Reinforcement and Schedules of Reinforcement

Question 1

What is operant conditioning?

Answer 1

A type of learning in which the future probability of a behaviour is affected by its consequences

Question 2

What are the three main components of operant conditioning?

Answer 2

antecedent cues, behaviour, and consequences.

Question 3

What is the order that ABC occurs?

Answer 3

antecedent cues (A) come before a behaviour (B); the consequences (C) occur after the behaviour.

Question 4

what does the arrow between the B and C demonstrate?

Answer 4

The arrow between B and C indicates that the behaviour causes the consequences.

Question 5

What does the colon between A and B demonstrate?

Answer 5

The colon between A and B indicates that antecedent cues do not cause behaviour, but they merely set the occasion for behaviour.

Question 6

During operant conditioning, what do the consequences of behaviour influence?

Answer 6

(1) Frequency of the behaviour in the future
(2) Ability of future antecedent cues to set the occasion for the behaviour.
Means that C influences A and B

Question 7

What is the prime movers of operant conditioning?

Answer 7

The consequences following an operant behaviour

Question 8

What are reinforcers?

Answer 8

consequences used to strengthen a behaviour

Question 9

How do we make a behaviour reoccur in the future?

Answer 9

To cause a behaviour (B) to be repeated in the future, a reinforcer must be immediately contingent (dependent) on the execution of the behaviour.

Question 10

What are the four types of contingency?

Answer 10

Positive punishment
Positive reinforcement
Negative punishment
Negative reinforcement

Question 11

What is reinforcement?

Answer 11

Reinforcement is defined as the procedure by which certain consequences strengthen a behaviour.

Question 12

What is the difference between a reinforcer and a reinforcement?

Answer 12

The term reinforcer refers to the actual consequence
of a behaviour; the term reinforcement refers to the
process or procedure of strengthening a behaviour by
instituting this consequence.

Question 13

What is positive reinforcement?

Answer 13

a behaviour strengthening procedure in which the occurrence of a behaviour is followed by the presentation of a stimulus that is usually considered pleasant or rewarding.
e.g.The use of food to increase the
strength of lever pressing in rats.

Question 14

What is Negative reinforcement?

Answer 14

Behaviour strengthening procedure in which a stimulus
that is usually considered unpleasant or aversive, is
removed or omitted if the behaviour occurs.
If fastening one’s seatbelt terminates the loud buzz that
occurs in some cars when the ignition is turned on, this
behaviour will be strengthened.

Question 15

What is a reinforcement schedule?

Answer 15

a rule that states under what conditions a reinforcer will be delivered.

Question 16

What is a continuous reinforcer?

Answer 16

Where every occurrence of the operant response is followed by a reinforcer. This schedule is called continuous reinforcement (CRF).

Question 17

What is a partial or intermittent reinforcement?

Answer 17

Where only some of the occurrences of the response are reinforced

Question 18

According to a continuous reinforcement, every time a rat hits the bar what should happen?

Answer 18

A food pellet should be delivered

Question 19

Under intermittent (or partial) reinforcement schedules, the rat:

Answer 19

May be required to hit the bar 50 times to get the pellet
2.
Is reinforced only once every five minutes

Question 20

What is the cumulative recorder?

Answer 20

A classic device that provides an easily read, graphic depiction of changes in the organisms rate of response over time…

Question 21

What are the four simple reinforcement schedules?

Answer 21

Fixed ratio, variable ratio, fixed interval, variable interval

Question 22

What is fixed ratio?

Answer 22

A reinforcer is delivered after every n responses, where n is the size of the ratio. Responding exhibits a ‘stop-and-go’ pattern (a high rate of responding along with a short pause following the attainment of each reinforcer… postreinforcement pause).
Eventually this pause gives way to an abrupt continuation of responding.
e.g. is the “piecework” method used to pay factory workers in some companies.

Question 23

What is variable ratio?

Answer 23

The number of required responses is not constant from reinforcer to reinforcer. On average, a subject will receive one reinforcer for every n responses, but the exact number of reponses required at any moment may vary widely. The pattern of responding might be described as rapid and fairly steady.

With VR schedules of modest length, regular post-reinforcement pauses are found. Yet pauses on VR schedules are several times smaller than those found on FR schedules.

Question 24

Why are the pauses on VR schedules much smaller than FR schedules?

Answer 24

Many forms of gambling are examples of VR schedules:

(1) A person’s chances of winning are directly proportional to the number of times the person plays
(2) the number of responses required for the next reinforcer is uncertain

Question 25

What are fixed intervals?

Answer 25

In all interval schedules, the presentation of a reinforcer depends both on the subject’s behavior and on the passage of time. The first response after a fixed amount of time has elapsed is reinforced. After a fixed period of time has elapsed a reinforcer is “stored”, and the next response will produce the reinforcer.

As on FR schedules, there is a post-reinforcement pause, but after this pause the subject starts by responding quite slowly… As the interval progresses, the animal responds more and more rapidly, and just before reinforcement the response rate is quite rapid.

Question 26

What is an example of a Fixed Ratio schedule?

Answer 26

Example: imagine that as you are walking to the bus stop you see a bus leave…you sit and wait for the next bus that you know will arrive in another 20 minutes, but you don’t have a watch.
The operant response is looking down the street for the next bus and the reinforcer for this response is simply the sight of the next bus.

Question 27

What is a variable interval?

Answer 27

The first response to occur after a reinforcer is
stored collects that reinforcer, and the clock does not start again until the reinforcer is collected.
The amount of time that must pass before a reinforcer is stored varies unpredictably from reinforcer to reinforcer. VI schedules typically produce a steady, moderate response rate, often with little or no postreinforcement pause.

Question 28

What is an example of a variable interval?

Answer 28

If you need to contact your lecturer with a last minute assignment question and you know that she always arrives in her office between 12pm and 1230pm (I know!), a good strategy would be to phone every few minutes.

Question 29

What is the most important factor influencing resistance to extinction?

Answer 29

The schedule of reinforcement

Question 30

When is extinction more rapid?

Answer 30

after continuous reinforcement than after a schedule of intermittent or partial reinforcement.

Question 31

What is the partial reinforcement effect?

Answer 31

That partial reinforcement during training increases responding during extinction

Question 32

What was the study by Lewis and Duncan?

Answer 32

college students were given the opportunity to play a slot machine…they were told they could play as long as they wished and that each time they won they would earn five cents.
The percentage of reinforcement was varied across groups in the first phase, and in the second phase reinforcement was discontinued and the experimenters monitored how long subjects continued to play.

Question 33

What were the results of the study by Lewis and Duncan?

Answer 33

The lower the percentage of reinforcement college students received for playing a slot machine during training, the longer they persisted in playing during extinction

Question 34

For a subject to perform a response to obtain a reinforcer depends on…?

Answer 34

1. The belief that the response would produce the reinforcer (learning)
2. Whether the subject actually wants the reinforcer (motivation)