Exam 3: Learning

Aversive Stimuli

• events that organisms evade, avoid, or escape from

Primary/Unconditioned Aversive Stimuli

• Bright lights

• Stings

• Attacks

• Loud noises

• Bad odors

Conditioned Aversive Stimuli

• Frowns

• Bad grades

• “No!”

• Loss of privileges

Punishment

• Process: a decrease in operant behavior as a result of its consequences

• Procedure: presenting an aversive stimulus, or removing a reinforcing stimulus

Punisher

• any event that follows a response and decreases the probability of that response

How do you know if something is a punisher?

• if it DECREASES behavior

• just because something looks aversive, doesn’t mean it is

How are punishers formed

Respondent conditioning and aversive stimuli

• pairing with primary aversive stimuli or conditioned aversive stimulus

_______ is punished, NOT the ________

behavior, organism

Positive Punishment

an operant results in the presentation of an event, and later decreases the frequency of this operant

Negative Punishment

an operant results in the removal of an event, and later decreases the frequency of this operant

Two Types of Negative Punishment

1. Response Cost

2. Timeout

Response cost

The future probability of behavior is reduced by the response-contingent withdrawal of positive reinforcers

Timeout

The future probability of behavior is reduced by the response-contingent withdrawal of the opportunity to obtain positive reinforcers

Negative Punishment vs. Extinction

• Negative punishment involves removing the reinforcer contingent on the target response, but not the reinforcer that maintains the response

• Extinction involves withholding the reinforcer that maintains the target response

How to Make Punishment Effective

• Abrupt Introduction

  • use moderate punisher to begin with (as opposed to mild)

• Intensity of Punishment

  • larger intensity punishers are more likely to have a lasting effect than mild punishers

• Immediacy of Punishment

  • deliver punishment immediately after the response

  • Immediate punishment is more effective

• Schedule of Punishment

  • provide punishment continuously, rather than intermittently

What controls the behavior of the punisher

Ex. spanking a child

• punishment for the child (positive punishment)

• negative reinforcement for the parent

Disadvantages of punishment

• does not train a new response

• may elicit unwanted emotional responses

• often leads to avoidance or escape behavior in the future

• the person who delivers punishment may become a conditioned aversive stimulus

• generalized suppression

Advantages of punishment

• Initial effects of punishment occur more rapidly or to a greater extent than with extinction

• Reduces long term effects of unwanted behavior

Ethical considerations of punishment

• Was a functional analysis conducted

• Was the behavior insensitive to other manipulations such as extinction

• Make sure to observe collateral behavior for side effects

• Is reinforcement available for some other response?

Negative reinforcement

• an operant results in the removal of an event, and later increases the frequency of this operant

Negative reinforcer

•  any stimulus that increases that operant rate by its removal or prevention

Two types of negative reinforcement

• escape

• avoidance

escape

• response is made in the presence of aversive stimulus and response reduces or removes aversive stimulus

  • Engaging in behavior to stop aversive event

  • The presence of aversive stimulus often elicits reflexive behavior

avoidance

• response is made prior to aversive stimulus, and response prevents or postpones presentation of aversive stimulus

  • Engaging in behavior to prevent aversive stimulus

  • Ex. putting on bug spray or sunscreen

Forms of avoidance

• discriminated avoidance

• nondiscriminated avoidance

Discriminated avoidance

• avoidance behavior is emitted following a warning stimulus

  • Ex. the smell of mom’s meatloaf (that you do not like) is a signal to leave the house

Nondiscriminated avoidance

• avoidance response occurs without warning stimulus

  • Ex. taking your car to get an oil change before the car has any mechanical problems 

Sidman avoidance

• form of nondiscriminated avoidance

• shock is used as aversive stimulus

  • shock-shock interval

  • response-shock interval

    • R-S has to be larger than S-S interval for avoidance responses to occur

• organisms use the passage of time to determine when to respond

  • time becomes a warning stimulus

Kelly, Brady & Plumlee

• Purpose: analyze relations between behavioral and physiological changes

• Methods: measure food-reinforced behavior (lever pressing) and physiological changes (heart rate, blood pressure) in a conditioned suppression procedure

• Results: Behavioral and physiological changes occurred independently

learned helplessness

where a person or animal stops trying to change a negative situation, even when they have the power to do so, because they have learned from past experiences

• treatment: force the organism to make the escape response

respondent aggression

fighting generated when two organisms are in the same setting and painful stimuli can be administered

• ex. yell at partner because you have a headache

operant aggression

removal of the person delivering aversive stimulation

• hitting someone who is annoying you so they go away

Social Disruption

• When individuals attempt to escape from or avoid the punishing person or setting

  • Decreases ability of person to administer future reinforcers and punishers

Coercion

• Control that uses disproportionate consequences

  • Ex. Clean your room or you don’t get food today

stimulus control

the systematic influence of an antecedent stimulus on the probability of occurrence of a response

discriminative stimulus (S^D)

• a stimulus in whose presence there is an increased likelihood of reinforcement for responding

S^ᅀ(S delta)

a stimulus in whose presence there is a decreased likelihood of reinforcement for responding

S^P

discriminative stimuli for punishment

to discriminate is to…

• behave differently in the presence of different stimuli

Generalization

• to behavior similarly in the presence of different stimuli

Stimulus generalization

• making the same response in the presence of similar stimuli

Generalization Gradients

• Graphical representation of generalization

• Relationship between probability and stimulus value

  • Stimulus value on x axis

  • Probability or frequency of response on y axis

  • Generally produces a peak near the S^D stimulus value

• steep = discrimination

• flat = generalization

Peak Shift

• Change in the peak of a generalization gradient on the other side of S^D and away from S^ᅀ

Forms of Stimulus Control

• absolute

• relative

Absolute (form of stimulus control)

means probability of response is highest in presence of stimulus value used in training (that EXACT stimulus)

Relative (form of stimulus control)

an organism responds to differences among the values of two or more stimuli (relative to other stimulus)

Discriminations can be made either ________ or _________

• successive

• simultaneous

successive discrimination

one stimulus is presented, followed by presentation of another stimulus

simultaneous discrimination

multiple stimuli to be discriminated are presented together in time

The CS has two functions

• Respondent: elicits anxiety

• Operant: conditioned aversive stimulus

  • Strengthen behavior which results in its removal (negative reinforcement)

conditioned suppression

disruption of behavior by unavoidable aversive events

• ex. visiting the dentist

• Behavior drops after aversive event, then slowly increases again

Two functions of the word “sit” for dogs (operant vs. respondent)

• Operant behavior

  • “Sit” (discriminative stimulus in this case)

  • Dog sits

  • Gets a treat

• Respondent behavior

  • “Sit” AND being paired with food (conditioned stimulus in this case)

  • Elicits conditioned response in this case (drooling)

Avoidance behavior maintained by _______ prevents ________

operant conditioning, respondent extinction

What contingencies are an aversive control of behavior

negative reinforcement, positive punishment, negative punishment