operant conditioning

Question 1

what is operant conditioning?

Answer 1

positive reinforcer: takes place because of actions and rewards rather than involuntary behaviour through consequences.

an association is made between an action and a reward (reinforcer)

Question 2

what is positive reinforcement?

Answer 2

anything that increases the probability that the response is a reward.
strengthens a response by presenting a typically pleasurable stimulus after a response.

Question 3

what is negative reinforcement?

Answer 3

strengthens a response by reducing or removing an aversive stimulus
(headache- paracetamol)

Question 4

what is punishment?

Answer 4

when something bad is given in response to a behaviour and the behaviour is stopped.
-by administering an undesirable consequence or withdrawing a desirable one
-consequence comes after action

Question 5

what is positive punishment?
what is negative punishment?

Answer 5

where an aversive stimulus is administered eg: parking ticket
withdrawal of a desirable stimulus eg: PS taken away
-different to reinforcement as you are stopping it.

Question 6

extra info about punishment and difference between punishment and reinforcement

Answer 6

it does not achieve a desired behaviour, only stops an undesired one.
punishment tells you what not to do, reinforcement tells you what to do.
can lead to undesirable side effects such as creating fear and teaching aggression.

Question 7

what is shaping?

Answer 7

learned behaviours are gradually built up through a process of successive reinforcements for behaviours that are progressively closer to the desired behaviour.

Question 8

what is a primary reinforcer?

Answer 8

something that is innately rewarding, meet biological needs.

Question 9

what is a secondary reinforcer?

Answer 9

something that you have learned is a reward through its association with the primary reinforcer, can be used to access biological needs.

Question 10

what did Thorndike do?
what happened and the results?

Answer 10

conducted an experiment where he put a cat in a cage with a latch on the door and a piece of salmon outside the cage.

after first trying to reach through the cage and then scratching at the bars of the cage, the cat finally hit the latch on the door and the door opened.

after repeating many times, the effort spent reaching and scratching decreased and the releasing pf the latch occurred sooner.

Question 11

what was Thorndike’s analysis of the behaviour in his experiment?

Answer 11

that behaviour that produced the desired effect became dominant and therefore occurred faster in the next experiments.
-trial and error learning.
-Thorndike stated that this was the law of effect
(if the effect of learning, to get out, was good, food, then the behaviour is learnt and repeated.

Question 12

what is the law of effect?

Answer 12

if the effect of learning is good then the behaviour is learnt and repeated.

Question 13

what did skinner record?

Answer 13

the behaviour of animals in response to different consequences, using shaping; a procedure in which reinforcers, such as food, gradually guide an animals action towards a desired behaviour.

Question 14

what was skinners box?

Answer 14

contained a lever for animals such as a rat or pigeon to press for food to be delivered.
also had a speaker and lights that could be used to trigger a behaviour and a shock generator was connected to the floor to deliver an electric response to a behaviour.

Question 15

when is a stimulus response association only repeated or learnt?

Answer 15

if the consequence of the paining is a positive one.
negative consequence would weaken the stimulus response link.

Question 16

what is antecedent? (skinner)

Answer 16

a stimulus or situation that occurs before the behaviour acts ad a trigger or cue for the behaviour to occur.

Question 17

what is behaviour? (Skinner)

Answer 17

observable action performed by the individual in response to the antecedent

Question 18

what is consequence? (Skinner)
what 2 things can it either do?

Answer 18

outcome/result that follows behaviour.
can either reinforce or punish behaviour influencing likelihood of it being repeated in the future.

Question 19

what is the primary reinforcer of skinners experiment?

Answer 19

getting food when hungry or being relieved of electric shock
-innately satisfied.

Question 20

what is the secondary reinforcer of skinners experiment?

Answer 20

learned that they get their power through association with primary reinforcers

Question 21

if a rat in skinners box learns that the light reliably signals food what will it do?
what does the light become?

Answer 21

the rat will work to turn on the light
the light has become a secondary reinforcer associated with food.

Question 22

What are schedules of reinforcement?

