Psych 282 midterm two Flashcards
What are some of the names that can be used for operant conditioning
Instrumental conditioning
Why do we not use the term stimulus when discussing operant conditioning?
Stimulus is kind of a catchall term, while it can refer to the antecedent, (the situation that says the behaviour is possible/the situation that happens before the potential behaviour) it can also refer to consequences ex food is a consequence but it is also a stimulus so using the term stimulus can make it confusing.
Reinforcement
The process in which a behaviour is strengthened (made more likely to occur under similar circumstances- in the presence of similar or the same antecedents, increases the likelihood of the behaviour occurring) by the immediate consequence that reliably follows.
What does temporal contiguity meaning
Refers to the time between the behaivour and the consequence if the consequence occurs immediately after the behaivour we have ideal temporal contiguity. think temp like temporary measure of how long something lasts just like ammount of time and contiguity like continuing ammount of time before sequence continues, behaviour occurs and then consequence is followed the ammount of time it takes for the sequence to continue).
What does contingency mean?
Contingent means something follows something refers to how reliablly the events occur in the sequence, ideally you always have the consequence follow the behaviour establishing strong clear rules of the sequence
What is the difference between thorndikes incremental learning and acquisition.
In acquisition learning occurs at the highest rate when their is the most surprised- when the pairing first occurs, then eventually when they come to quit being surprised then it shows that they have learned to see one stimulus as a relaible predictor of another stimulus illustrating that learning has occured so increases and then eventually reaches a point where it will no longer keep increasing. Thorndikes curve of incremental improvement on the other hand measured the ammount of time it took for the cats to escape, (latency) so the longer the latency the longer the time it took them to escape the less of a strong association they had between the antecedent and the behaivour so longer is worse.
How do we determine what type of consequence a consequence is?
When we are trying to classify what type of consequence a consequence is we do not examine the intentions behind it instead we only examine how it ends up actually affecting future behaviour to determine what type of consequence it is.
What is positive reinforcement?
If we are adding something that ends up making a behaviour more likely to occur in the future then we are adding something appetitive, since we are adding something it is positive and since the thing we are adding is appetitive, (it makes the behaivour more likley to occur in the future) it is reinforcement.
What is positive punishment?
When we are adding something, (making it positive) that ends up making the behaviour less likely to occur in the future, (making it aversive- note it may not be intended to be aversive could be intended as a reward however if it ends up being misjudged and is actually something that the subject does not like it will end up decreasing the likelihood of the behaivour in the future making it a punishment, (we do not care about what a consequence is supposed to do when determining what type of consequence a consequence is, we only care about what it actually ends up doing).
What is negative reinforcement?
Negative means removing, reinforcemnt means a consequence that ends up making a behaivour more likely to occur in the future so negative reinforcement means taking something away in order to make a behaviour more likely to occur in the future, so we are taking something bad, something aversive away.
What is negative punishment?
Negative means removing, punishing means a consequence that makes a behaviour less likely to occur so we are removing something that to the individual is good, (appetitive)
If we find that when we put on sunglasses then our eyes become less painful what kind of consequence is this?
Negative reinforcement, in order to identify what the consequence is we need to determine the behaviour, (what we are looking at to see if it will be more or less likely to occur in the future), in this case putting on sunglasses is the behaviour. Since putting sunglasses on is the behaivour the consequence is that we no longer experience pain in our eyes- this is negative reinforcement, bc while yes adding sunglasses does add something good the sunglasses alone are not rewarding, (we would likely not consider them to be an appetitive stimulus when we are not exposed to the sun) rather they are rewardng because they get rid of an aversive stimulus - the pain caused by the sun in our eyes. When determining the nature of the consequence we must examine why it is likley rewarding or punishimng, (is it taking away something bad or adding something good that is not good simply because it takes away something bad- that is good alone without the presence of the bad thing that it will take away)
What does outcome mean, how does it fit into our ABC’s?
Outcome is not the same as a consequence outcome is like the aftermath of a consequence ex. in a car with friends and drive fast end up being praised, in this case the antecedent, (the information that lets us know that a behaviour can be performed and which consequence will likely follow- in this case being in the ccar with friends) driving fast is the behaviour, being praised is the consequence and then the outcome is that we will be more likely to perform the behaviour in the presence of our friends because we know that we will likely be praised. Outcome is like an arrow that loops back from consequence to antecedent, is involved in how we see antecedent in a future circumstance due to the consequence of that occured previously in this circumstance.
What can classical conditioning be reffered to as?
Respondent conditioning
What does operant behaivour or instrumental response refer to?
Behaviour that has occured due to operant learning
How do we determine if it is reinforcing or punishing?
