behaviour ch6 operant

Operant conditioning

Learning through voluntary responses and its consequences; reinforcement increases behavioral tendencies, whereas punishment decreases them

Reinforcement

A consequence that strengthens a response and makes it more likely to recur

Punishment

A consequence that weakens a response and makes it less likely to recur

Thorndike's Law of Effect

Thorndike’s rule is that the probability of an action being repeated is strengthened when it is followed by a pleasant or satisfying consequence.

Skinner

Emphasized that reinforcement (which increases the likelihood of a response) and punishment (which decreases it) are always defined after the fact.

Skinner cautioned that the only way to know how we have influenced someone’s behavior is to

check whether it increases or decreases. Sometimes, he noted, we think we’re reinforcing or punishing, when we’re actually doing the opposite. For example, a professor may think she is encouraging shy students to talk by repeatedly praising them each time they speak up in class. But what if shy students are embarrassed by this attention? If so, they may decrease the number of times they talk in class. It’s important to note that what is reinforcing or punishing for one person may not be so for another.

Thorndike box

In one famous experiment, Thorndike put a cat inside a specially built puzzle box. When the cat stepped on a pedal inside the box (at first, through trial-and-error), the door opened and the cat could get out to eat. With each additional success, the cat’s actions become more purposeful, and it soon learned to open the door immediately (from Thorndike, 1898).

Primary Reinforcers

Stimuli that increase the probability of a response because they satisfy an intrinsic, unlearned biological need (e.g., food, water, and sex)

Secondary Reinforcers

Stimuli that increase the probability of a response because of their learned value (e.g., money, praise, attention)

Positive Reinforcement

Adding (or presenting) a stimulus, thereby strengthening a response and making it more likely to recur

Negative Reinforcement

Taking away (or removing) a stimulus, thereby strengthening a response and making it more likely to recur

Continuous reinforcement

Every correct response is reinforced Example= soda machine

Partial reinforcement

Some, but not all, responses are reinforced Example= slot machine

Shaping

Reinforcement by a series of successively improved steps leading to the desired response

Primary punishers

unlearned, innate stimuli that punish and decrease the probability of a response

Primary positive punishment

you must add 4 extra laps at soccer practice because you were late. You forget to apply sunscreen and get a painful sunburn so you are less likely to forget in the future

Primary negative punishment

Your instructor takes away points from your paper because you turned it in late making you less likely to turn it in late again. A hungry child is not allowed to eat dessert because they refused to eat their dinner decreasing the child’s liklihood of not eating dinner in the future.

Secondary punishers

learned stimuli that punish and decrease the probability of a response

Secondary positive punishment

You text on your phone while drving and get a ticket making you less likely to text while driving in the future. You study hard for an exam and still recieve a low grade decreasing the liklihood you will study hard for future exams

Secondary negative punishment

A parent takes away a teens cell phone following a poor report card making it less likely the teen will earn poor grades in the future. You argue agressively with your friend and she goes home. The removal of your friend’s presence decreases the liklihood you will argue agressively in the future.

How is being prejudiced reinforcing?

Gain attention and approval from others, Increase one’s self-esteem at the expense of the victim, People generalize from one negative experience with a specific group member to ALL members of the group, Racist behavior is reinforced on an intermittent schedule and is highly resistant to extinction

Can we learn to control involuntary body responses?

In biofeedback training 1) internal bodily processes (like blood pressure or muscle tension) are electrically recorded 2) information is amplified and reported back to the patient through headphones, signal lights, and other means 3) this information helps the person learn to control bodily processes not normally under voluntary control

Side Effects of Punishment

Passive aggressiveness, Avoidance behavior, Inappropriate modeling, Temporary suppression versus elimination, Learned helplessness, Rewarded and perpetuated aggression, inappropriate reward and punishment

1. Passive aggressiveness

For the recipient, punishment often leads to frustration, anger, and eventually aggression. But most of us have learned from experience that retaliatory aggression toward a punisher (especially one who is bigger and more powerful) is usually followed by more punishment. We therefore tend to control our impulse toward open aggression and instead resort to more subtle techniques, such as showing up late or forgetting to mail a letter for someone. This is known as passive aggressiveness (Girardi et al., 2007; Johnson, 2008).

