Operant conditioning theory

Question 1

how is behaviour learnt according to the operant conditioning theory?

Answer 1

through consequences- either reinforcement or punishment

Question 2

what was skinners box? (Burrhus Fredric Skinner, 1948)

Answer 2

it contained a rat and a supply of food pellets that could be released when the animal learnt to do something,
some operant chambers also contained electrified floors which could be used to punish behaviour
Using reinforcement and punishment, skinner and colleagues could train the animals to learn target behaviours

Question 3

what is reinforcement?

Answer 3

where a behaviour is encouraged to continue and is usually a pleasant consequence

Question 4

what is a reinforcer?

Answer 4

the event that leads to the increased likelihood of the behaviour being repeated

Question 5

what is positive reinforcement?

Answer 5

when someone pleasant is added to increase the likelihood of a behaviour

Question 6

what is negative reinforcement?

Answer 6

when something unpleasant is removed to increase the likelihood of a behaviour

Question 7

what is a punishment?

Answer 7

an action following a behaviour which will decrease the likelihood of that behaviour from happening again

Question 8

what is a positive punishment?

Answer 8

something unpleasant is added to decrease the likelihood of a behaviour

Question 9

what is a negative punishment?

Answer 9

something pleasant is removed to decrease the likelihood of a behaviour

Question 10

what is a primary reinforcer?

Answer 10

something rewarding as they have biological significant

Question 11

what are some examples of primary reinforcers?

Answer 11

food
sex
shelter
drinks

Question 12

what is a secondary reinforcer?

Answer 12

reinforcers associated with primary reinforcers

Question 13

what are some examples of secondary reinforcers?

Answer 13

money (can buy food/drinks)
cool job (can make us sexually attractive)

Question 14

what is continuous reinforcement?

Answer 14

leads to rapid change in behaviour but the effects tend not to last

Question 15

what is a fixed ratio reinforcement schedule?

Answer 15

a reinforcer is given after a specified number of behaviours

Question 15

what is partial reinforcement?

Answer 15

reinforcement is irregular

Question 16

what is a variable ratio reinforcement schedule?

Answer 16

a reinforcer is given after an unpredictable amount of behaviours that varies around a mean value

Question 17

what do variable ratio reinforcement schedules lead to?

Answer 17

behaviour which is difficult to extinguish

Question 18

what is a fixed interval reinforcement schedule?

Answer 18

the time between reinforcers is kept constant

Question 19

what is a variable interval reinforcement schedule?

Answer 19

the time between reinforcers is varied around a mean length of time.

Question 20

which reinforcement schedule tends to result in the most consistent behaviour?

Answer 20

variable interval schedules

Question 21

what is behaviour modification?

Answer 21

a form of therapy in which reinforcement is systematically used to increase the number of instances of desired behaviour

Question 22

what research by Cassie Ford et al (2017) is an example of behaviour modification?

Answer 22

assessed head-impact using helmet sensors in American footballers and using individual mentoring to provide reinforcement to the high-risk players.
Mean intensity dropped by 3.9% overall and by 4.7% on the top-of-the-head.

Question 23

what is shaping (behaviour modification)?

Answer 23

its used to encourage complex behaviours

Question 24

how is shaping done? (behaviour modification)

Answer 24

by reinforcing behaviour vaguely like what you are seeking, but only continue the reinforcement each time the behaviour becomes a step closer to the target behaviour