operant conditioning Flashcards
thorndike
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
Skinners research
Animals in lab experiments, developed environment for rats to live in exp positive and neg reinforcements and investigated how reinforcements shape behaviour
Summary of Skinners procedure
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
what is ABC model of operant conditioning
Antecedent- situations/stimulus that triggers behaviour
Behaviour-Response made by organism
Consequence-happens because of behaviour
2 main types of consequences
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
define primary reinforcers
rewards focused on meeting a basic need
secondary reinforcers
rewards that satisfy a basic need but it itself isn’t a basic need
define reinforcements
encourages repetition of a desired behaviour
define positive reinforcements
rewarding positive behaviour in order to encourage to happen again in the future eg giving a dog a treat for a trick
define negative reinforcements
encouraging a behaviour by removing a negative outcome/stimuli eg suncream to avoid sunburn
define punishments
discourages behaviour by doing something important to stop behaviour
define positive punishment
something bad is given & unwanted behaviour is stopped
define negative punishment
something good is taken away & unwanted behaviour is stopped
define token economy
treatment method that produces secondary reinforcement for a destructive behaviour that can be saved up or exchanged for a primary reinforcer
aim of token economy
encourage desired behaviour through a system and reduce undesired behaviour through the withdrawal of rewards or privileges
PEEC evidence
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
PEEC Application
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 by reinforcing appropriate behaviour
Methodlogy weakness PEEC
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.
however concepts of the theory eg reinforcement are clearly defined allowing testable predictions to be made making it falsifible
define response rates
rate at which rat pressed lever eg how hard rat worked
define extinction rate
rate at which lever pressing dies out eg how rat gave up
define schedules of reinforcement
different patterns of reinforcment which have different effects on the speed of learning and on whether extinction occurs
Skinners superstitious pigeon
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
what’s fixed ratio reinforcement
behaviour is reinforcerd only after behaviour occurs a set n.o of times
fast response rate
median extinction rate
what’s fixed interval reinforcements
one reinforcemnet is given after a fixed time interval provides at least 1 correct response has been made
median response rate
media extinction rate
Variable ratio Reinforcement
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
Variable interval Reinforcement
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
Behaviour modification:
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.
Definition of shaping
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.
Shaping is when behaviour is arrived by:
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
APPLY your knowledge of operant conditioning to explain how a 15-year-old student might develop a phobia of going to school. 3 marks
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.
How does operant conditioning explain the acquisition and maintenance of phobias?
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
Similarities of CC & OC
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
Differences OF CC AND OC
Learning occurs through pairings of stimuli to produce a conditioned response
Learning occurs by shaping behaviour through consequences following that behaviour
