengthening a response. Punishment (positive) involves the presentation of an unpleasant stimulus, thereby weakening a response. Thus, they are opposite procedures that yield opposite effects on behaviour.