operant conditioning

Question 1

thorndike

Answer 1

carried out experiemnt to investigate how behaviur was learnt in a scientific manner- developed puzzle box single exit only opened by system of levers- hungry cat placed in and food outside cat moved around accidently pressed lever and learnt by trial and error to open the box. Law effect learning to get out of the box is good obtains food then behaviour is learnt and repeated

Question 2

Skinners research

Answer 2

Animals in lab experiments, developed environment for rats to live in exp positive and neg reinforcements and investigated how reinforcements shape behaviour

Question 3

Summary of Skinners procedure

Answer 3

Manipluate rats behaviour through reinforcements- primary need for animals to eat and survive. Box was used to deliver +ve and -ve reinforcements associated w eating. Rtas learnt when punished and rewarded. Electric shock generator to deter rats from carrying out behaviours

Question 4

what is ABC model of operant conditioning

Answer 4

Antecedent- situations/stimulus that triggers behaviour
Behaviour-Response made by organism
Consequence-happens because of behaviour

Question 5

2 main types of consequences

Answer 5

reinforcers-consequences from the environment that increase the probability of a behaviour being repeated
punishers-consequences from the environment that decrease the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated

Question 6

define primary reinforcers

Answer 6

rewards focused on meeting a basic need

Question 7

secondary reinforcers

Answer 7

rewards that satisfy a basic need but it itself isn’t a basic need

Question 8

define reinforcements

Answer 8

encourages repetition of a desired behaviour

Question 9

define positive reinforcements

Answer 9

rewarding positive behaviour in order to encourage to happen again in the future eg giving a dog a treat for a trick

Question 10

define negative reinforcements

Answer 10

encouraging a behaviour by removing a negative outcome/stimuli eg suncream to avoid sunburn

Question 11

define punishments

Answer 11

discourages behaviour by doing something important to stop behaviour

Question 12

define positive punishment

Answer 12

something bad is given/unwanted behaviour is topped

Question 13

define negative punishment

Answer 13

something good is taken away & unwanted behaviour is stopped

Question 14

define token economy

Answer 14

treatment method that produces secondary reinforcement for a destructive behaviour that can be saved up or exchanged for a primary reinforcer

Question 15

aim of token economy

Answer 15

encourage desired behaviour through a system and reduce undesired behaviour through the withdrawal of rewards or privileges

Question 16

PEEC evidence

Answer 16

Empiricism only directly observable behaviour gathered by Skinner and provides objective statistical evidence to confirm how behaviour is learnt. Furthermore, Skinners research was carried out in lab settings with high levels of control eg use of the Skinner box in particular allowed manipulation of rewards and punishments in a controlled environment to manipulate behaviour and est cause and effect links between reinforcers and behaviour. Therefore, accuracy of Skinners data is high increases internal validity of research

Question 17

PEEC Application

Answer 17

Practical applications like explanaing how behaviour is learnt eg addiction to drugs therefore how this behaviour can be changed through reinforcements. OC useful education and CJS and treatments for dysfunctional behaviour eg Paul and Lentz showed benefits of token economy systems in treatment of patients with scizophrenia

Question 18

Methodlogy PEEC

Answer 18

Low generalisbaility used rats and pigeons as ppts- animals have different everyday life from humans and don’t have cognitive abilities of humans eg language so learning exp will be different human learning is much more complex & inc different cognitive and social factors.Thus rats and pigeons aren’t fully representative of target population.

Question 19

define response rates

Answer 19

rate at which rat pressed lever eg how hard rat worked

Question 20

define extinction rate

Answer 20

rate at which lever pressing dies out eg how rat gave up

Question 21

define schedules of reinforcement

Answer 21

different patterns of reinforcment which have different effects on the speed of learning and on whether extinction occurs

Question 22

Skinners superstitious pigeon

Answer 22

8 pigeons were starved to 75% of well-fed weight and placed into skinner box where the food hopper could be swung for 5 sec at regular intervals 1 pigeon turned anti-clockwise making 2-3 turns between reinforcements another pigeon showed a head tossing response

Question 23

what’s fixed ratio reinforcement

Answer 23

behaviour is reinforcerd only after behaviour occurs a set n.o of times
fast response rate
median extinction rate

Question 24

what’s fixed interval reinforcements

Answer 24

one reinforcemnet is given after a fixed time interval provides at least 1 correct response has been made
median response rate
media extinction rate

Question 25

Variable ratio Reinforcement

Answer 25

Means that the reinforcement reward or punishment is given randomly with regard to the number of behaviours.
E.G – gambling or fishing
fast rr
slow er

Question 26

Variable interval Reinforcement

Answer 26

Means that reinforcement is given after a variable amounts of time. It can be given at one, two minutes or five minutes
E.G – A self- employed person being paid at random times
fast rr
slow er

Question 27

Behaviour modification:

Answer 27

this is when rewards or punishments are planned so that certain behaviours are produced and others are dropped. In this way, the behaviour of the individual is modified.

Question 28

Definition of shaping

Answer 28

Is a term used for using operant conditioning in the form of rewards or punishments to form a complex behaviour. This complex behaviour would not naturally occur so could not be reinforced itself. Therefore the complex behaviour is broken down into components. Each component is reinforced until the final behaviour has been shaped.

Question 29

Shaping is when behaviour is arrived by:

Answer 29

Rewarding moves towards the desired behaviour.

Then, waiting for an action that is nearer to the desired behaviour.

Finally, waiting for the actual behaviour before offering the reinforcement

Question 30

APPLY your knowledge of operant conditioning to explain how a 15-year-old student might develop a phobia of going to school. 3 marks

Answer 30

P: A social phobia is marked fear of social situations. At school the individual could receive attention for being anxious about being at school.
E: This attention (e.g. comfort, time listening to student ) could come from their parent or from staff at school. The student could learn that the more anxiety they present, the more attention they will receive.
E: This is positive reinforcement as it is rewarding for student to receive attention and will reinforce the student’s fear of school.

Question 31

How does operant conditioning explain the acquisition and maintenance of phobias?

Answer 31

possible for some individuals to acquired a phobia through a pattern of rewards/punishment
positive reinforcement;rewarded by getting attention for it then response likely to occur
neg consequence of fear these consequences could be how fear becomes phobia

Question 32

Similarities of CC & OC

Answer 32

Methodology: lab based experiments with animals ( Pavlov, dogs)
Ethical issues e.g

Reductionism e,g

Supports nurture debate e.g

Applications e.g.…

Data gathered : Quantitative e.g.

Supports psychology as a science : Empirical; objective research evidence e.g

Low generalisability e.g

Question 33

Differences OF CC AND OC

Answer 33

Learning occurs through pairings of stimuli to produce a conditioned response
Learning occurs by shaping behaviour through consequences following that behaviour