Operant Conditioning Flashcards
Law of Effect
Positive effects are more likely to reoccur than negative effects
Who created the Law of Effect
Edward Thorndike
Operant conditioning
Method of learning that uses rewards and punishment to modify behavior
Radical behaviorism
behavior is completely determined by environmental and genetic factors
Does not believe in free will
Founder of operant conditioning
B.F. Skinner
Skinner box
chamber used to conduct operant conditioning with animals. Has a level that animals operate to obtain food within the chamber as reinforcement.
Operant response
Response that operates on the environment to produce certain consequences.
Reinforcer
Stimulus that increases likelihood of the response happening again
Superstitious behavior
Behavior accidentally reinforced
Positive reinforcement
Desirable stimulus is given to increase behavior
Getting an A on the test was the positive reinforcement I needed to keep studying.
Negative reinforcement
Undesirable stimulus is taken away to increase desired behavior
Ex: People want to avoid nagging, so they do what needs to be done
Primary reinforcers
Stimuli that are rewarding because they satisfy basic biological needs.
Examples: food,water, relief from pain, sexual stimulation
Secondary reinforcers
acquire reinforcement value when they’re associated with a primary reinforcer.
Discriminative stimulus
a specific environmental cue that signals to an individual that a particular behavior will be reinforced or punished
Examples are money or good grades.
Discriminative stimulus
a specific environmental cue that signals to an individual that a particular behavior will be reinforced or punished
Shaping
gradually molding or training an organism to perform a specific response (behavior) by reinforcing any responses that are similar to the desired response
Schedule of reinforcment
the rules that determine how often an organism is reinforced for a particular behavior
Schedule of continuous reinforcment
Reinforcement follows each instance of the operant response.
Ex: Rat in Skinner box receives a food pellet every time it presses the lever
Schedule of partial reinforcment
Only a portion of responses are reinforced
Fixed-Ratio schedule
Reinforcement is given after a specified number of correct responses.
Variable-Ratio schedule
Partial schedule of reinforcement in which a response is reinforced after an unpredictable number of responses
Two types of partial reinfrocement schedules
ratio schedules and interval schedules
Fixed-Interval schedule
Reinforcement is given only for a correct response made after a fixed amount of time has elapsed since the last reinforcement.
Ex: Food given after 30 min intervals
Ex: Scheduled test
Variable interval schedule
The amount of time that must elapse before a reinforcement can be given for a correct response is variable rather than fixed.
Ex: Pop quizzes since students don’t know the exact day they are given