Answer 22

Different patterns of reinforcement have different effects on the speed of learning and on extinction

Question 23

What is the response rate? (Schedules of reinforcement)

Answer 23

The rate at which the rat pressed the lever
(How hard something worked)

Question 24

What is the extinction rate? (Schedules of reinforcement)

Answer 24

The rate at which the lever pressing died out
(How soon something stopped)

Question 25

What are the 2 types of reinforcement schedules?

Answer 25

Continuous reinforcement
Partial reinforcement

Question 26

What is continuous reinforcement?
How is the response/extinction rate?
When is it used and why?

Answer 26

An anima/human is positively reinforced every time a specific behaviour occurs.
Response rate is fast.
Extinction rate is fast.
Used at the first stages of learning in order to create a strong association between a behaviour and a response.

Question 27

What is partial reinforcement?
How are learned behaviours acquired?
What are learned behaviours more resistant to?

Answer 27

The response is reinforced only pat of the time.
Learned behaviours are acquired more slowly, but more resistant to extinction.

Question 28

What are the 4 schedules of partial reinforcement?

Answer 28

Fixed ratio schedule.
Variable ratio schedule.
Fixed interval schedule.
Variable interval schedule.

Question 29

What is the fixed ratio schedule?
What does this produce?
Response and extinction rate?

Answer 29

The response is reinforced only after a specific number of responses
This produces a high steady rate of responding with only a brief pause after the delivery of the reinforcer
Response rate:fast extinction rate:medium
Eg:after so many coffees you get a free one.

Question 30

What is variable-ratio schedule?
What does this cause high amounts of?

Answer 30

Occur when a response is reinforced after an unpredictable number of responses.
Causes high amounts of responding.
Response rate:fast extinction rate:slow
(Example rate like McDonald’s monopoly)

Question 31

What is fixed interval schedules?
How much response does it cause near the end of the interval and after the delivery of the reinforcer?

Answer 31

-Where the first response is rewarded only after a specified amount of time has passed.
-Causes high amounts of responding near the end of the interval, but much slower responding immediately after the delivery of the reinforcer.
-Response rate and extinctions rate: medium.

Question 32

What is variable interval schedules?
What sort of response does this produce?

Answer 32

-Occurs when a response is rewarded after an unpredictable amount of time have passed.
-Schedule produces a slow steady rate of response
-Response and extinction:slow

Question 33

What is behaviour modification?
What are the 2 ideas behind this?

Answer 33

Shaping behaviour using operant conditioning.
1.extinguish undesirable behaviour (by removing the reinforcer)
2.replace original behaviour with a desirable behaviour and reinforcer.

Question 34

Why did skinner deletion the behaviour modification theory?
How does his system work?

Answer 34

To include the idea of behaviour shaping or what he referred to as ‘the method of successive approximations’

-At the start of a behaviour shaping exercise, very general desired behaviours related to what you see are rewarded.

-Once this behaviour had been shown, the rewards become more selective so that only behaviours a little closer to the exact desired behaviour you wish to see are reinforced.

-This is a step by step process which gradual gets closer and closer to the desired behaviour change.

Question 35

What are successive approximations?

Answer 35

Rewarding behaviour for acting in a way that gets closer and closer to the desired behaviour.

Question 36

Where has behaviour modification been used and how?

Answer 36

As a mode of therapy to treat ADHD, OCD and autism.
The target behaviour is identified and then rewards are given for behaviours that gradually get closer to the target.

Example:a therapist working with a child with autism might use rewards to reinforce good behaviour and gradually become more selective in the distribution of rewards to encourage specific or problematic behaviour for the child.

Question 37

How could skinners process be used to teach pets tricks? Explain the process using principles of operant conditioning and behaviour modification.

Answer 37

Positive reinforcement: when the poet performs the desired behaviour (sitting, rolling over), you immediately reward r them with something they enjoy such as treats or praise or getting to encourage them to repeat behaviour.

Shaping: to teach a dog to roll over you might start rewarding them for lying foes, then rolling slightly on their side, then doing a full role. Each step is reinforced to gradually shape them final desired behaviour.

