operant conditioning Flashcards
Edward Thorndike’s law of effect
according to this principle, actions that are followed by desirable outcomes are more likely to be repeated while those followed by undesirable outcomes are less likely to be repeated
B.F skinner
founder of modern behavioural perspective, research on operant conditioning and schedules of reinforcement
- where the early behaviorists had focused their interest on associative learning, skinner was more interested in how the consequences of people’s actions influenced their behaviour
skinner box
operant chamber known as the skinner box
hold a small animal ie rat
contained a bar or key that the animal could press in order to receive a reward of food- positive reinforcement
mild electric current was passed through the box until the rat pulled the lever - negative reinforcement
operant conditioning
learning through consequence
shaping
procedure in which reinforcers gradually guide an animal’s actions toward a desired complex behavior
successive approximations, you reward responses that are ever-closer to the final desired behavior, and you ignore all other responses
chaning breaks a task down into small steps and teaches each step within the sequence by itself
reinforcing stimulus
any event that strengthens or increases the behaviour it follows
reinforcement occurs each time the desired behavior occurs
involves the most amount of effort and resources
positive reinforcement
addition of favourable outcomes or events like praise or reward that are presented after the behavior, response or behavior is stenghtened by the addition of something
negative reinforcement
the removal of an unfavourable events or outocmes after the display of behavoir
response is strenghted by the removal of something unpleasant.
token reinforces
symbols or tokens that can be exchnaged for other reinforcers
can be exchanged for material reinforcers, services, or privileges otherwise tokens are worthless
punishment
presentation of an adverse event or outcome that causes a decrease in the behavior it follows
- the timing of a consequence must be close to behavior for it to be effective
positive punishment
presents an unfavourbale event or outcome in order to to weaken the response it follows
negative punishment
occurs when a favourable event or outcome is removed after a behavior occurs
factors influencing the effectiveness of operant conditioning
- appropriateness
- timing
- scheduals of reinforcement
appropriateness
reinforcement needs to match the behaviour
timing
the punishment or reinforcement must occur after the behaviour, so it is seen as a consequence
must be immediate
schedules of reinforcement
A pattern that defines how often a desired response will be reinforced.
takes place in both naturally occuring learning situations and structured training situations
different patterns influence
response rate: how many times the behaviour is displayed
extinction how long does it take for the behaviour to disappear without reinforcement.
continuous reinforcement
desired behaviour is reinforced each and every time it occurs, used to teach a new behaviour
rat gets food each time it pulls the lever
response: slow
extinction rate: fast
(+) desired behaviour is learn fast typically
(-) difficult to maintain over a long period of time due to effort of having to reinforce a behaviour each time it is performed
fixed ratio
response is reinforced only after a specific number of responses
(+) builds a high response rate
(-) Irregular responding may occur if reinforcement is stopped
response : fast
extinction : medium
variable-ratio schedules:
response is reinforced after an unpredictable number of responses
(+) learner’s rate of responding remains constant
(-) not effective for teaching new behaviours
response : fast
extinction: slow
fixed interval schedules
the first response is rewarded only after a specified amount of time has gone by.
+ tend to respond more frequently as the anticipated time for reward draws near
- produces a choppy stop-start pattern rather then a steady state of response
response medium
extinction medium
variable - interval schedules
occur when a response is rewarded after an unpredictable amount of time has passes
+ produce slow, steady responding minimal pause after reinforcement is given
response: fast
Extinction: slow
