Psychology-Chapter 6: Learning-operant conditioning Flashcards
What is operant conditioning?
Learning controlled by the consequences of the organism’s behaviour. The organism’s behaviour is shaped by what comes after it.
What is instrumental conditioning?
Psychologists also refer to operant conditioning as instrumental conditioning because the organism’s response serves an instrumental function.
What are operants?
Refers to the behaviours produced by the animal to receive a reward because the animal “operates” on its environment to get what is wants.
How does operant conditioning differ from classical conditioning?
In three important ways:
1- in CC, the organism’s response is elicited. In operant conditioning, the organism’s response is emitted. So this is more voluntary than automatic.
2- In CC, the animal’s reward is independent of what it does. In operant conditioning, the animal’s reward is contingent on its behaviour.
3- In CC, the organism’s responses depend primarily on the autonomic nervous system, OC is more dependent on the somatic nervous or skeletal muscle system.
What is the law of effect?
If we are rewarded for a response to a stimulus, we’re more likely to repeat that response to the stimulus in the future.
Early behaviourism is denoted as __-__ psychology.
S-R, stimulus-response.
What is S-R psychology?
According to S-R theorists, most of our complex behaviours reflect the progressive accumulation of associations between stimuli and responses. S-R theorists maintain that almost everything we do voluntarily results from the gradual buildup of S-R bonds due to the law of effect.
What is insight?
Grasping the underlying nature of a problem.
What is the aha reaction?
Once the animal solves the problem, it gets it correct just about every time after that.
What is a Skinner Box?
Electronically records an animal’s responses and prints out a cumulative record of the animal’s activity.
What is reinforcement?
Meaning any outcome that strengthens the probability of a response.
What is positive reinforcement?
The consequence consists of presenting something pleasant.
What is negative reinforcement?
Where the consequence to the behaviour consists of removing something unpleasant.
What is punishment?
Any outcome that weakens the probability of a response.
What is positive punishment?
Involves administering a stimulus that the organism wishes to avoid.
What is negative punishment?
Involves the removal of a stimulus that the organism wishes to experience.
According to Skinner, what are the disadvantages of punishments?
1-Punishments tell the organism what not to do and not what to do.
2- Punishment often creates anxiety, which can interfere with learning.
3- Punishment may encourage subversive behaviour (prompting people to become sneakier about forbidden situations)
4- Punishment from parents may provide a model for children’s aggressive behaviour.
When is punishment most effective?
When its delivered consistently and follows the undesired behaviour promptly.
What is a discriminative stimulus?
Any stimulus that signals the availability of reinforcement.
What is extinction in operant conditioning?
Occurs when we stop delivering reinforcement to a previously reinforce behaviour.
What is extinction burst?
Shortly after withdrawing reinforcement, the undesired behaviour initially increases in intensity. (Think of a kid screaming louder to get something he wants)
What is a schedule of reinforcement?
The pattern of delivering reinforcement.
What is continuous reinforcement?
In the simplest pattern of schedule reinforcement, continuous reinforcement, we reinforce a behaviour every time it occurs.
What is partial reinforcement?
Also called intermittent reinforcement, occurs when we reinforce responses only some of the time.
What are key distinctions between continuous and partial reinforcement?
Continuous reinforcement allows animals to learn new behaviours more quickly but partial reinforcement leads to a greater resistance to extinction.
What are the two dimensions in which the principle of reinforcement schedules varies?
1- Consistency of administering reinforcement. Can have fixed or variable contingencies.
2- The basis of administering reinforcement. Can be ratio schedules or interval schedules.
What is a fixed basis?
Reinforcement is provided on a regular basis.
What is a variable basis?
Reinforcement is provided on an irregular basis.
What is a ratio schedule?
The experimenter reinforces the animal based on the number of responses it has emitted.
What is an interval schedule?
The experimenter reinforces the animal based on the amount of time elapsed since the last reinforcement.
What is a fixed ratio schedule?
Reinforcement is provided after a regular number of responses. (ex: FR15 would be giving a rat a food pellet for every 15 responses)
What is a fixed interval schedule?
Reinforcement is provided for the first response after a specified amount of time has passed. (ex: FI2, give rat a food pellet for the first lever press it makes after 2 minutes have expired)
What is a variable ratio schedule?
Reinforcement is provided for a variable number of responses with the number varying along some average.
What is a variable interval schedule?
Reinforcement is provided for the first response after a variable time interval varying along some average.
Between ratio schedules and interval schedules, which yields higher rates of response?
Ratio
Between variable schedules and fixed schedules, which yield more consistent rates of response?
Variable
What do fixed schedules tend to produce after each reinforcement?
A pause, this is because the reinforcement is necessarily some distance away.
Which type of schedule yields the highest rates of response?
VR
What is shaping by successive approximations?
Using shaping, we train a new target behaviour by reinforcing behaviours that aren’t exactly the target behaviour but, are progressively closer versions of it.
Used to train animals.
What is fading?
Decreasing the frequency of reinforcement for the not-exactly right behaviours during shaping.
What is chaining?
Linking of a number of interrelated behaviours to form a longer series. Each behaviour becomes a cue for the next one. (think of learning the alphabet and why its so easy to go from a to z but not from the middle or in reverse order)
How would one overcome procrastination?
When putting off studying, pair it with something you would usually do if given the chance only after having done studying.
What is superstitious behaviour?
Actions linked to reinforcement by sheer coincidence. There is no actual association between superstitious behaviours and reinforcement, although the animal acts as if there is.
What is a token economy?
Systems, often set up in psychiatric hospitals, for reinforcing appropriate behaviours and extinguishing inappropriate ones.
What are secondary reinforcers?
Neutral objects that have become associated with primary reinforcers.
What are primary reinforcers?
Things such as a favourite food or toy that naturally increases the target behaviour.
Why are token economies controversial?
Because they don’t always apply to the outside world.
What is ABA?
Applied behaviour analysis. Used for autism and makes extensive use of shaping. Use of primary reinforcers as individuals with autism reach progressively closer approximations of certain words and, eventually, complete sentences.
What is two process theory?
We need both CC and OC to explain the persistence of anxiety disorders. This is an example of two-process theory.
How do phobias display two-process theory?
People acquire phobias in part by CC. Their phobias are then reinforced (negatively) by voluntarily avoiding the stimulus.