These can also be used in tasks like potty training, teaching children to use words and brushing teeth.

Question 38

What is an ethical issue of behaviour modification?

Answer 38

Behaviour modification tecnniqwues give therapists the power to determine the future behaviour of their clients.

This means that it is open to abuse, and allows therapists to condition a client into being in a way that he/she considers normal. (although not everyone may agree)

Eg: wearing a suit or going to church.

Question 39

How does superstition develop step by step?

Answer 39

Because a particular behaviour is accidentally reinforced after a random event, creating a false belief that the behaviour caused the outcome.

The behaviour is reinforced because it was accidentally followed by a certain outcome, even though the behaviour itself had no direct effect on the result.

The person repeats the behaviour in future situations, believing it increases/decreases the chances in a certain outcome, even though there is no real connection between the action and the outcome.

Question 40

What is accidental reinforcement?

Answer 40

When a person engages in a certain behaviour before an event and experiences a positive outcome after.

Mistakenly believes that the action caused the result.

Question 41

Role of reinforcement in gambling
Cunningham- what did he study?

Answer 41

He explored how intermittent reinforcement can influence human gambling behaviour.
He studied casino gamblers and found that winning sometimes, but not always plays a significant role in keeping them hooked.

Gamblers continue to okay because they never know when they’ll win.

The unpredictability of rewards (like winning in a slot machine) makes the behaviour more persistent.

Question 42

Evaluation of operant conditioning
Supporting studies- thorndike

Answer 42

Thorndikes research sup[ports operant conditioning, showing how behaviours are shaped by consequences
His ‘law on effect’ demonstrated that animals (cats) were more likely to repeat behaviours that led to a positive outcome (escaping box) and less likely to repeat behaviours that resulted in no reward.
The experiment highlights the prince;e of reinforcement in operant conditioning- behaviours followed by satisfying outcomes reinforced, making them More likely to be repeated.

Question 43

Evaluation of operant conditioning
Supporting studies-Skinner

Answer 43

Skinners research supports operant conditioning showing how reinforcement can shape behaviour.

In this experiment with pigeons and rats in skinners box, he demonstrated that animals could be trained to perform specific actions (like pressing a lever) when reinforced with food.

By rewarding the desired behaviour (lever pressing) skinners showed that operant conditioning can effectively shape ad maintain behaviour, reinforcing the idea that behaviour is influenced by its consequences.

Question 44

Evaluation of operant conditioning.
Criticisms of supporting studies
Skinner

Answer 44

Methods are objective and can be tested for reliability.while the objective and controlled nature of these studies allows for high reliability, the artificial environment may not reflect real life conditions like skinners rats in the box.

This limits the extent to which the findings can be applied to natural settings as reinforcing human behaviour may differ outside the lab.

Question 45

Evaluation of operant conditioning
Opposing studies
Kohler.

Answer 45

Operant conditioning fails to take account the role of inherited/cognitive factors in learning.

Kohler (1924) found that primates often seem to solve problems in a flash of insight rather than be trial and error learning.

This is an incomplete explanation of the learning process in humans and animals.

Question 46

Evalutation of operant conditioning
Different theories.
Bandura

Answer 46

Social learning theory provides alternative explanation.

Rather than reinforcement of behaviour, social learning theory believes we learn through observing and imitating out role models instead.

Observed behaviour may be limited if desirable consequences are expected without the need for trial and error practice.

Question 47

Evaluation of operant conditioning
Application to real life (1)

Answer 47

There is a resulting treatment called token economy programmes

Skinners principles of reinforcement have been applied to settriongs like schools, prisons and mental health institutions through token economy programmed, where individuals earn tokens for positive behaviours which are exchanged for rewards.

These programmers have been proved effective in promoting desirable behaviours and modifying unfavourable ones, demonstrating practical value of operant conditioning.

Question 48

Evaluation of operant conditioning.
Application to real life (2)

Answer 48

Use of animal studies allow practical and ethical research.

Factors like prior learning, individual differences and social influences which could affect human participants are not present in animal studies and do not show demand characteristics and have less ethical rights.