Chapter 8 (Book)

Operant Conditioning

Learning in which a behavior is shaped or strengthened by its consequences.

• Reinforcement always acts to increase or strengthen the likelihood that a behavior will happen again

• Operant behaviors: are controlled by their consequences

Respondent Conditioning (Classical conditioning)

Learning that happens when a previously neutral stimulus becomes associated with a stimulus that naturally causes a response

• You manipulate antecedent stimuli so that a previously neutral stimulus becomes associated with a stimulus that naturally produces a response

Unconditioned responses (URs)

Natural, automatic responses that happens without learning or training

• Elicted by antecedent stimuli (events or things that happen before a behavior and can influence whether that behavior occurs)

• Occurs when an unconditioned stimulus (US) is present

Unconditioned stimulus

Stimulus that naturally and automatically causes a response without being learned, due to it’s survival value

• Causes a unconditioned response (UR)

What are some examples of unconditioned responses (UR)?

Some examples of unconditioned responses (natural, automatic responses that occur without learning or training) are:

• Coughing is an unconditioned response that cleans the throat of foreign objects

• Gagging is an unconditioned response that occurs when a foreign object is in the throat to keep a person from choking

How does classical conditioning occur?

Classical conditioning occurs when:

1. Previously neutral stimulus (NS) is paired with the unconditioned stimulus (US)

2. NS becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS)

3. CS causes a conditioned response (CR) similar to the UR (unconditioned response)

How did classical conditioning work on dogs with a sound and meat powder?

Pavlov was the first person to demonstrate classical conditioning

1. Dogs salivated (UR) when meat powder (US) was placed in their mouths

2. Sound (NS) was presented just before the meat powder (US) was given

3. Sound (CS) led to salivation (CR)

The sound became a CS because it was paired with meat powder (US)

How must the timing of the neutral stimulus (NS) and the unconditioned stimulus (US) occur?

The unconditioned stimulus (US) should occur immediately AFTER the neutral stimulus (NS)

• Ex. In Pavolv’s dogs, the sound (NS) is sounded and then the meat powder (US) is given

Trace Conditioning

Classical conditioning method where the neutral stimulus (NS) comes before unconditioned stimulus (US), but NS ends before the US is presented

• Ex. You present the clicking sound (NS) and after the clicking sound has stopped, you present the puff of air (US)

Delay Conditioning

Classical conditioning method where the neutral stimulus (NS) is presented and then the unconditioned stimulus (US) is presented before the NS ends

• Ex. You present the clicking sound (NS) and a puff of air (US) is presented before the clicking sound terminated

Simultaneous Conditioning

Classical conditioning method where the neutral stimulus (NS) and unconditioned stimulus (US) are presented at the same time

• Ex. Clicking sound (NS) and puff of air (US) occur simultaneously

Backward Conditioning

Classical conditioning method where unconditioned stimulus (US) is presented before the neutral stimulus (NS)

• Ex. Puff of air is directed (US) and then the clicking sound (NS) happens

• NS has to be presented first to be the most effective

What is one example when classical conditioning can occur without close proximity of NS and US?

Classical conditioning can occur with taste aversion without close proximity of NS and US

• Ex. Drinking milk that had gone bad

• US= bad milk

• UR= nausea and vomitting

• CS= milk and CR= nausea

Higher-order Conditioning

When a previously conditioned stimulus (CS) is used to condition a new neutral stimulus

• When a NS is paired with an already established CS and the NS becomes a CS

• Ex. Blast of air in the face (US), blink is (UR), and clicking sound (CS) and eyeblink is (CS)

• Clicking sound (CS) is paired with eyeblink (CR) and flash of light (CS) with eyeblink (CR)

Conditioned emotional response (CERs)

An emotional reaction that is learned through respondent/classical conditioning (learned emotional reaction)

• Can be positive or negative

Respondent Extinction (Extinction of a Conditioned Response)

When a conditioned stimulus (CS) is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus (US) that it was previously paired with

• CR eventually decreases in intensity and stops

• Ex. If rat (CS) is presented without the noise (US), the presence of the white rat will no longer cause a fear response

Spontaneous Recovery

Return of a previously extinguished conditioned response (CR) after a period of time

• The conditioned stimulus (CS) causes the conditioned response (CR) again

• Magnitude of the conditioned response (CR) is usually smaller during spontaneous recovery

• CR should again disappear if the US is not paired with the CS during spontaneous recovery

Generalization

A conditioned response (CR) occurs to stimuli that are similar to the original conditioned stimulus (CS)

• A number of similar CS or a broader range of CS cause the same CR

• Ex. If a person is afraid of a specific dog, discrimination occurs, but if they are afraid of all dogs, generalization has occured

What are some factors that influence the strength of classical conditioning?

