principles of operant conditioning Flashcards
what are many intervention programs based on?
operant conditioning.
what did the research in operant conditioning first begin with?
animals.
what are the contingencies of reinforcement?
the relationships between behaviors and the environments that produce or influence those behaviors.
what are the abc’s of behavior?
- a (antecedents), b (behaviors), and c (consequences)
- all related to each other
what are antecedents?
- the stimuli, settings, and contexts that influence behaviors
- can include things like gestures or looks from others
what are behaviors?
- the actions we perform
- often the focus of the abc program.
what are consequences?
- events that follow the actions performed
- these events may or may not have an impact on the individual
why is context important when it comes to behavior?
it changes our reactions ex: we may not pick up the phone if it is from someone we do not recognize).
what is important to remember about familiar procedures?
they do not change behavior. instead, they must be used in ways in which they are unfamiliar.
what are prompts?
- 1 of 3 types of antecedents
- directly facilitate and guide the performance of specific behaviors
- makes it likely a behavior will occur
- examples: verbal instructions are the most common (please do the laundry), gestures, written commands, etc.
- different types can be used alone or together
- used in hopes of receiving a particular response
- the overall goal is to develop a behavior where prompts are not needed
what are the factors influencing prompts?
- should occur just before the response is supposed to occur
- should be specific
- should guide behaviors
- should remind people of potential consequences
- reinforce responding to prompts
what is fading?
the gradual removal of a prompt.
what is important to remember about prompts?
make sure not to remove a prompt too early or the behavior/reaction may not occur!
what are setting events?
- 2 of 3 types of antecedents
- contextual factors or conditions that influence behavior (think of it as actions that “set the stage” to influence future behavior)
- tend to have broader influences on behavior
- can include external events or internal (emotional) ones
what is establishing operation?
- an antecedent variable that temporarily increases the effectiveness of a consequence and the behaviors associated with it
- can include emotional states, environmental events
what is abolishing operation?
antecedents that decrease the effectiveness of a consequence and the behaviors associated with it.
what are high probability requests?
- 3 of 3 types of antecedents
- way of presenting a prompt asking another person to do something in a special way that increases the likelihood that they will do it
- if someone asks a few high probability requests first, a low probability request that follows is more likely to be completed due to behavioral momentum (the tendency for a behavior to continue)
what is important to remember about the reinforcement of responses?
some responses are reinforced, some are not.
what is differential reinforcement?
reinforcing a response in the presence of one stimulus while not reinforcing another stimulus (ex: a student’s behavior gets reinforced when they does not raise their for 5 minutes).
what is discriminative stimulus?
a stimulus whose presence has been associated with a reinforcement (ex: a rat sees a light turn on. he associates the light with the push of a lever and does just that).
what is a non-discriminative stimulus?
a stimulus whose presence has been associated with a non-discriminative reinforcement.
what is important to remember about reinforced responses?
they are more likely to occur with discriminative stimuli but not with non-discriminative stimuli.
what is stimulus control?
- when responses are differentially controlled by antecedent stimuli
- is mostly learned
what is shaping?
- rewarding successive approximations towards a target behavior (ex: teaching an animal to do tricks and rewarding behavior that is similar to what is desired)
- has local and topographical prerequisites
- often relies on behaviors that are already in our inventory, regardless of how small or insignificant they may be
what does operant conditioning do with a stimulus?
it does not cause a response, but rather increases the likelihood that it will happen.
what are target behaviors?
behaviors that one wants to develop (these do not often happen).
what is reinforced practice?
repeated trials or performance of behavior followed by reinforcing consequences.
what is a chain?
a sequence of responses (ex: the process of getting dressed).
what is chaining?
- developing the sequence of behaviors
- reinforcement is offered for the completion of not just one behavior, but multiple
what is forward chaining?
developing behaviors in the order that they are meant to be performed.
what is backward chaining?
- starting with the last behavior in the sequence
- the shorter the delay between a response and reinforcer, the greater the effect the reinforcement has
what is important to remember about consequences?
consequences are contingent upon performance, this means it is delivered only after the target behavior has occurred. however, this also requires consistency.
what are positive reinforcers?
- stimuli/events presented after a behavior occurs that increase the likelihood that that behavior will occur again
- does not mean that the events will be good in nature, just that something will be presented
what are negative reinforcers?
- stimuli/events removed after a response has been performed that increase behavior prior to their removal
- essentially means that something will be removed
what is a generalized conditioned reinforcer?
- when a conditioned reinforcer is paired with other reinforcers (examples: money, approval, attention
- often uses tokens (like stickers, tickets, coins, etc.) to serve as generalized reinforcers
what are back-up reinforcers?
the events that tokens can purchase.
what are primary reinforcers?
reinforcers that require learning.
what are secondary/conditioned reinforcers?
- reinforcers that acquire reinforcing value by being paired with conditioned reinforced
- order is important because they are acquired with classical conditioning
what is negative reinforcement?
an increase in the likelihood that a behavior will reoccur due to removing an aversive event immediately after the target behavior has been performed.
what is punishment?
presentation or removal of a stimulus or event following a response, which decreases the likelihood of that response.
what are the types of punishment?
negative: adverse consequence is presented after a response (like being yelled at)
removal: taking away positive event after a response (like losing privileges after staying out late)
positive: stimulus that decreases the behavior is produces
what is extinction?
- cessation of reinforcement of a response that results in a decrease in the likelihood of that behavior in the future
- consequence that was previously presented no longer follows
- can be helpful, but only if you know what the reinforcer is
what is discrimination?
individual responds differently under different stimulus conditions (example: when the teacher is in the classroom, students tend to behave better than when the teacher is absent).
what is generalization?
the ways in which an effect of a program may extend beyond contingency.
what is stimulus generalization?
generalization or transfer of a response to situations other than those in which training takes place.
what is response generalization?
the changes in behaviors or responses other than those that have been trained or developed (ex: if a person is praised for smiling, the likelihood that laughing and talking occur may also increase).
what is response covariation?
the tendency for responses to change together.
