operant conditioning Flashcards
what is operant conditioning
It says that everything is learned through reinforcement
* LAW OF EFFECT = If the result of a behaviour is good it will be repeated. If the result of a
behaviour is negative it is less likely to be repeated
* Trial and error learning: An organism’s attempts to learn or solve a problem by trying alternative possibilities until a correct solution or desired outcome is achieved.
positive reinforcement
giving someone something to increase the likelihood of a response. E.g.
giving someone sweets to get them to keep doing good work.
Positive punishment-
Giving someone something negative to decrease the chances of the behaviour happening again e.g. being shouted at to stop you from talking in class
Negative punishment-
Having something removed to decrease the chances of the behaviour happening again e.g. a phone being confiscated by a mam to stop the child from staying out too late
Negative reinforcement –
Providing an escape from unpleasant consequences to increase the likelihood of a behaviour happening again. E.g. You don’t have to stay for detention tonight if you finish all of your work before 3pm
Shaping-
The behaviour doesn’t just occur 100% correct the first time. It needs to be shaped by
continuously using the methods above.
rewarding desired and similar behaviour, gradually remove reward until only rewarding the exact behaviour
primary reinforcers
Primary reinforcers are used to satisfy a basic survival need, such as food, sex or water.
secondary reinforcers
Secondary reinforcers are only fulfilling because they are associated with a primary reinforcer, such as money that is then used to buy food.
continuous reinforcement
Continuous Reinforcement where we reinforce you EVERY time you do something
Fixed interval-
The reward of a first correct response only after a set interval e.g. skinner’s rats
after 30s. Learning may take longer BUT the response rate is higher later on.
Variable interval-
the reward time varies following the first correct response (e.g. you may get a
reward after 5mins, then after another 20 etc).
Fixed ratio-
where a response is reinforced only after a specified number of responses/set number of repetitions (e.g. you
will only get a free coffee once you receive 10 stamps)
Variable ratio-
a response is reinforced after a set number of times…then varies, (e.g. you will
only get a free coffee once you receive 10 stamps and then after this, you could get a free coffee after another 3 stamps, then 5 etc.)
skinners rats
Supported by Skinner who found that animals could learn to do various behaviours like push
buttons through reinforcement. This demonstrates that animals can learn through the process of reinforcement in order to get treats/rewards in the skinner box
Elms and milgram
Authoritarian personality influenced obedience
Saliba (1985)
reported that 90% of Unification Church recruits dropped out before the end of the training program
Bromley (1991)
studied the Unification Church and found only 5% were still working
with the church 1 year later
• Sheridan and King (1972)
Adapted Milgram’s experiment to use a live puppy as a victim that received genuine shocks from college student participants. Found that all 13 female participants were more compliant and delivered maximum shock levels to the puppy compared to men (100% vs 54%
• A03: Blass (1999
) carried out a meta-analysis of 10 obedience experiments, finding that obedience across genders was similar in 9/10 of the studies
- Kilham and Mann (1974)
replicated Milgram’s original study and found that females were less obedient than the male participants (16% compared to 40%)
• Burger (2009)
- Although people who score high on empathy show more protest against giving electric shocks, this does not translate to lower levels of obedience.
