Task 6 Flashcards
Who discovered instrumental conditioning?
Thorndike with his puzzle box
What is the law of effect?
probability of a response (R) to stimulus (S) is function of consequence (C) that has followed R in past.
What is the difference between classical and instrumental conditioning?
Classical: If consequence occurs regardless of response -> Classical paradigm.
Instrumental: If consequence is contingent on response
-> Instrumental paradigm
What characteristics do classical and instrumental conditioning share?
- Negatively accelerated learning curve;
* Tendency for learned responses to extinguish if no longer paired with consequence.
What are discrete trials and who used them?
Thorndike: experimenter defines beginning and end of trial
What are free-operant trials and who used them?
Skinner: animal can operate apparatus freely, whenever it chose.
What is a habit slip?
– When discriminative stimulus produces such strong association with response and consequence, that unexpected consequence cannot disrupt S-R-C association.
What is the observed ‘protestant ethic effect’ in pigeons?
Pigeons were first trained to peck at lighted disk. Pecks were reinforced with access to grain in a feeder. During training, there was also an empty food cup in chamber. Later, the cup was filled with grain. Despite presence of freely available food in cup, pigeons continued to peck just as vigorously to obtain grain from feeder.
What are two technique’s used by researchers to train animals to show desired responses?
- Shaping – Process in which successive approximations to desired response are reinforced. Gradually, desired response is learned.
- Chaining – Technique in which organisms are gradually trained to execute complicated sequences of discrete responses. It involves learning links in chain one at a time. It can be more effective if steps are trained in reverse order (= backward chaining).
What is the difference between primary and secondary responses?
X Primary reinforcers – Organisms tend to repeat behaviors that result in access to food, water, sleep and sex.
X Secondary reinforcers – Those that initially have no intrinsic value, but that have been paired with primary reinforcers, like money and grades.
What is the drive reduction theory of Hull?
X Drive reduction theory (Hull) – Organisms have innate drives to obtain primary reinforcers and learning reflects biological need to reduce these drives.
What phenomenon is meant by negative contrast?
A phenomenon that reflects fact that organisms who are switched from preferred reinforcer to less-preferred one will respond less strongly for it than if they had been given less-preferred one all along.
What factors determine the effectiveness of punishers?
- Discriminative stimuli for punishment can encourage cheating -> D.S. can signal whether instrumental response will be reinforced or punished. People may learn to cheat and do something when D.S. for punishment is absent.
- Concurrent reinforcement can undermine punishment -> Effects of punishment can be counteracted if reinforcement occurs along with it.
- Initial intensity matters -> Punishment is most effective if strong punisher is used from initial exposure (shock).
How does Time affect learning?
There is a principle stating that instrumental conditioning is faster if R-C interval is short (= temporal contiguity in classical conditioning).
If there is no delay, odds are good that most recent behavior was response that caused consequence. If there is long delay, it is more likely that other behaviors occurred during interval.
What is superstition?
Responses that individuals make because they believe those lead to/avert (un)desired outcomes. It develops when behavior is accidentally paired with arrival of desired consequence. Reinforcement may lead to increased future performance of behavior.
What is Self-control=
Organism’s willingness to forego small immediate reward in favor of larger future reward (diets, studying for exams).
What is positive reinforcement?
A type of operant conditioning in which the response causes a reinforcer to be ‘added’ to the environment, over time, the response becomes more frequent
o Clean room → get weekly allowance
What is negative reinforcement?
A type of operant conditioning in which the response causes a punisher to be taken away, or ‘subtracted from’ the environment; over time the response becomes more frequent
o Take aspirin→ headache goes away
What is positive punishment?
A type of operant conditioning in which the response causes the punisher to be ‘added’ to the environment; over time the response becomes less frequent
o Tease little sister → receive parental scolding
What is negative punishment?
A type of operant conditioning in which the response causes a reinforcer to be taken away, or ‘subtracted from’ the environment; over time, the response becomes less frequent
o Fight with other children→ time-out from play
What kind of schedule is the fixed-ratio?
Fixed number of responses must be made before reinforcer is delivered. Animals with this schedule have consistent pattern of fast responding leading to reinforcement, followed by post-reinforcement pause (= period with no responding).
What kind of schedule is the fixed interval?
Reinforces first response after fixed amount of time. After each reinforcement, there is period with few or no responses, but rate of responding gradually increases as end of interval nears.
What kind of schedule is the variable-ratio?
Produces reinforcement after fixed number of responses, on average. Thus, responder never knows when reinforcement is coming. Therefore, there is stable rate of responding.
What kind of schedule is the variable-interval?
Reinforces first response after an interval that is particular length of time, on average. Rate of responding is slow and steady, as rats check periodically to see if reinforcement is available.
