Task 6 Instrumental conditioning Flashcards
Operant conditioning
The process whereby organisms learn to make responses in order to obtain or avoid certain outcomes
o Discriminative Stimulus SD Response R Outcome O
Discriminative stimulus (SD)
A stimulus that signals whether a particular response will lead to a particular outcome. Helps to discriminate the conditions under which Response (R) will lead to Outcome (O)
Habit slip
the discriminative stimulus of the maze environment SD was so strongly associated with the maze-running response r that unexpected food encountered along the way couldn’t disrupt the SD R association
Protestant ethic effect
animals/humans rather work for food than get free food
Free-operant paradigm
An operant conditioning paradigm in which the animal can operate freely, responding to obtain reinforcement or avoid punishment when it chooses
Discrete trails paradigm
An operant conditioning paradigm in which the experimenter defines that beginning and end points
Skinners box
A conditioning experiment where rats are put in a box in which reinforcement or punishment is delivered automatically whenever an animal makes a particular response (such as pressing a lever)
Differential reinforcement of alternative behaviours
A method to decrease frequency of unwanted behaviours by instead reinforcing preferred alternate behaviours
Reinforcement schedule
A schedule determining how often reinforcement is delivered in an operant conditioning paradigm
Reinforcer
A consequence of behaviour that leads to increased likelihood of that behaviour occurring again in future
Primary reinforcer
A stimulus such as food, water, sex or sleep that has innate biological value to the organism and can function as a reinforcer
o Are not always reinforcing e.g. when the animal drunk enough water further water supply will not be reinforcing anymore
o Not all equal, e.g. they will work harder for food they like
Drive reduction theory
The theory by Hull that organisms have innate drives to obtain primary reinforcers and that learning is driven by biological need to reduce those drives
Secondary reinforcers
A stimulus (such as tokens or money) that has no intrinsic biological value but has been paired with primary reinforcers or that provided access to primary reinforcers o Can become reinforced too, or only a cue that they are in the right track to obtain primary reinforcement
Token environment
An environment (such as prison or schoolroom) in which tokens function the same way as money does in the outside world
Negative contrast
Situation in which an organism will respond less strongly to a less-preferred reinforcer than it would have if the less preferred reinforcer had been provided all along
Punisher
A consequence of a behaviour that leads to a decreased likelihood of that behaviour occurring again in the future
o Produces variety of new outcomes and is not as effective as reinforcement for desired behaviour
o Can encourage cheating
o Reinforcement can counteract punishment (e.g. when animals have to press a lever to get food, but getting an electro shock when they do so they will continue pressing the lever)
o Intensity matters, stronger punishment is more effective on behaviour and when you start with weaker punishment later stronger punishment will be less effective
Timing
reinforcement should occur shortly after the behaviour otherwise it could be associated falsely with another behaviour that occurred in the mean time
o Self-control: An organism’s willingness to forget a small immediate reinforcement in favour of a large future reinforcement.
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 (SD (potty present) R (emptying bladder) O (praise))
Positive punishment
A type of operant conditioning in which the response causes a punisher to be “added” to the environment; over time, the response becomes less frequent. (SD (potty absent) R (emptying bladder) O (disapproval))
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 (SD (headache) R (take aspirin) O (no more headache))
o Escape or avoidance training