We examine how our conditions are after the consequence was delivered if they are better then it is reinforcing if they are worse it is punishing
What does saying a consequence had no effect on behaviour not mean?
When we say that a consequence had no effect on behaviour we do not mean that it maintains the behaviur bc if a consequence is maintaining the behaviour that means that it is making it so the behaviour keeps occuring in the future where if the consequence wasn’t there it likely wouldn’t so this makes something that maintains a behaviour a reinforcer.
What is an escape behaviour
Negative reinforcment, a behaviour we do to escape from an aversive stimulus, ex. if rats are in a shuttle box one side of the floor will become electirified and the other will not this means that the rats can run to the other side in order to escape the aversive stimulus of the electrified floor.
What is an operant and what is not an operant?
An operant refers to a behaviour that is established/maintained through reinforcement, an operant can not be maintained through punishment as a punishment decreases the likelihood of a behaviour and operant does not refer to the absense of a behaviour.
What is avoidant behaviour
Behaviour that is done after we have a) been introduced to an aversive stimulus and b) been introduced to something that acts as a reliable predictor that, that aversive stimulus will come. Ex. Rats are in a shuttle boc have the unconditioned stimulus be the floor being electrified, (the aversive stimulus) which leads them to perform the response of running, if they learn that a red light serves as a reliable predictor that the floor will become electrified the formerly neutral stimulus of the red light will now become a conditioned stimulus and cause them to display the same response they did to the aversive stimulus, (the conditioned response), technically this is still negative reinforcement because the red light arouses feelings of anticipation and fear of the arrival of the aversive stimulus which goes away once the rat does the action that allows them to avoid it, (since the anticipation of the aversive stimulus itself is unpleasant it becomes an aversive stimulus that gets removed when the rat does the action that allows them to avoid the aversive stimulus- making it negative reinforcement)
Can we say that something is reinforcing in a theoretical context?
No we can not say that something was reinforcing in a theoretical context. In order to label something as reinforcing we have to be able to say that it made the behaviour more likely to occur in the future and in order to say that something made the behaviour more likely to occur in the future we have to see that it made the behaviour more likely to occur in the future by seeing an increase or continuation of the behaviour in the future, so we have to have seen the behaivour repeated in order to label the consequence as reinforcing and therefore we can not label something as theoretically reinforcing- is only reinforcing when we have seen that it increases the behaivour by seeing an increase in the behaivour.
Can wether a stimulus is a reinforcer or not differ depending on conditions?
Yes, wether a stimulus acts as a reinforcer or not can differ depending on deprivation and satiation, ex if we do not have chocolate for a month then we have been deprived of it so we will likely want it more making it more reinforcing however if we have just eaten several bars of chocolate we likley will not want anymore because we have been siatied by it so it is no longer reinforcing.
What is a trial
With operant conditioning a trial counts as a single occurrence of the behaviour followed by a single occurrence of the consequence
What is an intertrial interval
The time between one trial and another trial, (where a trial counts as when the behaviour occurs once and a consequence occurs once)
What is a discrete trial?
discrete like separate refers to a trial that has a defined start and end point where the participant must exit the environment where there is the defined start and end point in order for that environment to be reset. An example of a discrete trial with animals is when rats run a maze, in the maze there is a defined start and end point and once the rat is at the end point they must be taken out, a new reward must be placed at the end point and they must be placed at the start point again, (so is a discrete trial because there is a defined start and end point and organism needs to exit trial environment in order for it to be reset so that more trails can occur) an example of discrete trials for humans is a race as there is a defined start and end point and the runners need to exit the race track in order to get back to the start/in order for it to be reset, (must have them all back at the start together at the same time).
What is a continuous or free operant trial
A continuous or free operant trial is when the individual does not need to be taken out of the apparatus in order for another retrial to occur as the apparatus has been made to reset by itself. ex chickadees hear a call, if it is a male call they will hop into the box and recieve a treat, whereas if it is a female call if they hop into the box the light in the box will turn off, (which is aversive) so they learn to hop elsewhere. once the chickadee has recieved the treat or experienced the lights go off or hopped elsewhere the intertrial interval represents the time between when it does the behaviour and when it hops on the pearch again, as the pearch has a built in signal that once hopped on will signify that another trial can be performed, since the chickadees do not need to be removed from the appartatus in order for more trials to occur it is called continuous or free operant trials. For humans if a two year old keeps asking why and keeps recieving an answere from its parents that would be leaning closer to free operant then discrete.
What is the difference between cumulative and frequency records?
