Operant Conditioning: Theory & Application (PSYC2050 Lecture 5)

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from the lecture notes on conditioning, reinforcement theories, and related applications.

Classical Conditioning

Learning via association between a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus, producing a conditioned response (Pavlov).

Operant Conditioning

Learning via reinforcement and punishment; behavior changes based on consequences ( Skinner).

Reinforcer

Event that increases the rate of a behavior.

Punisher

Event that decreases the rate of a behavior.

Drive Reduction Theory

Motivation arises when a physiological need creates a drive; drive reduction serves as a negative reinforcer and a major driver of learning (Hull & Spence).

Primary Drives

Innate biological drives (e.g., hunger, thirst).

Secondary Reinforcers

Reinforcers that reduce drive only indirectly (e.g., money).

Premack Principle

A higher-probability behavior can reinforce a lower-probability behavior (a behavioral hierarchy).

Latent Learning

Learning that occurs without obvious reinforcement; can produce a cognitive map (Tolman & Honzik).

Cognitive Map

Mental representation of the environment used to navigate.

Expectation about Reinforcement

Reinforcer becomes part of an associative network; the organism forms expectations about reinforcement. E.g., monkey trained with banana, then reward changed to lettuce.

Olds & Milner

Electrical brain stimulation can serve as a positive reinforcer in learning experiments.

Intra-cranial Reinforcers

Direct brain stimulation that reinforces behavior; associated with ‘ratbots’ research (e.g., Talwar et al., 2002).

Shaping

Reinforcing successive approximations toward a desired behavior.

Chaining

Linking a sequence of learned behaviors by reinforcing each step.

Discriminative Stimulus (S^D)

Signal that reinforcement is available for a particular response.

Escape Learning

A response terminates an aversive stimulus (negative reinforcement).

Avoidance Learning

A response prevents the aversive stimulus from occurring.

Three-Term Contingency

S: antecedent stimulus; O: organism state; R: response; C: consequence; K: effect on future behavior.

Functional Analysis

Systematic analysis to identify what maintains an undesirable behavior by examining stimuli, responses, and consequences.

Self-Injurious Behavior (SIB)

A problem behavior analyzed in functional analyses to determine its function.

Triple P (Positive Parenting Program)

Parenting program applying operant conditioning to reinforce desirable child behaviors; includes routines and chaining.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Therapy combining cognitive and behavioral approaches; focuses on thinking errors and core beliefs; uses homework and practice; effective for anxiety.

Learned Helplessness

Condition resulting from exposure to uncontrollable punishment, leading to reduced learning, depressive-like symptoms, and physiological changes.

Attributional Styles in Learned Helplessness

Internal, stable, global attributions promote depression; external, unstable, specific attributions reduce risk.

Internal Attribution

Belief that outcomes are due to one's own actions or traits.

External Attribution

Belief that outcomes are due to outside causes.

Stable Attribution

Belief that causes are unchanging across time.

Unstable Attribution

Belief that causes vary across time.

Global Attribution

Causes affect many areas of life.

Specific Attribution

Causes affect only a particular context.

Inequity Aversion

Fairness preference observed in animals (e.g., monkeys rejecting unequal pay in experiments by Brosnan & de Waal, 2003).