SKINNER

operant conditioning, reinforcement and punishment, schedules of reinforcement

classical conditioning

neutral (conditioned) stimulus paired with an unconditioned stimulus a number of times until it is capable of bringing a conditioned response

operant conditioning

immediate reinforcement of a response; changes the frequency of a response or the probability that the response will occur

shaping

successive approximations to shape desired behavior; target behavior is met if complex behavior is broken down into its components

3 conditions of shaping

• antecedent

• behavior

  • consequence

antecedent

setting

behavior

action

consequence

reward or lack of reward

positive reinforcement

any stimulus that increases the occurrence of a specific behavior is a positive reinforcer

negative reinforcement

 removal of the aversive stimulus also increases the occurrence of a specific behavior

negative reinforcement

removal/reduction of negative stimuli

punishment

presentation of aversive stimuli; removal of positive stimuli

punishment

does not threaten or weaken a response; effects are less predictable

effects of punishment

• suppressing behavior

• conditioning negative feeling

  • spread of effects through projection

2 types of punishment

• presentation of negative stimuli

  • removal of positive stimuli

conditioned reinforcers

environmental stimuli that are not by nature satisfying but become so because they are associated with unlearned or primary reinforcers

conditioned reinforcers

secondary reinforcers

generalized reinforcers

associated with more than one primary reinforcer

5 important generalized reinforcers

• attention

• approval

• affection

• submission of others

• token (money)

continuous schedule of reinforcement

reinforcement of an organism for every correct trial

continuous schedule of reinforcement

increases the frequency of the response but is inefficient to reinforce

intermittent schedule of reinforcement

reinforcement of an organism on only certain selected occurrences of a response

fixed-ratio schedule

organism is reinforced intermittently according to the number of responses it makes

variable-ratio schedule

reinforcement is given after the nth response on average

variable-ratio schedule

slot machines

fixed-interval schedule

organism is reinforced for its first response following a designated period of time

variable-interval schedule

an organism is reinforced following random-length intervals or varied periods of time