Chapter 5b Study Guide: Operant Conditioning and Learning Theories

Vocabulary flashcards covering operant conditioning concepts, reinforcement, punishment schedules, and learning theories from the Chapter 5b study guide.

Operant conditioning

Learning in which a voluntary response is strengthened (more likely to recur regularly) or weakened (less likely to recur regularly), depending on its favorable or unfavorable consequences.

The magic word for Operant Conditioning

Behavior

B. F. Skinner

One of the 20th century’s most influential psychologists who served as the inspiration for a whole generation of psychologists studying operant conditioning.

Reinforcement

The process by which a stimulus increases the probability that a preceding behavior will be repeated.

Reinforcer

Any stimulus that increases the probability that a preceding behavior will occur again.

Positive reinforcer

A stimulus added to the environment that brings about an increase in a preceding response.

Negative reinforcer

An unpleasant stimulus whose removal leads to an increase in a preceding response.

Punishment

A stimulus that decreases the probability that a preceding behavior will happen again.

Positive punishment

Weakens a response through the application of an unpleasant stimulus (such as spanking a child for misbehaving).

Negative punishment

Removes something pleasant (such as grounding a teenager for breaking curfew).

Schedules of reinforcement

Different patterns of frequency & timing of reinforcement following desired behavior.

Continuous reinforcement schedule

Reinforcing of a behavior every time it occurs (learning occurs more rapidly).

Partial (intermittent) reinforcement schedule

Reinforcing of a behavior some (but not all) of the time it occurs (behavior lasts longer after reinforcement stops).

Shaping

The process of teaching a complex behavior by rewarding closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior.

Cognitive learning theory

Focuses on the thought processes (cognitions) that underlie learning.

Observational learning

Learning by watching the behavior of another person (model); associated with Albert Bandura and the “social cognitive approach”.