Operant Conditioning

Question 1

What are operant behaviors?
What is operant conditioning?

Answer 1

behaviors: behaviours that are influenced by their consequence
conditioning: the effects of the consequence upon behaviour

Question 2

Operant conditioning:

Answer 2

• voluntary + goal directed
• behaviour causes change in the environment
• the consequence strengthens or weakens the behaviour

Ex: rat presses a lever (behaviour) to get food (change in env)
- likelihood of pressing the lever then increases

Question 3

Thorndike

Answer 3

• conducted the first studies of OC
• said animal behaviors had to be interpreted with caution
• rejected the idea that animals behave for intelligent reasons - intelligence could only be assessed through systematic investigation

Cat in a Box: hungry cat with food outside cage
- cat had to step on a trade to escape, the response that worked was strengthened and those that didn’t weakened (ex: clawing at the gate)

Question 4

Thorndikes Law + Effect

Answer 4

• behaviors that lead to satisfying results = strengthened
• … unsatisfying results - weakened
• the consequences determine if it’ll be repeated

Question 5

BF Skinner

Answer 5

He rejected the mentalistic interpretation (what the animal thinks/feels) and emphasized the effect of the consequences on the future probability of behavior.

Question 6

Skinners 2 types of behaviours

Answer 6

1. Reflexive behaviour
2. Operant behavior (voluntary, controlled by consequences rather than stimuli that proceed them

Question 7

Skinner box

Answer 7

ex: rat gets food by pressing a response lever

Question 8

what is free operant?

Answer 8

ex: rat can respond whenever at any rate

Question 9

What are the 3 components to OC?

Answer 9

R: response that produces a consequence (lever press)
SR (SR/SP): consequences that inc or dec the response (food pellet)
SD: discriminative stimulus that precedes the response and signals that a consequence in available (light) (starts with this once associated)

Question 10

What is the consequence of telling a joke -> person scowls

Answer 10

SP - stimulus punisher

Question 11

Weakening

Answer 11

done by punishment but also by withdrawal of a reinforcement
- the behaviour is reinforced/ punished, NOT the person

Question 12

The 3-step process example

Answer 12

SD: light
R: lever press
SR or SP: food pellet

Tone: lever press -> food pellet
SD R SR

Question 13

What are the ABC’s of OC

Answer 13

Antecedent event: noticing something (ex: light)
Behaviour: do something (ex: lever press)
Consequence: receive a reward /punishment (ex: food)

Question 14

Example of SD reward and SD punish (SDp)

Answer 14

SD reward: light signals the rat will get food)
SD punishment: police (signals a ticket will come after speeding)

Question 15

Example of a “same response and different outcome”

Answer 15

if gandma is an SD then the child cries and knows they will get candy
if the mom is an SDp the child will know they will get yelled at when crying for candy

Question 16

What happens when SD is used for extinction?

Answer 16

The Sd signals that there will be an absence of a reinforcer that was already there

Question 17

What are the 4 contingencies of OC?

Answer 17

+ reinforcement: adds something and increases the behaviour
- reinforcement: takes something away and increases the behaviour
+ punishment: adds something and decreases the behaviour
- punishment: removes something and decreases the behaviour

Question 18

Escape behaviour

Answer 18

results in the termination of an aversive stimulus ex: taking Tylenol to remove a headache

Question 19

Avoidance behaviour

Answer 19

occurs before the aversive stimulus is presented and prevents its delivery
ex: staying inside when it rains to avoid it

Question 20

SP+ vs SP-

Answer 20

get a shock vs. getting sent to your room

Question 21

immediate vs. delayed reinforcement

Answer 21

the more immediate the reinforcer + punisher, the stronger the effect on the behavior
the more delayed a reinforcer, the less effective it will be

Question 22

primary vs. secondary reinforcers

Answer 22

primary are innately reinforcing like food, water, temp, safety
- the reinforcing value is linked to the state of deprivation

secondary is reinforcing cause it was associated with another reinforcer
- conditioned reinforcer: things we learn to like ex: good grades, a nice car

Question 23

intrinsic vs. extrinsic reinforcement

Answer 23

intrinsic: provided by the act of performing the behavior
ex: attending parties is fun
extrinsic: provided by some consequence external to the behavior
ex: reading the supplemental readings just to pass a test

the distinction between them is not always clear (ex: taking a bath)

Question 24

natural vs. contrived reinforcement

Answer 24

natural: naturally provided for a certain behaviour (ex: money is a natural consequence of sales)

contrived: arranged to modify a behaviour, not typically a consequence of a behaviour (ex: crowd cheers when you make a good shot)