Unit 3 - Operant Conditioning

Operant Conditioning

a type of learning in which a behavior becomes more likely to recur if followed by a reinforcer or less likely to recur if followed by a punisher.

Law of effect

responses that produce a satisfying effect in a particular situation become more likely to occur again in that situation, and responses that produce a discomforting effect become less likely to occur again in that situation

reinforcement vs punishment and positive vs negative

Reinforcement means the behavior will continue and Punishment means the behavior will discontinue. Positive means you are adding a stimulus and Negative means you are taking away a stimulus

Positive Reinforcement

Strengthens a response by presenting a stimulus after a response. Example: Getting praise from your teacher for answering a question

Negative Reinforcement

Strengthens a response by reducing or removing an aversive stimulus. Example: taking tylenol to get rid of a headache.

Positive punishment

involves presenting an aversive stimulus after a behavior has occurred. Example: being given a ticket for speeding.

Negative punishment

involves taking away a desirable stimulus after a behavior has occurred. Example: Getting your phone taken away for using it in class.

Primary Reinforcer

an innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological need (example: water, food, air, etc)

Secondary Reinforcer

Stimuli that acquire their reinforcing power by their learned association with primary reinforcers (money, grades, success, etc)

Reinforcement Discrimination

is a type of learning that involves reinforcing a behavior in the presence of one stimulus but not others

Reinforcement Generalization

is a tendency for a conditioned or reinforced behavior to lead to a reaction to a similar stimulus that is not the desired condition

Shaping

an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior

Instinctive Drift

the tendency of learned behavior to gradually revert to biologically predisposed patterns.

Learned Helplessness

Repeated attempts to control a situation fail, you feel helpless (cannot change a situation, cannot escape punishment – often leads to depression)

Reinforcement Schedule

a pattern that defines how often a desired response will be reinforced

Continuous Reinforcement

reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs

Partial (Intermittent) Reinforcement

reinforcing a response only part of the time; results in slower acquisition of a response but much greater resistance to extinction than does continuous reinforcement

Fixed-Ratio Schedule

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses

Variable-Ratio Schedule

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses

Fixed-Interval Schedule

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed

Variable-Interval Schedule

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals