Week 6: Operant Conditioning Overview Flashcards
What is operant conditioning?
A type of learning in which the consequences of behavior tend to modify that behavior in the future.
How do responses differ in classical conditioning compared to operant conditioning?
In classical conditioning, the organism learns to make an old response to a new stimulus, while in operant conditioning, the response comes first and is modified by consequences.
What is a reinforcer?
Anything that strengthens a response or increases the probability that the response will occur.
What is a primary reinforcer?
Anything that fulfills the need for survival, such as sex, food, or water.
What is a secondary reinforcer?
A neutral stimulus that becomes reinforcing after repeated pairing with other reinforcers.
What is shaping in operant conditioning?
A technique where any movement in the direction of the desired response is reinforced, gradually guiding the responses closer to the ultimate goal.
What is a Skinner Box?
A soundproof chamber designed by B.F. Skinner for operant conditioning, with a device for delivering food and a mechanism for the subject to respond.
What are successive approximations?
A series of gradual training steps with each step becoming more like the final desired response.
How can parents use shaping?
Parents may use shaping to help their child develop good table manners by praising them for gradual improvements.
Example: Praising a child each time they show gradual improvements in table manners.
