Operant Conditioning Principles

Question 1

Thorndike’s law of____predicts that a response that is followed by a satisfying state of affairs is likely to be repeated.

Answer 1

effect

Question 2

Skinner extended Thorndike’s work and discussed 2 types of consequences: ____increases the behavioir it follows, while____decreases the behavior that precedes it. According to Skinner, the term___refers to the application of a stimulus following a behavior and the term___refers to the withdrawal of a stimulus. For example, _____is occurring when the removal of a stimulus following a behavior increases that behavior.

Answer 2

reinforcement; punishment;positive; punishment; negative reinforcement

Question 3

Operant extinction occurs when reinforcement is withheld from a(n)_____response. When extinguishing a behavior there’s often a temporary increase in the behavior which is referred to as a(n)_____.

Answer 3

previously reinforced;extinction burst

Question 4

Inoperantconditioning the timing of the reinforcement is important. In general the rate of acquisition of a behavior is fastest when a(n)_____schedule is used while a(n)_____schedule is more effective for maintaining a behavior.

Answer 4

continuous; intermittent(partial)

Question 5

Skinner distinguished between 4 intermittent schedules: A___schedule is associated with a low rate of responding and a “scallop” in the cumulative recording while a____schedule produces a fast steady rate of responding and responses that are most resistant to extinction. The correspndence between the rate of respionding to two or more alternatives and the frequency of reinforcement for responding is predicted by the____.

Answer 5

Fixed interval;variable ratio; matching law

Question 6

A pigeon learns that it will be reinforced if it pecks a key in the presence of a green light but will not be reinforced in the presence of a red light. The pigeon’s key-pecking behavior is under_____ with the green light acting as a ___stimulus and the red light serving as a___stimulus.

Answer 6

stimulus control; positive discriminative;negative discriminative

Question 7

____generalization occurs when stimuli similar to the original discriminative stimulus elicit the same response while____generalization occurs when a discriminative stimulus elicits responses thatare similar to the original response.

Answer 7

Stimulus; Response

Question 8

Escape and avoidance behaviors are both maintained by___reinforcement but the establishment of avoidance behaviors also involves___conditioning(discrimination training).

Answer 8

negative;classical