Chapter 4 Flashcards
Whereas _____ is associated with the law of effect, _____ is considered the founder of operant conditioning.
Thorndike proposed the law of effect, while B. F. Skinner is considered the founder of operant conditioning.
In avoidance learning, the participant learns to:
Thorndike proposed the law of effect, while B. F. Skinner is considered the founder of operant conditioning.
The highest and most consistent rate of response is produced by a _________ schedule of reinforcement.
Fixed-interval and variable- interval have lower response rates than ratio schedules. Although fixed- ratio responses are high, there is a pause following each reinforcement. Therefore, the highest and most consistent schedule is variable-ratio.
Reinforcement is:
There are two kinds of reinforcement: a) positive reinforcement makes the behaviour more likely to occur again, and b) negative reinforcement is the process where termination of an aversive stimulus makes behaviour more likely to occur.
In negative reinforcement, an increase in behaviour follows:
Negative reinforcers are aversive or unpleasant stimuli that strengthen a particular behaviour by their removal. Hitting the snooze button on an alarm clock is negatively reinforced by the termination of the alarm.
In an intermittent schedule of reinforcement, the participant is reinforced:
Partial reinforcement is superior to continuous and is more resistant to extinction.
Generalised expectancies:
Generalised expectancies influence a broad spectrum of behaviours that are viewed in terms of how people view their own behaviour as being about the outcomes they seek (i.e., locus of control of reinforcement).
Cognitive-social theory argues that _____ affects whether a particular behaviour is going to occur.
Cognitive-social theory proposes that an individual’s expectations or expectancies, about the consequences of a particular behaviour are what render the behaviour more or less likely to occur.
___________ is a way of conducting operant conditioning that capitalises on past behaviours
Shaping produces a novel behaviour by reinforcing closer and closer approximations to the desired response. The key is to begin by reinforcing a response the animal can readily produce.
You are training your dog to sit on command. Each time the dog sits, you give it a liver treat. This is an example of a ____________.
Factual. In this situation, the consequence is the same each time the animal emits a particular behaviour.
The law of effect states that:
An animal’s tendency to reproduce a behaviour, depends on that behaviour’s effect on the environment, and the consequent effect on the animal.
An important distinction between operant and classical conditioning is that:
In classical conditioning an environmental stimulus initiates a response whereas in operant conditioning, a behaviour (or operant) produces an environmental response.
Which of the following is an example of escape learning?
In escape learning, a particular behaviour is reinforced by the elimination of an aversive state of affairs that already exists; that is, the organism escapes an aversive situation.
Which of the following is not a problem with punishment?
There are two further problems with punishment. People sometimes use punishment when they are angry, which leads to poorly designed punishment and the potential for abuse; and aggression that is used to punish behaviour often leads to further aggression.
Cognitive-social theory incorporates:
From behaviourist learning principles thus emerged cognitive-social theory, which incorporates concepts of conditioning but adds two new features: a focus on cognition and a focus on social learning.
Which of the following is the most fundamental concept underlying operant conditioning?
Thorndike’s law of effect states that behaviour is a function of its consequences. A behaviour that results in a positive outcome is likely to be repeated while a behaviour that results in a negative outcome is less likely to be repeated.
Which of the following decreases the likelihood that a response will recur?
Punishment(either by presenting an aversive stimulus or by removing a rewarding stimulus) decreases the probability that a behaviour will occur.
If you remove an aversive situation when the organism makes the desired response, you are using:
Negative reinforcement is the process by which cessation of an aversive stimulus makes a behaviour more likely to occur.
If you administer an aversive event when the organism makes an unwanted response you are using:
Positive punishment involves exposure to an aversive event following a behaviour, which will decrease the likelihood of that behaviour occurring again.
In operant conditioning, when a response has been extinguished:
Spontaneous recovery can sometimes occur in operant conditioning. This is when a previously learned behaviour spontaneously re-appears despite the lack of reinforcement.
Which of the following is an example of stimulus discrimination in classical conditioning?
Stimulus discrimination is the learned tendency to respond to a restricted range of stimuli or only to the stimulus involved in the original conditioning.
As you drive down the street, a leaf hits your windshield. You know that the leaf is not going to break the windshield and yet you blink anyway. In classical conditioning, the leaf is a/an:
An unconditioned stimulus (UCS) is a neutral stimulus that produces an unconditional response. In this case, the leaf is a previously neutral stimulus which is producing a reflex response.
Taking paracetamol to relieve a headache is an example of:
Negative reinforcement strengthens behaviour. Removal of an aversive consequence marks a particular behaviour more likely to occur. Removal of the adverse consequence (the headache) will strengthen the behaviour of taking the paracetamol.
My niece has terrible temper tantrums in the grocery store, so my sister is trying to think of a way to reduce the tantrums. Which of the following would be most likely to reduce the tantrums?
In order for punishment to be effective, you should remove any existing rewards for the undesired behaviour.