For cumulative records the x acis is the number of minutes and the y axis is the number of trials that have been made since the start up to that minute, whereas for frequency graphs the x axis is the number of minutes and the y axis indicates the number of responses that have been made only in that minute, (not the total number of responses that have been made plus the number of responses that were made in that minute like cumulative response counts do) ex if 2 responses were made in minute one none in inute two, and one in minute 3 a frequency record would have a data point at 2 for minute 1, at 0 for minute 2, and one for minute 3 (bc is looking at each minute in isolation instead of with the other minutes) a cumulative record on the other hand would have a data point at 2 for minute one, 2 for minute 2, and 3 for minute 3 as the y axis for each minute shows # of responses made in that minute + total # of previous responses made.
What are unconditioned or primary reinforcers?
Reinforcers that we do not have to learn are reinforcing- reinforcers that we will naturally want after deprivation of them. We naturally find these reinforcers reinforcing because we have likely evolved to as they help promote our survival. Can vary some with species to species. Examples of unconditioned or primary reinforcers that have biological or biogenical importance include food, sleep, water, sex and socialization in some cases.
What are conditoned or secondary reinforcers
Conditioned or secondary reinforcers are reinforcers that we have to learn are reinforcing through association with primary reinforcers or through association with another conditioned reinforcer, (as we can have higher order conditioning with reinforcers). For example clicking a clicker or giving a dog praise before giving a dog a treat becomes a conditioned reinforcer because it is originally a neutral stimulus that becomes reinforcing due to being directly or 2 degrees away paired with a primary reinforcer.
What does biologically important mean?
Is somehow associated with our survival.
What are the advantages of having conditioned reinforcers?
Having conditioned reinforcers can allow us to avoid not having temporal contiguity, (temporal like temporary a measure of time continuity like continue so refers to a measure of time the amount of time it takes for the sequence to continue- the amount of time between the enactment of the behaviour and the deliverance of the consequence). It is important to avoid having a long gap between the enactment of the behaivour and the consequence because the longer the ammount of time the more of a chance the organism has to perform other behaivours - which can make it unclear which behaivour is being reinforced. Even if other behaviours are not performed organism could be distracted by other stimulus in the environment leading them to associate the consequence with that stimulus rather then the target behaviour. Example of how having a conditioned stimulus can help reduce the ammount of time between the behaviour and the consequence: if have to give a dog a treat might take a long time to get the treat out of the bag might do other behaivours during this time or be distracted by other stimulus to avoid this can use the clicker immediately after the behaviour to indicate that this was the desired behaviour and then give a treat. Using a conditioned reinforcer can also help avoid satiation, ex instructors sisters dog is a small dog and he gets full fast so if we want to train several behaviours might not be able to use treats each time or else he will become satiated and no longer will be motivated tto recieve the reinforcement so this allows for more trials to be performed. Furthermore if the organism has a ritual surrounding the primary reinforcer that causes it to leave the training environment and increases the intertrial interval ex. instructors sisters dog will take his treat over to the carpet to eat it if we want to avoid having this time between trials wasted can use a secondary reinforcer that does not cause the dog to leave the learning environemnt, (and therefore transforms it from being a discrete trial (where dog must leave environment in order to be ready again - in order for it to be reset) to a continous one where the dog does not need to leave the environemnt in order for it to be reset again).
What are soem factors that affect acquisition in operant conditioning
- Temporal contiguity, (measure of the ammount of time it takes for the sequence to continue the ammount of time between the enactment of the beahviour and the deliverance of the consequence)
- Belongingness, examines how correlated is the consequence with the behaviour, is better to have consequences that are more correlated with the behaviour. Ex. giving hamsters food after they dig can cause them to dig more however giving hamsters food after they groom themselves will not cause them to groom themsleves more, this is because digging is seen as being done to get food so it makes sense for the hamsters to do it when they want food however grooming is not a behaviour that has adapted to be associated with food so when hamsters groom themselves they might not be desiring or trying to obtain food - making the consequence not make the behaviour more rewarding, additionally bc grooming is seen as seperate from eating related behaviours they will be unlikley to draw the connection that grooming results in the deliverance of food as that would not naturally occur.
- in addition to having primary reinforcers and secondary reinforcers, (primary reinforcers will always be more reinforcing then secondary reinforcers) the type of reinforcer within either that is delivered may have differing impacts based on individual preference ex for some people chocolate is very reinforcing and for some people who do not like sweet food it is not.
- contingency we want for every occurance of the behaviour to be followed by the consequence and we do not want the consequence to occur in isolation because if we learn that the consequence can occur from us doing nothing we will not be motivated to work for it.
What is the premack principle?