The strength of classical conditioning depends on a variety of factors including:

• The unconditioned stimulus (US) and conditioned stimulus (CS)

• Time between the CS and US

• Contingency between the CS and US (how reliably the CS predicts the US)

• The number of pairings between the CS and the US

• Previous exposure to the CS

How does the intensity of a stimulus influence the efffectiveness of a stimulus as a CS or US?

The intensity of a stimulus influences its effectiveness, since a more intense stimulus is more effective as a unconditioned stimulus (US)

• Ex. Stronger puff of air (US) is more effective in causing a UR than a weak puff of air

When is conditioning more effective time-wise between the NS and the US?

For conditioning to be the most effective, the neutral stimulus (NS) should come before the unconditioned stimulus (US)

• Delay conditioning and trace conditioning are the most effective

• Interval between the NS and the US should be short (less than 1 second)

• Exception to this is taste aversion where the UR (vomitting) by the bad food (US) can occur long after the CS (taste of the food)

Why is contingency between the NS and the US important?

Contingency means that the NS and US are presented together on every trial

• When this occurs, conditioning is much more likely to happen than if the US isn’t present after the NS in some trials

Why is the number of pairings between the NS and the US important?

More pairings of the NS and the US produce stronger conditioning in general

• One pairing between a NS and a US is sufficient to establish the NS as a CS, but more pairings leads to more intense response and resistance to extinction

How does previous exposure to the conditioned stimulus affect classical conditioning?

Previous exposure to the CS affects classical conditioning

• A stimulus is less likely to become a CS when paired with a US, if a person has been exposed to that stimulus in the past without the US

What is the difference between classical conditioning behavior and operant behavior?

Classical conditioning (elicted by an antecedent stimulus)

The antecedent stimulus is the CS because it comes before the response and signals/predicts the US.

• A US elicits a UR

• A CS elicts a CR, since the CS was paired with the US

Operant conditioning (evoked by an antecedent stimulus or event)

The antecedent is a stimulus or situation that comes before a behavior and can signal that a particular consequence is available.

• SD evokes a behavior because the behavior had been reinforced in its presence

• EO evokes a behavior because it increases the value of the reinforcer produced by the behavior

When does classical conditioning occur vs when does operant conditioning occur?

Classical conditioning occurs when:

• NS is paired with a US and has the power to elicit a CR

• Involves the pairing of 2 stimuli: the NS and the US

• Outcome of classical conditioning is the development of a CS from a previously neutral stimulus

Operant conditioning occurs when:

• Response to a specific stimulus is followed by a reinforcing consequence

• Behavior that is more likely to occur in the future is the behavior that is reinforced

When does extinction occur for classical conditioning and an operant behavior?

Extinction occurs for classical conditioning when the CS is no longer paired with the US

• CS no longer causes the CR

Extinction occurs for operant conditioning when the behavior no longer results in a reinforcing consequence and stops occuring in the future

Easy way to differientate between classical vs operant conditioning

Classical conditioning: Something happens TO you

• You learn that one stimulus predicts another stimulus

Operant conditioning: YOU do something

• You learn that your behavior leads to a consequence

  Behavior → Consequence

Summary of classical conditioning

Summary:

In classical conditioning:

• NS becomes a CS, when NS and US are paired

• CS elicts a CR similar to the UR elicted by the US

• Most effective when the NS is immediately before the US

• Higher order conditioning: NS is paired with an already established CS

• Involves responses with survival value

Conditioned emotional response (CER)

• One type of classical conditioning behavior

• A conditioned emotional response (CER) is an emotional reaction that is learned through classical conditioning

• A neutral stimulus becomes associated with something that gives a feeling, and eventually the neutral stimulus by itself triggers an emotional response

Classical conditioning vs operant conditioning (in one sentence)

• Classical conditioning occurs when a NS is paired with a US and NS becomes a CS that can cause a CR

• Operant conditioning is when a behavior is reinforced in the presence of an SD and more likely to occur in the future when the SD is present