Operant Conditioning Flashcards
Operant conditioning
The learning process in which an action’s consequences determine the likelihood that the action will be performed in the future
Law of effect
Behaviours that are followed by a satisfying state of affairs tend to be repeated and those that produce an unpleasant state of affairs are less likely to be repeated.
Operant behaviour
Behaviour that an organism produces that has some impact on the environment
Reinforcer
any stimulus or event that functions to increase the likelihood of the behaviour that led to it
Punisher
any stimulus or event that functions to decrease the likelihood of the behaviour that led to it.
Positive reinforcement
Increased behaviour while stimulus is presented
Negative reinforcement
Increased behaviour when stimulus is removed
Positive punishment
Decreased behaviour while stimulus is presented
Negative punishment
Decreased behaviour when stimulus is removed
Shaping
learning that results from the reinforcement of successive steps to a final desired behaviour. Used in treating addictions
Superstitious behaviour
Arises when the delivery of a reinforcer or punisher occurs close together in time (temporal contiguity) with an independent behaviour, increasing the likelihood of that behavior occurring again.
Continuous reinforcement
Leads to rapid learning + rapid extinction but is rare outside the laboratory
Partial reinforcement
More common. Can be given in a fixed schedule, variable schedule, interval schedule, or ratio schedule
Variable ratio schedule
Schedule of reinforcement where a response is reinforced after an unpredictable number of responses. This schedule creates a steady, high rate of responding. (e.g. gambling, lottery) Strongest reinforcement
Fixed ratio schedule
A schedule of reinforcement where a response is reinforced only after a specified number of responses.
Variable interval
The time periods that must pass before reinforcement becomes available will “vary” but must average out at a specific time interval.
Fixed interval
reinforcement becomes available after a specific period of time
Partial-reinforcement extinction effect
Greater persistence of behavior under partial reinforcement than under continuous reinforcement
Behaviour modification
The use of operant-conditioning techniques to eliminate unwanted behaviors and replace them with desirable ones
Stimulus control
Develops when a particular response only occurs when an appropriate discriminative stimulus is present. Context determines discriminative stimulus (e.g. how you act with friends vs. how you act around your boss)
Reward centres
Limbic system + medial forebrain bundle. Activated during sex, eating, drinking by dopaminergic neurons.
What does recent research suggest about dopamine?
Dopamine is more involved in the expectation of a reward than receiving the reward
What do experiments with rats in a maze tell us about the evolutionary components of operant conditioning?
Contrary to behaviorist predictions, rats - a foraging species - who find food in one arm of a maze in one trial will go down a different arm the next trial.