Multiple competing contingencies, (rules for how a sequence functions) ex is event a the behaivour and event b the consequence and is event b the behaiovur and event a the consequence - could depend on the circumstance. According to premacks principle out of two different possible behaivours there will be a beahiovur that we will do more often/have a greater desire to do called the high probability behaviour and a behaviour that we will have less of a desire to do called the low probability behaviour. Premacks principle further states that if we have to do the low probability behaivour in order to do the high probability behaviour we will have the low probability behaviour reinforced, (we will see an increase in the low probability behaviour) however if we have to do the high probability behaviour in order to do the low probability behaviour the high probability behaviour will not be reinforced (we will not see an increase in the high probability behaviour). We see L–> H reinforces low proability behaviour but H–> L does not reinforce high probability behaviour because if we are already less ikely to do low probability behaviour we are not likely to go out of our way to do the high probability behaviour more then usual in order to do the low probability behaviour.
How do we set up premack principle?
- Establish a baseline to determine which behaviour is done more often and which behaivour is done less often
- Test have them have to do L—> H and H–>L if our baseline was correct we will see that for L–> H the low proability behaviour is reinforced (we will be more likely to do it in the future) as we are more likley to go out of our way to do a behaivour that we do more often/want to do more however for H–>L we will not see that the high probability behaviour is reinforced, (increases in future trials) because we do not want to do the low probability beahviour as much so we are less likely to go out of our way to do something that we do not want to do as much.
- Can change which is the low and which is the high probability behaviour using deprivation and satiation, ex for rats running might be a high probability behavour and drinking might be a low probability behaviour however if we deprive the rats of water for a while they will then be more motivated to try to access water then run making drinking water the high probability behaviour and running the low probability behaviour, however if they give the rats an unlimited supply of water the rat will likely become saitited and drinking will be the lower probaiblity behaivour
What are some problems with the premack principle
Which of the two possible behaviours an individual wants to do more at a given time can change depending on deprivation and satiation however can avoid this problem if you check the baseline again
What are antecedents?
Controlling stimuli- stimuli that change the probaiblity of weather an operant, (a behaviour rather then the absense of a behaivour so operants themselves deal with reinforcemnt only)
What are the two types of controlling stimuli?
Controlling Stimuli - stimuli that control weather a operant is more or less likely to occur, (operants only refer to the presence of beahviours not their absense so we are only looking at reinforcement), controlling stimuli can also be called antecedents
the two types of controlling stimuli are
1. Descriminating stimulus (SD) makes us descriminate against other types of controlling stimulus other antecedents by proving it is the superior one as it tells us that if we enact a certain behaivour in its preesence we will recieve reinforcement, ex. chicadees hear a male chickadee call which tells them that if they hop onto a bar they rwill recieve food (reinforcement) is a descriminating stimulus
2. Extinction Stimulus (S delta) extinction in psychology refers to when we are expecting reinforcement and it is absent (like extinct because extinction in animals refers to the total absence of a species of animals) from this occasion ex a female call lets the chicadees know that if they hop onto the bar they will not recieve reinforcement - tells them that reinforcement will be extinct in (absent from) this trial
What are establishing operations
Features that increase the reinforcing value of a stimulus ex deprivation
What are abolishing operations
Features that decrease the reinforcing value of a stimlus ex satiation
What are the differences between motivating operations and controlling stimulus?
Motivating operations influence the likelihood of an operant by making the reinforcement either more desirable, (establishing operations) or less desirable (abolishing operations) whereas controlling stimulus directly control weather an operant is likely to occur or not by informing the individual that either reinforcement will be delievered if the behaviour is done in/following its presence, (descriminative stimulus) or by informing the individual that reinforcement will not be delivered if the behaviour is done in/following its presence (extinctive stimulus)
What are the differences between antecedents and consequences?
Antecedents influence the likelihood that a behaviour will occur in the present by indiciating which type of conseqeunce the behaviour will recieve whereas consequences influence the likelihood that a behaviour will be done in the future presence of the antecedent.
What is discrimination?
The ability to tell when a stimuli signals the occasion for reinforcement- (so to be able to tell apart discrimination stimulus, (the stimulus that tells us if we make the response our response will be reinforced) and the extinction stimulus, (the stimulus that tells us if we make the response our response will not be reinforced note our extinction stimulus could be its own specific stimulus or just the absence of the discrimination stimulus)
What do we need in order for discrimination to occur
In order for discrimination to occur we need to be able to tell our discrimination and extinction stimulus apart ex if we have two different colors where one serves as the discrimination stimulus and the other serves as the extinction stimulus and present them to a color blind person then they will not be able to have descrimination occur as they can not tell them apart, will have a descrimination index or DR of around 0.5
What is our discrimination index or discrimination ratio
Our discrimination index or discrimination ratio is = to the percentage of total responses we make to our discrimination stimulus divided by the total percentage of responses we make (the percentage of responses we make to our discrimination stimulus + the percentage of responses we make to our extinction stimulus which will always be equal to 100% bc we can only respond to our discrimination or extinction stimulus- if it is in a controlled environment) ex if we respond 80% of the time to our discriminative stimulus our DR = 80/100 = 0.8. Our DR tells us the proportion out of our total ammount of responses we make to the discriminative stimulus, (we make when we know we will receive reinforcement for them) - DR response over 0.5-1 indicates descrimination with a descrimination ratio being closer to one representing higher levels of descrimination - illustrating that we respond more often when we are meant to - when we know that we will recieve reinforcement for doing so.
