Acquisition And Extinction Of Operant B Ch 3

Front 1

Define acquisition.

Back 1

A process in operant conditioning that involves either an increase in the frequency of an operant or increase a previously unobserved operant.

Front 2

Define extinction.

Back 2

A process in operant conditioning that involves a decrease in the frequency with which an operant occurs when it is no longer reinforced.

Front 3

Explain necessary steps in shaping.

Back 3

1st: Deprave subject of reinforcing stimulus so motivation at highest
2nd: Analyze exact behavior to be produced
3rd. Reinforce response close to target
4th: Withdraw reinforcement so that force of behavior strong and can increase a close approximation to target behavior

Front 4

What happens if we fade reinforcement too quickly? Define it.

Back 4

Ratio strain

Front 5

What are the effects of extinction on behavior?

Back 5

Extinction takes place when an operant that has previously been reinforced is no longer reinforced. Usually followed by extinction burst that gradually fades

Front 6

Define discriminative stimulus.

Back 6

A stimulus that sets the occasion on which the operant has been previously reinforced. Operant has a higher probability of occurring in the presence of the stimulus.

Front 7

Define shaping.

Back 7

Process of reinforcing successive approximations of target behavior

Front 8

What is the topography of a response?

Back 8

Physical attributes of that response including the form, force and duration of a specific behavior.

Front 9

What is superstitious behavior?

Back 9

Developed when a behavior is inadvertently reinforced and as a result the behavior increases its frequency in the future.

Front 10

What is resistance to extinction?

Back 10

When an organism is no longer reinforced for emitting a behavior that was reinforced in the past, the organism may continue to emit that behavior long after reinforcement was discontinued.

Front 11

What 2 behavioral processes are needed to shape behavior?

Back 11

Approximations of a response must be reinforced and former approximations must be extinguished as closer behavior occurs. Continues until target behavior has been reached & all non-target behaviors extinguished.

Front 12

Why is immediate reinforcement important when shaping behavior?

Back 12

Shaping involves the reinforcement of approximate behaviors to a more complex behavior. Reinforcers increase the likelihood of the behavior it follows, so if a reinforcer is not delivered immediately, another behavior may be reinforced.

Front 13

How can you increase an organism's activity?

Back 13

Provide a stimulus after an organism has emitted the behavior. If that response increases in the future, the stimulus is a reinforcer. By introducing reinforcers, the organism's activity level will increase.

Front 14

How can an SD be used to shape behavior?

Back 14

If an organism has relevant learning experience with a stimulus, that stimulus can be presented as closer and closer approximations to the desired behavior.

Front 15

Define chance reinforcement.

Back 15

Reinforcement that is not contingent on the behavior but might actually increase it by being present at the wrong time.

Front 16

What is a schedule of reinforcement?

Back 16

Rule that tells which occurrences of a particular response will be reinforced.

Front 17

Define spontaneous recovery.

Back 17

When the rate of responding seems to return spontaneously to a high level during time between experimental sessions.

Front 18

Name 4 things affecting course of extinction.

Back 18

1. Schedule of reinforcement.
2. Magnitude of reinforcer
3. # of reinforcements received pre-extinction
4. # of previous extinctions

Front 19

What is the difference between contingent and dependent relations between environmental events and behavior?

Back 19

An event is dependent on behavior if the event must by nature occur following the behavior; event is contingent if it does follow the behavior but need not do so.

Front 20

How is the topography of responses affected by reinforcement?

Back 20

Reinforcement changes the form, force, and duration of successive responses and increases the occurrence of the behavior.

Front 21

Define shaping another way.

Back 21

The use of a combination of reinforcement and nonreinforcement to create a new behavior.

Front 22

What can we do if we cannot deliver the reinforcer immediately?

Back 22

Use a conditioned reinforcer or a discriminative stimulus. i.e. say "Good"

Front 23

Define satiation and how can it be avoided?

Back 23

Repeated presentations of a reinforcer may result in a decrease in the response. Use generalized reinforcers, such as tokens or money.

Front 24

What are the 4 types of complex schedules?

Back 24

Multiple, mixed, chain, tandem

Front 25

What are the 3 types of compound schedules?

Back 25

Conjunctive, alternative, interlocking

Front 26

What is stimulus generalization?

Back 26

Frequency of similar responses increases once one response has been reinforced. i.e. a child is reinforced for calling a father "dada" and then calls other people that.

Front 27

Explain discrimination.

Back 27

When differential reinforcement is implemented, the rates of responding in the presence of one stimulus increase while in the presence of the other stimuli decrease.

Front 28

Differentiate between behavioral contrast and generalization.

Back 28

Generalization: rates of responding change in same direction
Behavioral Contrast: rates change in opposite directions

Front 29

Define response generalization.

Back 29

Reinforcement is delivered following the occurrence of a specific response, increasing the probability of that response in future. The original response will have greatest rate, but similar responses will increase.

Front 30

What 2 rules provide that stimulus generalization can occur?

Back 30

1. Stimuli are similar to stimuli signaling reinforcement.
2. Similarities in physical attributes of stimuli

Front 31

Define continuous schedule of reinforcement.

Back 31

1:1 pairing of a given behavior and delivery of a reinforcer, after each occurrence, reinforcer delivered.

Front 32

Define intermittent schedule of reinforcement.

Back 32

Reinforcers are not provided for every response.

Front 33

How do you create a new behavior or operant?

Back 33

Once that behavior has occurred, reinforce it immediately with a stimulus. Continue this process each time and it will be effective if its a reinforcing stimulus.

Front 34

What are the 3 parameters of extinction?

Back 34

1. rate at which behavior decreases
2. amount of responses that occur before responding is at a low level
3. rate of responding that occurs after a period of time has passed.

Front 35

Operant behavior is___________.

Back 35

Emitted

Front 36

Respondent behavior is_____________.

Back 36

Elicited

Front 37

How is discrimination formed?

Back 37

When a response is reinforced in the presence of one stimulus, and responses remain high; and it is not reinforced in the presence of another stimulu, response rate decreases.

Front 38

Define the gradient of generalization.

Back 38

The orderly decrease in responding as the value of the physical property being varied moves farther away from the value in whose presence it was reinforced. i.e person would respond more to an orange light than a blue light if it had been trained with a red light.

Front 39

What is attending behavior?

Back 39

Attending is the process by which an organism's rate of responding is controlled by the stimulus properties selected by the organism; for some properties of the stimulus, responding is high but for others it may be low.

Front 40

What are 2 factors affecting attending behavior?

Back 40

1. Inherited characteristics of the organism
2. Learning history of that organism.

Front 41

Define sensory preconditioning.

Back 41

A transfer of control of a stimulus to another stimulus that is done without reinforcement.

Front 42

Define stimulus control.

Back 42

The frequency of a particular response is higher in the presence of a certain stimulus and lower in its absence.

Front 43

How can you transfer attention from one stimulus to another? i.e. transfer stimulus control

Back 43

Simultaneously present both stimuli and then slowly fade the originally controlling stimulus until the other stimulus comes to control responding.

Front 44

What is a primary reinforcer?

Back 44

Something reinforcing that we are born with, such as food or freedom from pain, etc.

Front 45

What is a conditioned reinforcer?

Back 45

A stimulus that gains its reinforcing properties by being repeatedly paired with the delivery of an existing reinforcer.