Operant Conditioning

Question 1

Define respondent behavior

Answer 1

Behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus

Question 2

Define operant behavior

Answer 2

The act operates on the environment to produce rewarding or punishing stimuli

Question 3

Type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by reinforcement or diminished if followed by punishment

Answer 3

Operant Conditioning

Question 4

Define Law of Effect

Answer 4

Behaviors followed by favorable reinforcements will become more frequent; behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences will become less frequent

Question 5

Who made Law of Effect

Answer 5

Thorndike

Question 6

Who made the Reinforcement Theory

Answer 6

BF Skinner

Question 7

The conditioning chamber was designed to

Answer 7

Study operant conditioning

Question 8

The circumstances or rules that determine whether responses lead to the presentation of reinforcers

Answer 8

Reinforcement Contingencies

Question 9

Define operant reinforcer

Answer 9

Any event that follows a response and increases its likelihood of recurring

Question 10

Any event that strengthens the behavior it follows

Answer 10

Reinforcer

Question 11

When a response is followed by a reward or other positive event

Answer 11

Positive reinforcement

Question 12

When a response is followed by the removal of an unpleasant event

Answer 12

Negative reinforcement

Question 13

Acquires a response that decreases or end some aversive stimulation

Answer 13

Escape learning

Question 14

Acquires a response that prevents some aversive stimulation

Answer 14

Avoidance learning

Question 15

Define shaping

Answer 15

Conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer approximations of desired goal

Question 16

Define chaining

Answer 16

Reinforcing individual responses occurring in a sequence to form complex behaviors

Question 17

Satisfies a biological need

Answer 17

Primary reinforcer

Question 18

Learned through association with primary reinforcer

Answer 18

Secondary reinforcer

Question 19

Reinforcing the desired response each time it occurs

Answer 19

Continuous reinforcement

Question 20

Reinforcing a response only part of the time

Answer 20

Partial reinforcement

Question 21

What are the results of partial reinforcement

Answer 21

Slower acquisition and greater resistance to extinction

Question 22

Define fixed ratio

Answer 22

Reinforcements that occur after a specific number of responses

Question 23

Define variable ratio

Answer 23

Reinforcements that occur after an unpredictable number of responses

Question 24

What’s harder to extinguish fixed ratio or variable ratio; why

Answer 24

Variable ratio; its unpredictability

Question 25

Define fixed interval

Answer 25

Reinforcements that only occur after a specific amount of time as passed

Question 26

Define variable interval

Answer 26

Reinforcements that occur after unpredictable amounts of time

Question 27

When is operant conditioning strongest

Answer 27

When the delay time is short and the reinforcer is large

Question 28

Aversive event that decreases the behavior it follows

Answer 28

Punishment

Question 29

Contrast severe vs mild punishment

Answer 29

Intense vs weak

Question 30

What are some problems with punishment

Answer 30

Behavior is suppressed and not forgotten, increased aggression, creates fear, doesn’t guide toward desired behavior, teaches how to avoid

Question 31

Define omission training

Answer 31

The procedure of removing positive reinforcement upon occurrence of unwanted behavior

Question 32

The tendency to respond to a stimuli similar to those that preceded operant reinforcement

Answer 32

Operant Stimulus Generalization

Question 33

Occurs when one learns to differentiate between stimuli that signal either an upcoming reward or a non reward condition

Answer 33

Operant Stimulus Discrimination

Question 34

Learning that occurs but is not apparent until there’s a reason to demonstrate it

Answer 34

Latent learning

Question 35

Define cognitive map

Answer 35

A mental representation of the layout of one’s environment

Question 36

Define the overjustification effect

Answer 36

The effect of promising a reward for doing what one already likes to do