What is our controlling stimulus
our controlling stimulus is stimulus that impact control the likelihood that we will respond includes discriminative and extinction stimulus
what is generalization
Generalization occurs when we respond to multiple types of stimulus - we generalize our respoonse to occur to multiple kinds of stimulus ex if chickadees are taught that if they respond to one recorded male call they will recieve reinforcement if we play a new male call for them and they respond to it, it demonstrates generalization, (as have learned to apply response to all male calls not just the male call they were trained with). The training stimulus will always produce the strongest response. Having multiple discriminative stimulus reinforced helps generalization of a concept occur
How do generalization and discrimination relate to concepts?
We generalize within concepts ex if we have the concept dog we know labs and poodles both get the label dog and descriminate between concepts, we know that ponies are not dogs
How can we encourage generalization across environments?
If we are a therapist trying to train someone to not have a phobia of dogs we will likely want to have them receive reinforcement for displaying calming strategies in multiple environments not just our office however we can not give them reinforcement each time they encounter a dog and use calming strategies because we can not be there every time that this occurs so we might try to get them to have someone else help to give them reinforcement- ex if they are with a friend and see a dog across the street we can get them to tell their friend okay if I see the dog and use calming strategies then I need you to praise me
What are some ways we can encourage people to recieve reinforcement without us having to give it
Can get them to look for aspects of the task that are internally reinforcing ex if the task is brushing the teeth we could use negative reinforcement by quitting nagging them once they brush their teeth, (will be reinforcement if it makes them more likely to brush their teeth in the future and is negative reinforcement because we are getting rid of something that is aversive) or positive reinforcement praising them for doing so but we could also try to get them to find internal reinforcement within the task ex by pointing out that when we brush our teeth we get a nice minty taste in our mouth
If we want a child to do their homework getting the grade may not be reinforcing however if they turn it in at the very least their teacher is likely to praise them for doing so, so we are training them to seek reinforcement elsewhere
How does discrimination and generalization occur in classical conditoning
We train a dog to salivate at the sound of a tone CS by repeatedly pairing it with food our US making it a reliable predictor of reciving food and causing our natural response to getting food UR to occur to the tone as well CR, if the dog responds to a simmilar tone then it demonstrates generalization where they are experiencing simmilar stimulus produce a generalized unintentional response and if the dog does not respond to tones of very differet frequencies then it demonstrates descrimination because they are not producing the unintentional response to all stimulus
How is generalization graphed
Frequency on the Y axis unlike most other graphs we have encountered we do not have time on the X axis because we are not measuring frequency of response to time we are measuring frequency of response to similar stimulus- so we will find a property of the stimulus and have the spectrum of that property on the X axis ex if a pigeon has the discriminative stimulus, (stimulus /(antecedent) that tells them that they will receive reinforcement for doing the behaviour in its presence) of a yellow light then our Y axis could be wavelength frequency illustrating differrent colors could look at how much they respond to wavelengths that are simmilar to yellows/how far apart from yellows wavelength the wavelengths of the color have to be for them to produce a response
Why do we have to say that we demonstrate generalization or descrimination
Generalization and descrimination can be illustrated through behaviour however we can nto say that bc they display the behaviour of generalization or descrimination that that means that they have generalization or descrimination bc we can not see what they have inside we can only see the overt behaviour that they demonstrate
What is the ideal ammount of time for reinforcement/when does a reinforcer have its maximum value?