2. Avoidance behavior

No one likes to be punished, so we naturally try to avoid the punisher. If every time you come home a parent or spouse starts yelling at you, you will delay coming home or find another place to go.

3. Inappropriate modeling

Have you ever seen a parent spank or hit his or her child for hitting another child? Ironically, the punishing parent may unintentionally serve as a “model” for the same behavior he or she is attempting to stop.

4. Temporary suppression versus elimination

Punishment generally suppresses the behavior only temporarily, while the punisher is nearby. (reppression is unconscious)

5. Learned helplessness

Why do some people stay in abusive relationships? Research shows that if you repeatedly fail in your attempts to control your environment, you acquire a general sense of powerlessness or learned helplessness and you may make no further attempts to escape (Bargai, Ben-Shakhar, & Salev, 2007; Diaz-Berciano et al., 2008; Kim, 2008; Shea, 2008).

6. Rewarded aggression

Because punishment often produces a decrease in undesired behavior, at least for the moment, the punisher is in effect rewarded for applying punishment.

7. Perpetuated aggression

A vicious circle may be established in which both the punisher and recipient are reinforced for inappropriate behavior—the punisher for punishing and the recipient for being fearful and submissive. This side effect partially explains the escalation of violence in family abuse and bullying (Anderson, Buckley, & Carnagey, 2008; Fang & Corso, 2007; Huesman, Dubow, & Boxer, 2011). In addition to fear and submissiveness, the recipient also might become depressed and/or respond with his or her own form of aggression.

5 principles of operant conditioning

acquisition, generalization, discrimination, extinction, shaping

Scenario #1 - Child screams for candy in store. Dad buys candy. Child screams for candy next visit. The TARGET BEHAVIOR

Child Screaming

Scenario #2 - Child screams for candy in store. Dad buys candy. Child screams for candy next visit. The TARGET BEHAVIOR

Dad Buying Candy

Three characteristics of respondent behaviour

1. Elicited by prior stimuli 2. Referred to as voluntary 3. Usually involves smooth muscles and glands

Consequence

what happened to you, people around you, or the environment because of a response

Positive Versus Negative Reinforcement Similarities

increase responses

Positive Versus Negative Reinforcement Differences

positive reinforcement involves the presentation of, a positive reinforcer after a response, negative reinforcement involves the removal of an aversive stimulus after a response

Five (Overlapping) Headings for Classifying Reinforcers

1. Consumable (food) 2. Activity () 3. Manipulative 4. Possessional 5. Social

Differential reinforcers

Incompatible behaviour, competitive behaviour, alternative behaviours, low response rate behaviour

Four Steps to Test a Potential Reinforcer

1. Choose a behavior that does not appear to be followed by a reinforcer 2. Following several opportunities for its occurrence, record the frequency of the behavior, absent reinforcement 3. Over several trials, present the potential reinforcer immediately after each occurrence of the behavior 4. Compare frequency between Steps 2 and 3; if the behavior has increased, then the item is a reinforcer for that person

Three Indicators that Behavior Change is Due to Indirect-Acting Effects

1. Consequence follows behavior by more than 30 seconds 2. Target behavior increases before first instance of reinforcement 3. A single occurrence of reinforcement results in a large behavioral change

Eight Factors Influencing Positive Reinforcement Effectiveness

1. Precisely specifying behavior 2. Selecting a reinforcer that is appropriate to the individual 3. Depriving the individual of the reinforcer 4. Insuring sufficient reinforcer size/magnitude 5. Effective use of instructions 6. Presenting the reinforcer immediately following behavior 7. Insuring contingent vs non-contingent presentation 8. Appropriately weaning the individual from the program

Four Qualities of Effective Reinforcers

1. They are readily available 2. They can be presented immediately following the desired behavior 3. They can be used repeatedly without rapid satiation 4. They do not require a great deal of time to consume

Difference between efficacy vs effectiveness, effectiveness

does not necessarily look into all forms of variables