Theory of learning: Operant conditioning P1 Flashcards
What did BF Skinner suggest about learning?
Its an active process where humans + animals operate on their environment
What are the 4 types of consequences for behaviour?
Positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, negative punishment
What did Skinner investigate?
How learning was affected by stimuli presented after an act was performed
What did Skinner say about certain stimuli?
He said certain stimuli causes an organism to repeat a task more frequently
What did he call stimuli with this effect?
Reinforcers - providing reinforcement in systematic way could shape behaviour in desired directions
What did Skinner call learning from consequences?
Operant conditioning - type of learning where future behaviour is determined by consequences of past behaviour
What is an example of operant conditioning?
If behaviour results in something organism finds pleasant, likely to be repeated
Vice versa for unpleasant consequences
What are the 3 types of responses that follow behaviour?
Neutral operants, reinforcers, punishers
What are neutral operants?
Responses from environment that dont increase/decrease probability of behaviour being repeated
What are reinforcers?
Responses from environment that increase probability of behaviour being repeated
Reinforcers can be positive or negative
What are punishers?
Responses from environment that decrease likelihood of behaviour being repeated
Punishment weakens behaviour
How did Skinner study operant conditioning? (Skinner box)
Animal put in small skinner box, with lever, + animal can pull lever (connected to electronics to record) to get food (reinforcer) + get food as reward
Explain Skinner’s (1948) “Superstition in the pigeon” experiment: (method + conclusion)
- 8 pigeons starved then put in cage
- Every 15 secs, food dispenser swings into cage for 5 secs
- When food due to appear, pigeons had strange behaviour (swinging motion)
Conclusion: Pigeons repeating behaviour they were in middle of doing when reinforcement offered to them
What is a positive reinforcer/reinforcement? (Presentation of pleasant stimulus)
Reward
What is negative reinforcement?
Behaviour is strengthened if it leads to removal of something unpleasant