A reinforcer will follow the opposite of a Rosclera - Wagner acquisition curve, (where initiallly increases rapidly then levels off at maximum- measures how suprisied individuals are to recieve reinforcement they will be the most suprised to get it on the first round showing the greatest increase in the first time they get it and then suprise will gradually decrese) for reinforcer value will have the most value when we first get it and then its value will decrease over time. It is ideal that we get a reinforcer as soon as possible after doing a behaviour bc well better help us establish that doing the behaviour caused us to recieve reinforcement. Further more we are less likely to be motivated by reinforcers if they occur further away ex if given the option of 100$ now or 101$ in a week we are more likely to choose 100$ now, this also occurs with negative consequences ex we are more likely to do something that will bring satisfaction in the moment then something that will bring satisfaction some time away from now as we are more motivated by recieving reinforcers sooner and more likely to classify potential negative impacts as furrture us problems. Additionally the further something is in the future the more we will underestimate just how bad it will be.
hyperbolic decay function or waiting hypothesis
like hype for ballin seems resistant to decay hyperbolic decary function or waiting hypothesis refers to how certain reinforcers will be more resistant to decay then others. Things like foods tends to be less resistant to decay then things like money- in real world plenty of money made up of metal food will rot in a matter of days whereas metal will take years will decay slower just like how money is more resistant to hyperbolic decary function, (it is less likely to lose its reinforcement value over time then food)
What is continous reinforcement
when every single response gets reinforced technically a ratio reinforcement with a 1:1 ratio where each behaviour is reinforced.
What is intermittant reinforcement
Where not every single response gets reinforced made up of 4 types first we must ask is it fixed, (does either reinforcement occur always after a certain ammount of responses or after a certain interval or time) or is it variable (does reinforcement not follow a specific shedule for time or number of responses- the ammount of time or number of responses needed for reinfocement to occur can vary over time)
It is a ratio shedule of reinforcement if the delivery of reinforcement is based on the number of responses and it is interval reinforcement if the delivery of reinforcement is based on the ammount of time
Fixed ratio - the number of responses needed to be made before reinforcement is delivered remains fixed, (the same across all trials) ex reinforcement will always be given after 5 responses
Fixed interval - the ammount of time needed to pass after the behaviour is performed before reinforcement is delivered remains fixed across all trials ex have to wait 30 seconds after performing behaivour to recieve reinforcement every single time, (note this does not mean each trial will be the same ammount of time as it is not athat the reinforcement is delievered every 30 seconds making each tiral 30 seconds long as the delivery of reinforcement is contingent on the behaviour being performed- so it takes ten minutes until organism performs behaviour or 6 seconds before they perform the behaviour they will still recieve reinforcement 30 seconds after they perform the behaivour making the first tiral 10:30 minutes long and the second 36 seconds long)
Variable ratio - when reinfrocement is on average given after a certain number of trials could have quite a wide range could get it instantly or could take ages to get it
Variable interval - when reinforcement is delivered a certain ammount of time plus or minus a certain other ammount of time after the behaivour has occured ex reinforcement is delivered 10 minutes + or - 5 minutes after the behaviour has occured.
Variable shedules of reinforcement will be more resistent to extinction- further more with both more likely to continue to do responses bc of sunk cost fallacy bc we do not want to believe that all the previous responses we did were for nothing
What can occurs with the speed of responding in fixed ratio reinforcement
we have a pause after we receive reinforcement, (post reinforcemnt pause) because we know that it will take several presses more before we receive reinforcement and that will take a lot of effort so we will not be very motivated to do it eventually we will start to perform responses again as we perform more responses we will start to perform them faster because we know we will get reinforced sooner if we do so. if we have a fixed interval of reinforcement we are bad with time however we will get an approximate idea and as we get closer and closer to the time we will check more and more often
How does the magnitude of reinforcer effect behaviour?
The greater the magnitude of the reinforcer the more intense the response will be up to a point, if we increase the magnitude then we will likely get an increased response
ex if we start off giving a rat one chocolate chip for running a maze they will likely run pretty fast but if we up the reward to ten chocolate chips they will likely run even faster conversly if we start with 10 anddecrease to 1 then the rats will be much less motivated to get the reward and will run slower.
Why is alternative behaviours more effective then punishment
Alternative behaivours involves redirecting the means of getting reinforcement so that the individual can recieve the same reinforcment through a different way other then doing the problem behaivour ex if a child has learned that if it cries in the groccery store it will get a chocolate bar an alternative behaviour could be to tell it that if it does not cry we will give it a chocolate bar when we get home this means that they still get reinforcer but for a better behaviour. Alternative behaviours are better then punishment bc punishment just tells us what not to do whereas alternative behaviours can tell us what to do instead
What are the two types of overcorrection?
