Operant conditioning: Reinforcement and bahviour modification Flashcards
What is reinforcement schedule?
A plan of how often and when reinforcement will be provided
What is behaviour modification?
The use of operant conditioning techniques to change the frequency of desired behaviours, for example in therapeutic seetings
What is shaping?
A process of modifying behaviour by reinforcing successive approximations to a desired behaviour
What is continuous reinforcement?
A behaviour is said to be continuously reinforced when the reinforcer always follows a behaviour. For example, we might pay a child every time they do the washing up.
What are the effects of continuous reinforcement?
Rapid change in behaviour but effects tend not to last
What is partial reinforcement?
Reinforcement is irregular.
What is a fixed ratio reinforcement schedule?
A reinforcer is given after a specified number of behaviours, for example we pay a child every seventh time they do the washing up
What is variable ratio reinforcement schedule?
A reinforcer is given after an unpredictable number of behaviours that varies around a mean value.
What do variatial ratio schedules lead to?
Lead to behaviour change that is difficult to extinguish
What is a fixed interval reinforcement schedule?
The time between reinforcers is kept constant. E.g. paying a child at the end of the time interval if he has washed up one or more times during that interval
What is variable interval reinforcement schedule?
The time between reinforcers is varied around a mean length of time. As with fixed interval, only one behaviour per time period is needed for reinforcement. So a child is again paid at the end of the time period if he washed up one or more times during the interval but the interval varies in length
What is an example of behaviour modification?
In sport psychology where reinforcement is used to improve technique and reduce dangeous behaviour.
Ford et al - assessed head impact (a measure of risk of injury) using helmet senseors in American footballers and used individual mentoring to provide reinforcement to the high risk players. Mean impact intensity dropped by 3.9% overall and by 4.7% on the top of head (particulary dangerous). This behaviour modification improved safety
What is an example of shaping?
Shaping occurs as children acquire language. When babies start to babble, they are initially reinforced by adult attention and praise, but this only continues if the child goes on to produce recognisable words- and later sequences of words.
What is an example of fixed -ratio schedule?
Trick or treating: receiving one sweet per house
What is an example of vixed-ratio schedule?
Gambling machine: Pays out on average every 50th go
