Operant applications Flashcards
What is the most common operant application with animals?
Shaping
What do animal trainers rely on more than punishment these days?
Positive reinforcement
What does it mean to be self-aware?
TO observe one’s own behaviour
What can we do when we observe our own behaviour?
We can note forms of our own behaviour, such as thoughts
Why do we observe the behaviour of others?
Because doing so is reinforced
Why do we observe our own behaviour?
Because it is reinforced
What happens when we observe our behaviour carefully?
We can better predict what we will do which allows us to behave more effectively
Do animals have self-awareness?
They are capable of a rudimentary form
Are animals self-aware in the same way as humans?
Uncertain, animals can become careful observers of their own bodies but do not demonstrate that they observe their own thoughts, moods or other private behaviour
How do humans acquire self-awareness?
It is learned
How do humans learn self-awareness?
From other people
- adults observe and comment on behaviour in a way that suggests certain experiences so the child learns to observe those private events
What else do adults teach re self-awareness?
How to comment on and predict from self-observations
What happens when a child comments on a private experience?
If the observation is accurate, it will likely be reinforced
What is self-control?
The tendency to act in our own best interests.
What is a crucial component of self-control?
Choice
What does it mean to choose wisely?
That one is exerting self control in a way that chooses things for the long-term best interest
What is involved in choice?
Complex interaction of the nature of the reinforcers and the amount of delay for each
What is the circular justification for having good self-control?
That someone has good will power, discipline or strength of character: they all mean to behave sensibly which is the same thing as self-control
What are the primary self-control techniques?
- Physical restraint
- distancing
- distraction
- deprivation and satiation
- inform others of our goals
- monitoring behaviour
Why is it effective to inform others of our goals?
Because people around us behave in ways that help or hinder our efforts to change and
- self-control requires changing our environment and in telling other people, we can change their behaviour in ways that affect ours for the better
How do we acquire self-control techniques?
We learn them, they are behaviours that must be established and learned
How do we acquire self-control techniques?
We learn them, they are behaviours that must be established and learned
What can help increase the use of self-control techniques?
Instruction
What are people lacking when they don’t have self-control?
Instruction
What is useful about understanding the ways that behaviour is influenced by events?
It improves our ability to control our own behaviour
What is the traditional view of language?
That words are symbols for communicating ideas, which are encoded in the form of words
What is the behavioural approach to language?
That the nature of spoken and written words is that they are forms of behaviour and not essentially different from other forms of behaviour
How does Skinner propose verbal behaviour be understood?
In terms of functional relationships between it and environmental events, especially consequences
What is verbal behaviour a function of?
Its consequences
What is the process of learning language behaviourally?
Parents reinforce a variety of sounds and the more they resemble real words, the more reinforcers the parents provide. Shaping then brings the child to be able to use full sentences and grammar.
Why do people learn to speak?
Because speaking produces reinforcers more reliably than other forms of behaviour
What does research support re verbal behaviour?
That it is strongly influenced by its consequences
What else molds a person’s speech?
Complicated history of reinforcement and the listener’s reactions
Where is the importance of reinforcement history most visible?
Word associations and reinforcement of those associations by the listener
Are we aware of our learning re verbal behaviour?
No
What is a problem?
A situation in which reinforcement is available but the behaviour necessary to produce it is not
What are the main ways of solving a problem?
Trial and error
Insight
Do people sometimes solve problems suddenly?
Yes, typically after a period of contemplation
Why might humans be better at solving problems than animals?
Our adeptness at learning from the consequences of our behaviour
What is the most important feature of creativity?
Novelty
What does creativity mean?
To behave in original ways
What is the focus of creativity in the context of operant learning?
Reinforcement history
What was necessary to train animals to be creative?
Reinforce novel behaviour, it would produce more novel behaviour
What can increase creativity in people?
The reinforcement of novel behaviour
What can make people less creative?
Reinforcement as reward: when creativity is not contingent on creative behaviour
What is the surest way of pleasing someone in doing a task?
By performing it in a conventional way
What kind of success increases creativity?
Success in obtaining reinforcers
How does failure boost creativity?
Failure prompts variability in behaviour or trying something new, similar to what happens with extinction
What is superstitious behaviour?
Performing rituals when one mistakenly believes they produce reinforcement
What does adventitious mean?
Coincidental
How can superstitious behaviour be caused by training?
If the essential feature produces reinforcement, the other features are adventitiously reinforced
How are human superstitions formed?
Possibly when a person is induced into performing the act at least once, it could be maintained by adventitious reinforcement
Within what context do superstitions arise?
Social contexts where superstitions are encouraged
How can we protect against superstition?
Applying the scientific method, making observations under controlled conditions
What is learned helplessness?
When an organism no longer seeks to escape because there isn’t any, they just give up
What can prevent learned helplessness?
Learning experiences and immunization training
What is the relationship between hallucinations and delusions, and operant learning?
Hallucinations and delusions have an organic basis but the frequency of them may be a function of reinforcement, bizarre behaviour can be modified by its consequences
What about the objection that such behaviour often occurs when it is not reinforced?
Reinforcement for bizarre behaviour is often contingent on the occurrence of the behaviour as well as during times when reinforcement is unavailable
What have effective treatments for self-injurious behaviour been based on?
Operant learning, initially punishment, now differential reinforcement; punishment + positive reinforcement
What was found to be the cause of a lot of self-injurious behaviour?
Demands placed on children and negative reinforcement
What is symptom substitution?
When a problem behaviour is eliminated with learning procedures and is then replaced by a new problem