Positive practice - positive practice involves getting them to practice doing the behaivour in an acceptable way ex if a child colors on the walls could make them color in a coloring book to teach them that this is the acceptable way to perform the behaviour
Restitution - involves undoing the impacts of the problem behaviour ex if they color on the walls make them scrub off the walls they colored on in order to make it more punishing we can also make it more tedious ex by making them scrub off the other walls in the room even if they did not color on them as well
Contingent Excersises
contingent excersises refer to when the punishment is not associated with the behaviour the consequence is only connected to the behaviour by the contingency by the rule that the punishment will follow the behaviour and not any other association like belongingness, (is not an overcorrection where the punishment is related to the problem behavior) ex having to run laps if you mouth off to a gym teacher, running laps is not related to undoing the effects of mouthing off, (restitution - ex having to make an apology) or modelling the correct behaviour, (ex having to speak without swearing a certain number of times) so it is a contingent excersise. as it is only connected to the behaviour bc it is in the contingency- bc it has been established as a rule that it will follow the behaviour
Guided compliance behaviour
Involves physically or verbally taking someone through how to do the behaviour, could be seen as positive punishment adding the stimulus of discomfort at having to have someone there telling them what to do. Ex child will not clean their room so the parent might sit there and tell them the order in which they should clean and even move their hands potentially to physically guide them through the behaviour they want them to do. Once the parent leaves this could be negative reinforcement if it makes the behaviour more likely to occur in the future and will be negative as it removes the uncomforable stimulus of having someone tell them what to do.
Physical restraint
Involves physically holding a part of the person immobile so they can not do the behaviour ex if a child is hitting their sibling could hold their hand, this blocks them from doing the problem behaviour of hitting and also might prevent them from gaining positive reinforcement from hitting if the added stimulus of hearing their sibling cry makes them more likely to do the behaviour in the future.
Response cost
Ex a swear jar involves someone having to give up a specified ammount of something each time they do the behaviour in a swear jar different swears. have different values
Time out
Involves removing the individual from the environment and ideally the positive reinforcement that is making their behaviour more likely to occur in the future there are two types exclusionary: where they are completely removed from the location and non-exclusionary: prevented from participating in the location
What is escape learning
When we learn to do a behaviour to escape from an aversive stimulus ex put two operant boxes together -called a shuttle box and then electrify the floor in one of the boxes but not the other- the rats will learn to run to the other box in order to avoid the electric shock, running when introduced to a frightening stimulus is an unconditioned operant behaviour - running would likely be how the rats would respond normally just learn in this context that running to a certain side makes them safe.
What is avoidance learning
Avoidance learning is when an organism learns that something is a reliable predictor of an aversive stimuli so they associate another stimuli with an aversive stimuli due to multiple pariings, (classical conditionning) this causes them to display the response they would to escape the aversive stimulus even before it occurs. Ex if a red light turns on each time before the floor becomes electrified then the rats might learn that the red light is a reliable predictor that the floor will become electrified. In order to avoid experiencing the electric shock the rats will then run to the other side before the floor has even become electrified. Since they first need to learn that there is an aversive stimulus and how to escape from it before they can learn what a reliable predicor is of the aversive stimulus and how to escape from that escape learning occurs before avoidance learning. Avoidance learning still technically involves negative reinforcement as the rats get to decrease the aversive feelings of fear by running to the other side they no longer have to anticipate the shock and fear its arrival
How can an act of punishment be seen as different depending on the perspective we are viewing it from.
If we examine yelling as positive because it adds something to the environment and punishment because it decreases the likelihood that a behaviour will occur in the future then from the individual being yelled at it is positive punishment, however from the perspective of the change agent, (the person who is yelling) maybe they are yelling at their child for having a tantrum if their child quites having a tantrum then this could be negative reinforcement for the change agent - it takes away the aversive stimulus of the child having a tantrum, (making it negative) and if this makes the parent more likely to yell in the future then it is reinforcement. Children could also through vicarious learning learn to enact the punishments they see decrease unwanted behaviour in others in their own interactions- ex if their parent yells at their sibling when they do a behaivour they dont like they might learn that yelling is the way to eliminate someone doing something you do not like and therefore might yell at their friends to stop them from doing something that they do not like.
Why is punishment not always ideal?
Ethical considerations this more often involves the use of negative punishment over positive punishment. Can tell us what not to do but if not paired with an alternative behaviour does not tellus what to do. We are good at finding ways to avoid punishemnt that do not necesscarily involve stopping the behaviour ex if we sneak out and get caught and end up being grounded that might just teach us to be more sneaky we might learn that if we get caught we will get in trouble so we will just change our behaviour in order to not get caught.
What is learned helplessness
When an organism learns that they are helpless in their situation - that there is nothing that they can do to eliminate an aversive stimulus ex if the rats are placed in a shuttle box and have the shock administered but have no way to escape even when the exit route is no longer blocked they will not try it as they have learned that they are helpless to stop the aversive stimulus so they will not try. Ex an elephant as a baby is tied to a post when it is a baby it is to weak to move the post so it learns that is helpless in the presence of the aversive stimulus of being stuck to the post however as it grows it would be able to easily tear the post out of the ground however since it has learned that it is helpless in the situation it will not try to as it is convinced that it is helpless- there is nothing it can do.
