Week 2

Front 1

Operant Conditioning

Back 1

Behaviour operates on the environment

Front 2

Contingency

Back 2

the relation between a

behaviour and the environmental events that

surround it

Front 3

Three components:

 Antecedent (context in which a behaviour occurs)

 Behaviour

 Consequence (e.g., reinforcer or punisher)

Back 3

Skinner’s Three-Term Contingency

Front 4

operant class

Back 4

Responses that all have the same function

are considered to belong to the same

Front 5

function

Back 5

In operant conditioning responses are

classified in terms of their environmental

effect or

Front 6

Continuous (CRF)

Back 6

Reinforcement (or punishment) occurs on the

completion of every desired response

 Organisms learn quickly using this schedule

Front 7

Intermittent

Back 7

Once a new response is established typically shift to an

intermittent schedule where only some responses are

reinforced

 Maintain high rates of responding with reduced

reinforcement (more about this late

Front 8

Cumulative

Back 8

---------------records

illustrate the effect of a

reinforcement schedule on

responding

Front 9

Fixed-ratio (FRx)

Back 9

Reinforcement delivered after the completion of

every xth. response

Front 10

 Variable Ratio

Back 10

The number of responses required per reinforcer

varies around an average number

Front 11

Fixed Interval (

Back 11

Reinforcement follows the first response after a

fixed (set) amount of time has elapsed (usually

since last reinforcement)

Front 12

Variable Interval

Back 12

Reinforcement is delivered following the first

response made after a variable (average) amount

of time has elapsed (usually since previous

reinforcement)

Front 13

Extinction

Back 13

reduction in response frequency

following cessation of reinforcement

Front 14

Extinction burst

Back 14

Behaviour becomes more variable in extinction

 Rate/intensity of responding may increase initially in

extinction

Front 15

Shaping

Back 15

the differential reinforcement of

successive approximations to the desired response

Front 16

Differential reinforcement

Back 16

--------------at successive stages

some responses are reinforced & others aren’t