operant conditioning

Operant Conditioning

Learning behaviors due to experiences with their consequences.

Thorndike's Law of Effect

The tendency of an organism to produce a behavior depends on the effect the behavior has on the environment.

Skinner Box

A controlled environment used to study animal behavior through operant conditioning.

Reinforcements and Punishments

Reinforcements increase the likelihood of a behavior, while punishments decrease it.

Shaping

Reinforcing closer and closer approximations of the desired response.

Successive Approximation

A method of shaping behavior by reinforcing closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior.

Positive Reinforcement

Adds a stimulus to increase a behavior.

Negative Reinforcement

Removes a stimulus to increase a behavior.

Positive Punishment

Adds an aversive stimulus to decrease a behavior.

Negative Punishment

Removes a desirable stimulus to decrease a behavior.

Generalization

The tendency for a learned response to occur in the presence of stimuli similar to the original conditioned stimulus.

Discrimination

The ability to distinguish between stimuli that signal reinforcement and those that do not.

Extinction

The gradual weakening and disappearance of a learned response when reinforcement is no longer provided.

Spontaneous Recovery

After extinction, the behavior reappears.

Continuous Reinforcement

Consequences are the same each time the behavior occurs, leading to quicker learning.

Intermittent Reinforcement

Consequences are given only some of the times the behavior occurs, leading to long-term learning.

Fixed Schedules of Reinforcement

Schedules that deliver reinforcement after a set number of responses or a set amount of time.

Fixed-Ratio Schedule

A reinforcement schedule where a reward is given after a fixed number of responses.

Variable-Ratio Schedule

A reinforcement schedule where reinforcement is given after an unpredictable number of responses.

Fixed-Interval Schedule

A schedule of reinforcement where a reward is given after a fixed amount of time has passed.

Variable-Interval Schedule

A schedule of reinforcement where reinforcement is given after an unpredictable amount of time.