reinforcement Flashcards
what is a reinforcement?
if a behaviour is strengthened by the immediate consequence that reliably follows its occurrence
what does “strengthened mean”
more likely to occur again in the future
what does appetitive mean>
appealing, things we want that are enjoyable (food)
if a relationship is strengthened, you are..?
more likely to engage again in the future
what are the steps in defining reinforcement?
occurrence of a behaviour (response) -> immediate consequence -> outcome strengthened the behaviour (more likely to do it again)
the outcome being strenghtened is just making an?
educated guess!! probability or likelihood!! we assume they are more likely, but it can not become strengthened
thorndike law of effect is a model of?
operant conditioning
what mechanism did thorndike use to measure the law of effect?
puzzle box
what is a puzzle box?
- sequence of actions that cats had to perform to get outside of the box
- cats placed in the box while hungry (internal state / motivation important)
- to get out of the box, their consequence is food access
- motivated for the cat to get out of the box (extra reinforcing = strengthened association)
- cats figured out what actions helped them escape
- action leads to a satisfying state of affairs, it is more likely to occur again
what is incremental learning?
- latency to escape is increasing incrementally as they learn what actions will and will not get them out
what is an operant/instrumental behaviour/response?
- behaviour that is strengthened through reinforcement
- you are making a response / doing a behaviour that you must do to get whatever the consequence is
how can we tell if a behaviour is strenghthened?
increase in frequency, duration, intensity, and latency/speed
what is operant behaviour?
behaviour that is strengthened through reinforcement
acts on environment to produce a consequence
what is a reinforcer?
increase behaviour / strengthened / more likely / more steady
what is a punishment?
decrease behaviour / weakened / less likely
what is positive reinforcement?
- adding a stimulus to our situation to increase the likelihood of that behaviour occurring again in the future
- giving them something that is reinforcing
- strengthening our behaviour
what is negative reinforcement?
- taking something away makes a behaviour more likely to occur in the future
- taking a painkiller for a headache: consequence = pain goes away to get rid of aversive stimulus, and you now feel better
- snooze button on alarm, remove unwanted stimulus and head back to sleep, more likely to occur in the future
- avoidance behaviour because we don’t want to experience aversive stimulus
what is escape behaviour?
- when an operant behaviour increases by removing an ongoing event or stimulus
- pressing a lever to stop an electric shock
what is a shuttle box in escape behaviour?
run to other side of enclosure where it is no longer electrified