PSYC 302 Behavior Principles - Unit 3 Notes

Learning vs. Performance
- Is reinforcement necessary for learning new voluntary behaviors?
- Latent Learning (Tolman & Honzik, 1930):
- Rats underwent 17 trials in a maze with 14 choice points.
- Group 1: Never fed in the maze, just removed at the goal box.
- Group 2: Fed food at the goal box every trial.
- Group 3: Fed food starting only on day 11 after 10 days without.
- Conclusion: Reinforcement isn't necessary for learning but is for performance.

Miller et al. (1960s):
- Conditioned autonomic activities in rats via contingent electrical stimulation of the brain.
- Could manipulate heart rate and other bodily functions.
Biofeedback:
- Techniques for humans to control bodily functions using sensory feedback.

Anything that reduces a physiological need serves as a reinforcer (e.g., food, water).
Problems:
- Need-reducing stimuli aren't always reinforcing.
- Not all biological needs identify a corresponding reinforcer (e.g., Vitamin B1).

Physiological needs tied to psychological drives, which are reduced when a reinforcer is consumed.
Problems:
- Difficulty accounting for all drives.
- Existence of non-need-based drives (e.g., smiles, risky behaviors).

Things that reduce tension become reinforcers.
Research by Sheffield et al.
- Conducted studies on consummatory behavior in male rats with female rats.
Reinforcement could involve sexual activity; however, it isn't categorized neatly as tension-reducing.

More probable behaviors can reinforce less probable behaviors (e.g., a thirsty animal finds drinking more rewarding than food).
Opportunity for higher probability activities to reinforce those that occur less frequently.
Application:
- Monitoring behavior duration in unrestrained settings to assess reinforcement potential.

Low-probability behavior can reinforce higher-probability behavior if access is restricted.
E.g., Timberlake and Allison (1974) found mutual reinforcement between behaviors regardless of probability.

Discriminative Stimulus (SD):
- Sets the occasion for a particular operant to be reinforced.
- Not simply elicited but emitted behavior.
S-Delta (SΔ): In presence of which a specific operant is not reinforced.

Generalization: Similar responding in presence of varied stimuli.
Discrimination: Different responding in presence of different stimuli.
Discrimination Index (ID): Allows measurement and assessment of stimulus discrimination effectiveness.

Discrimination among classes of stimuli and generalization within classes characterize conceptual learning.
Study by Herrnstein et al. (1979) showed pigeons could discriminate between images with and without trees.

Operative when the effect of one stimulus is dependent upon another.
Illustrated by examples involving monkeys and lever pressing based on auditory signals.

Short-Term Memory: Response controlled by stimuli no longer present; Delayed Matching-to-Sample (DMTS) key to assessing memory in animals.
Types of Matching: Different types like identity matching and arbitrary matching (no physical relation).

Verbal behavior (VB) includes all forms of communication and is strongly influenced by social context and community reinforcements.
Eight Units of Verbal Behavior: Include echoic, textual, intraverbal, mand, tact, and autoclitic.
- Echoic: Point-to-point correspondence (repeating words).
- Mand: Specifies its reinforcer (requests).
- Tact: Under stimulus control of the environment (labels objects).

Defined by choices between immediate and delayed rewards.
Often illustrated through Mischel's experiments with preschool children and techniques for enhancing self-control.

Modeling: Displaying self-control strategies publicly.
Fading: Gradually increasing delay to larger rewards.
Punishing Impulsive Options: Attach a consequence to immediate choices.
Visualization: Thinking of long-term outcomes solidifies delayed gratification.

The theories of reinforcement, learning, and behavior are interlinked and serve to improve understanding of both human and animal behaviors.