Operant Conditioning

Question 1

Operant Conditioning?

Answer 1

A learning process in which the likelihood of a particular voluntary behavior occurring is determined by the consequences of that behavior. Organisms learn to operate on their environment to produce a desired response, learning is active.

Question 2

Antecedent ? ABC model

Answer 2

Antecedent-a stimulus that causes a voluntary behavior to occur (rat being hungry and motivated to find food)

Question 3

Behavior ? ABC model

Answer 3

Behavior-a voluntary action in response to an antecedent (pushing on lever)

Question 4

Consequence ? ABC model

Answer 4

Consequence- Outcome of the action which increases or decreases the likelihood of the action happening again. (rat gets food and is more likely to push the lever)

Question 5

• Extinction

Answer 5

• Extinction: The gradual decrease in the strength and/or rate of a learned response after a period of non-reinforcement/ punishment of the response.

Question 6

Spontaneous Recovery

Answer 6

Spontaneous Recovery: The reappearance of an extinguished response (after a rest period) in the absence of any reinforcement. The response is likely to be weaker than original response and short- lived

Question 7

Stimulus Generalization

Answer 7

Stimulus Generalisation: Occurs when a response is made to an antecedent stimulus that is similar to a previously learned stimulus that was reinforced/punished.

Question 8

• Stimulus Discrimination

Answer 8

• Stimulus Discrimination: Occurs when an organism produces a response to the original antecedent stimulus that was reinforced/punished, but not to any other similar stimuli.