Operant Conditioning

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Operant conditioning

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Learning theory that identifies the factors responsible for the acquisition and maintenance of complex voluntary behaviors

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Operant conditioning (Thorndike)

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Learning occurs through the connections between stimuli and responses as a result of trial-and-error.

The behaviors are instrumental in the achieving of a goal (instrumental learning)

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The law of effect

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Any response followed by satisfying state of affairs (drive reduction?) is likely to be repeated again.

Behaviors resulting in an annoying state of affairs is less likely to occur

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BF Skinner

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Father of operant conditioning.

Believed that classical conditioning explained automatically elicited behaviors but failed to explain more complex behaviors that are voluntarily emitted.

Operant conditioning is a theory of behavior based on the way behaviors operate on the environment

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Reinforcement and punishment

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-A reinforcer always increases the probability or intensity of a response occurring.

- A punishment decreases the probability of or prevents a response occurring

Reinforcer:

-Positive refers to the application of a stimulus.

-Negative refers to the withholding or removal of a stimulus.

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Positive and negative punishment

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Positive punishment: dog chews shoe, hit with newspaper

Negative punishment (response cost): child hits sibling, takes away fav toy.

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Operant extinction

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Reward withheld from a previously reinforced behavior to eliminate or decrease that behavior.

Usually not immediate but rather gradual reduction in frequency/intensity of a response

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Extinction burst

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A temporary increase in responding during extinction

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Behavioral contrast

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When 2 different behaviors are reinforced and then the reinforcement of one behavior is withdrawn in order to extinguish it, the other behavior is likely to increase

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Primary unconditioned reinforcers

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Inherently desirable and do not acquire reinforcing value through experience

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(Generalized) Secondary reinforcers

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Acquire reinforcing value through their association with a primary reinforcer.

Ex. A token which is reinforcing because it is associated with a stimulus that is naturally reinforcing

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Continuous reinforcement

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Reinforcement after every response

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Intermittent reinforcement

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Reinforcement after a specified number of responses

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4 types of intermittent reinforcement schedules

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1. Fixed interval

2. Variable interval

3. Fixed ratio

4. Variable ratio

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Superstitious behavior and S - R generalization

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Accidental, non contingent reinforcement. Reinforcement not tied to any particular behavior

Odd, ritualistic behavior: Behaviors that the organism was engaging in just prior to the non contingent behavior

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Discriminated stimuli

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Similar, but different, stimuli are differentially reinforced. Organism learns to discriminate between stimuli that are reinforced and similar stimuli that are not reinforced

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Escape and avoidance conditioning

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Behaviors that are maintained by negative reinforcement (Escape Behavior incr bec the organism's performance allows the organism to escape an undesirable stimulus)

Escape behavior is a two-factor form of learning (organism learns to identify a stimulus that signals the initiation of an aversive stimulus).

If the organism performs the target behavior in the presence of a cue, the organism can escape the negative reinforcer.

Two factors = discrimination learning (cue) and avoidance, or escape learning

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Contingency

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The reinforcer should only be available when the target Behavior has been performed

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Immediacy

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The reinforcer should be delivered immediately after the target Behavior. Reinforcement delayed may not reinforce the target Behavior

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Schedule of reinforcement

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Establishment of a new behavior is most rapid with A continuous reinforcement. Maintenance of the target behavior is maximized with an intermittent schedule of reinforcement

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Thinning

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The change from a continuous to intermittent reinforcement schedule once the behavior is well-established, then reducing the proportion of reinforcement to Target Behavior

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Magnitude of reinforcement

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the greater the reinforcer the greater its effectiveness.

Beyond a certain magnitude, satiation may occur (the reinforcer loses its reinforcing value)

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Prompts

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Verbal or physical reinforcements facilitate the acquisition of the target Behavior

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Fading

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The gradual removal of the prompt

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Shaping

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Rewarding behaviors that approximate the target behavior.

Essentially, behaviors come closer and closer to the target behavior

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Chaining

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Developing a chain/sequence of behaviors in which each subsequent behavior is contingent on what came before

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Premack principle

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A high probability behavior is used to reinforce a low-probability behavior.

Ex. Video game-playing (high probability behaviour), working on dissertation (low-probability behaviour) - play video game after 1 hour of dissertation work

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Differential reinforcement

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Combining positive reinforcement with extinction.

Reward 1 of 2 competing responses. Reward one behavior while ignoring the other behavior

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Fixed interval

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Scalloping. The interval is the same after each reinforcement. The first response is rewarded only after a specified amount of time has elapsed.

Ex: reinforcing a rat with a pellet for the first bar press after 30-second interval

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Variable interval

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Steady but relatively low level of response. Occurs when a response is rewarded after an unpredictable amount of time has passed.

Ex: delivering a food pellet to a rat after the first bar press following a 1 minute interval, 5 minute, then 3-minute interval

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Fixed ratio

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Relatively High, steady rate of responding. A response is reinforced only after a specified number of responses.

Ex: delivering a food pellet to a rat after it presses a bar five times

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Variable ratio

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Highest rate of responding, most resistant to Extinction. When a response is reinforced after an unpredictable number of responses.

Ex: delivering food pellets to a rat after one bar press, again after 4 bar presses, and two bar presses.