Unit3.8 Operant Conditioning

Operant Conditioning

Learning by associating behaviors with their consequences, where behaviors are shaped by their consequences, either through reinforcement or punishment

Law of effect

States that behavior resulting in positive outcomes become strengthened, while those followed by negative outcomes are weakened

Positive Reinforcement

ADDING something desirable to increase the likelihood of a behavior occurring

Negative Reinforcement

REMOVING something unpleasant to increase the likelihood of a behavior occurring

Primary Reinforcers

Naturally rewarding, because they will satisfy basic needs like food, water, or warmth

Secondary Reinforcement

Learned rewards, often associated with primary reinforcers

Positive punishment

Adding something unpleasant to decrease a certain behavior

Negative punishment

When something desirable is removed to decrease a particular behavior

Discrimination

The individual can tell the difference between which behaviors get rewarded and which dont’

Generalization

The individual applies what they learned through conditioning to similar situations

Reinforcement Discrimination

When an individual learns to respond only to specific cues or signals that indicate when a behavior will be reinforced

Reinforcement generalization

When a response that has been reinforced in the presence of one stimulus also occurs in the presence of a similar stimuli

Shaping

When reinforcement is used to gradually teach a complex behavior by rewarding small steps that lead towards the final desired behavior

Instinctive Drift

Limitation in shaping behaviors, due to the fact that certain natural behaviors are essentially hardwired into an animal

Superstitious behaviors

When people mistakenly believe that an action leads to a certain outcome, even though two things are not actually connected

Reinforcement schedule

When and how often reinforcers are given to an individual for a behavior

continuous Reinforcement

When reinforcement is provided every time a correct behavior is performed

Extrinsic Motivation

When an individual is motivated to preform a behavior because of an external reward or to avoid an external punishment

Intrinsic Motivation

When an individual has a desire to do something for their own sake, there is no external punishment or reward

Partial Reinforcement

When reinforcement does not occur with every correct behavior, making it more resistant to extinction

Fixed interval

When a reinforcement is given to an individual after a set amount of time has passed

Variable interval

when reinforcement is given after an unpredictable amount of time

Fixed ratio

When reinforcement is given after a specific number of behaviors

Variable Ratio

When reinforcement is provided after an unpredictable number of correct behavior, this leads to a high and steady response rate

Learned Helplessness

When an individual or animal believes they cannot influence or change an event in life, even when in reality they can