operant conditioning Flashcards
what does operand conditioning explain?
behaviour learnt through consequences
what did skinner say about behaviour?
that it is shaped and maintained by its consequences
what is positive reinforcement?
something good is given so the behaviour is repeated
what is negative reinforcement?
something bad is taken away so behaviour is repeated
what is punishment?
something bad is given so that behaviour is stopped
what is primary reinforcement?
a reward that is a basic need such as water and food
what is secondary reinforcement?
something that can be used to get the basic needs `
what is shaping?
when smaller behaviours are rewarded that will eventually lead to the desired behaviour
what are the schedules of reinforcement?
continuous fixed ratio variable ratio fixed interval variable interval
what is continuous reinforcement/.
a reward is given every time that behaviour is shown
steady and slow display of behaviour
what is fixed ratio?
a reward is given relating to a number of times that behaviour is shown such as every five times
high and steady display
PRP
what is variable ratio?
reward given after a number of times but the umber of times i random
highest display of behaviour
what is fixed interval?
reward given ar regular times such as every week
low rate of display
PRP
what is variable interval?
reinforcement at timed intervals but these intervals are random
high display
no prp
which schedules of reinforcement create post reinforcement pause?
fixed ratio
fixed interval
which schedules do not produce post reinforcement pause?
varibale ratio and variable interval
what is post reinforcement pause?
people may stop displayed behaviour right after they have received reinforcement but then continue
what animal did sknner study
rats and pigeons
what did skinner build?
the skinner box
what was the skinner box?
included a lever that when pressed would release a food pellet
animal would then press it by chance and receive a reward
electric shocks were also used as punishments
what animal did thorndike study on?
a cat
what was the method that thorndike used?
put cat in a cage where there was a latch on the door and a piece of salmon outside
cat scratched until hit the lever
repetition and cat spent less time finding the lever
how many times did cat attempts reduce to in thorndike?
went from five minutes and then after ten trials in reduced to five seconds
what did thorndike state law of effect was?
if the effect of learning is good then it will be repeated
why is the theory in complete?
does not account for behaviour learnt through simple observation such as social learning theory
what is wrong with generalisation about results of studies?
many of them have been on animals
which part of the brain is much larger than animals?
the cortex meaning that are likely to have a more complex system when learning behaviour
why is it reductionist?
it isolates behaviour down to consequences
why is the study useful?
can be used in therapy and penalty systems
token economy
what kind of behaviours does it help to explain>?
gambling
rewarding etc