How can organisms overcome learned helplessness?
In order to overcome learned helplessness organisms often need to have someone else physically manipulate them so that they complete the steps they need to take to avoid the aversive stimulus as they will not be motivated to attempt them on their own as they have come to believe that there is nothing they can do. Ex if a rat has had escape routes blocked off when the floor of the shuttle box became electrified it will likely come to believe that there is nothing it can do to escape the aversive stimulus of the electric shock so it will not try to run to the other side in order to teach the rat that this is not the case the researcher could pick up the rat and physcially move it to the other side where the floor is not electrified.
What makes an ideal punishment
More intense punishments will produce better learning however we want to be in goldylocks zone where punishment is effective but not so intense that it is traumatizing
Contingency we want the punishemnt to occur each time the problem behaivour occurs additionally we do not want the punishment to occur in the absence of the problem behaivour ex you should not just get yelled at for no reason. Another good way to ensure that someone knows exactly what behaviour led to them being punished is to explain to them why they were punished after the fact.
Temporal contiguity - we want the punishement to occur immediately after the problem behaviour- sometimes we can not do this so we can use a signal to tell the indiviudual that they will be punished later for the behaviour
Can use informed consent for punishment in some highly controlled settings
Negative punishment is typically seen as more ethi al then positive punishemnt
When administering punishment the change agent must be learned how to handle potentially lashing out as people may lash out when they are prevented from reciving the reinforcement that they desire.
Can justify using more intense punishment if the behaivour would have more se vere consequences ex could use a shock collar to get a child to stop climbing a tree while a shock collar may seem harsher then what is ethical in most situations in this one the pain of being shocked is less bad then the potnetial consequence of fallingout of the treee and dying so can be justivied as willl produce better learning and we do not want to take the risk of having them take longer to/have less effective learning and do the behaviour as the potential consequences of it are too dangerous.
What is extinction
Ceasing giving consequences for a behaviour ex rats get food if they press a lever however if rats eventually quit getting food for pressing the lever 0- note this is different then negative punishment negative punishment would involve giving them a bowl of food and then taking it away whereas this just involves withholding reinforcement, the same can occur for punishment.
In order for extinction to occur must first have learned contingency for operant behaivour- if I do this response then this will occur and then must cease to get consequence for repsonse
What are the responses individuals give to extinction
Extinction burst- do behaviour at higher frequency or intensity or for a longer duration
Varied response - try to find different ways to get reinforcement
emotional respoonse - likely to become frustrated at not getting the reinforcement they desired- this might lead them to lash out
ex if we are trying to get food from a vending machine if it dosnet give us our food we might firt press the button more times or more intensly, (extinction burst) then we might try varied means of getting our reinforcment, (pressing the button did not work but waht about hitting the machine or kneeing it or trying to reach in to get it) if we still do not get reinforcement then we might have an emotional response might display intense frustration
What is spontaneous recovery?
When we do behaviour again under slightly different circumstances to see if it will get reinforced this time, ex a child might cry to get attention they may have learned that crying to get attention does not work at home however they could try when they are on vacation - the more situations we learn the behaviour will not be reinforced in the less spontaneous recovery will occur- however even after extinction if reinforcement occurs our behaivour will likely increase back to simmilar levels as it was in our baseline.
What is the premack principle for punishement
We can use our low probability behaviour to punish our high probability behaviour but we can not use our high probability behaviour to punish our low probability behaviour
What is a natural cue
Soemthing that we are likely to encounter in our environemnt that will remind us that we can use our contingency we have learned different from discriminative stimulus in that does not set the occaskon for reifnorcement ex if we are scared of dogs and we want to be able to have dogs be our discriminative stimulus that lets us know if we use our calming techniceqs we have learned we will recieve negative reinforcement through the reduction of the aversive stiumulus of fear, however might be hard to extend this leanring beyond therapists office so we could take something that we would likely encounter in the natural environment and try to use it as a cue for us to draw attention to our contingency unlike our discriminitve stimulus we will likely only temporarily use the cue before we can fully generalize to the discriminitve stimulus/is often used when we do not yet have a strong grasp on the discriminitive stimulus.
What is a self incorporated cue
A cue that we write/say to ourselves to remind us of our contingency ex having a note in our pocket that says if you see a dog then do deep breathing
In addition to refering to ideally having a consequence follow close in time what does contiguity also refer to
ideally having a consequence close in space.
differential reinforcement
giving reinforcement for desired behaivours and witholding reinforcement for undesired behaivours
