operant conditioning - reinforcement and behaviour modification

Question 1

what is a reinforcement schedule ?

Answer 1

a plan of how often and when reinforcement will be provided, i.e. vary or keep constant the ratio of behaviour to reinforce the time interval between reinforcements

Question 2

what is behaviour modification ?

Answer 2

the use of operant conditioning techniques to change the frequency of desired behaviours, for example in therapeutic settings

Question 3

what is shaping ?

Answer 3

a process of modifying behaviour by reinforcing successive approximations to a desire behaviour

Question 4

what is an example of a fixed-ratio schedule ?

Answer 4

trick-or-treating : receiving one sweet per house

Question 5

what is an example of a fixed-interval schedule ?

Answer 5

getting paid £8 an hour for every hour worked

Question 6

what is an example of a variable-ratio schedule ?

Answer 6

gambling machine:pays out on average every 50th time

Question 7

what is an example of a variable-interval schedule ?

Answer 7

a fish bites on average once every 15 minutes

Question 8

(evaluation) what is a strength of this theory ?

Answer 8

• supported by many studies conducted on both humans and animals
• hundreds of laboratory and field experiments have compared the effects of different partial reinforcement schedules on animal and human learning
• e.g. gary Latham and Dennis Dossett (1978) found that mountain beaver trappers responded better to variable ratio pay in which they received $4 for a trapped animal if they also correctly guessed the colour of a marble than fixed ratio pay in which they received $1 per animal
• means there is firm evidence supporting the properties of partial reinforcement.

Question 9

(evaluation) what is a weakness of the theory ?

Answer 9

• doesn’t provide a full explanation to human motivation
• humans are motivated by a range of factors - reinforcement provides a detailed account of extrinsic motivation (outside factors)
• our motivation is also a result of intrinsic motives (inside)
• e.g. at school we might be motivated to work hard because of a reward the teacher will give us as a result, but we also may be motivated because of a personal want to succeed (i.e. get good grades to be proud of oneself)

Question 10

(evaluation) what is an application of the theory ?

Answer 10

• behaviour modification system have been used to treat a range of mental health conditions (ranging from schizophrenia to autism spectrum disorders)
• e.g. Lovaas therapy involves intensive reinforcement including shaping in order to normalise some aspects of behaviour in children with ASD
• therefore it has practical benefits to clients

Question 11

what did Latham and Dossett (1978) find ?

Answer 11

they found that mountain beaver trappers responded better to variable ratio pay which they received $4 for a trapped animal if they also correctly guessed the colour of the marble rather than fixed ratio pay where they would receive $1 per trapped animal

Question 12

what does lovaas therapy involve ?

Answer 12

intensive reinforcement including shaping in order to normalise some aspects of behaviour in children with ASD