Classical and operant conditioning

Question 1

Who developed the idea of classical conditioning?

Answer 1

Ivan Pavlov

Question 2

Who devised operant conditioning?

Answer 2

BF Skinner

Question 3

What is the premise of operant conditioning?

Answer 3

That people learn by operating with the environments

Question 4

What is the difference between classical and operant conditioning?

Answer 4

In classical conditioning we are looking at responses to stimuli whereas in operant conditioning we are interested in responses to behaviour. In classical conditioning, the animal behaves as if it has learned to associate a stimulus with a significant event. In operant conditioning, the animal behaves as if it has learned to associate a behavior with a significant event.

Question 5

What is the difference between unconditioned stimuli/response and conditioned stimuli/response?

Answer 5

Unconditioned is natural and instinctual

Conditional involves a stimulus that has no importance to the animal until it is paired with something that does have importance

Question 6

What is stimulus generation? give example

Answer 6

extension of the conditioned response from the original conditioned stimulus to other similar stimuli
For example, a dog conditioned to salivate at a specific tone might also salivate at a slightly different tone.

Question 7

What is stimulus discrimination?

Answer 7

A stimulus significantly dissimilar to the conditioned stimuli does not produce a conditioned response
e.g. a bell of a much higher pitch

Question 8

What is higher order conditioning?

Answer 8

When a new stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus when it is paired with an established conditioned stimulus

Question 9

What is spontaneous recovery?

Answer 9

If the conditioned stimulus is not presented at all for sometime after extinction and is then presented again the conditioned response will return to some degree

Question 10

What is delay conditioning?

Answer 10

the conditioned stimulus precedes the unconditioned stimulus by a delay. The conditioned stimulus is still active when the unconditioned stimulus begins.

Question 11

what is trace conditioning?

Answer 11

involves the presentation of the unconditioned stimulus once the conditioned stimulus has finished.

Question 12

what is backward conditioning?

Answer 12

the conditioned stimulus follows the unconditioned stimulus.

Question 13

What is simultaneous conditioning?

Answer 13

presentation of conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus at the same time.

Question 14

What is law of contiguity?

Answer 14

stimuli need to occur close together in time in order to be associated

Question 15

What is temporal conditioning?

Answer 15

The unconditioned stimulus is paired to time (there is no conditioned stimulus). The unconditioned stimulus is presented at regular intervals (for example, every 20 minutes). Eventually the unconditioned response will occur shortly prior to the unconditioned stimulus.

Question 16

What is aversive conditioning?

Answer 16

unpleasant stimulus is paired with an unwanted behaviour in order to create an aversion to it

Question 17

What is extinction?

Answer 17

If a conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus then the conditioned response will disappear

Question 18

What is counter conditioning?
Give an example

Answer 18

Pairing a feared conditional stimulus with a positive outcome. Over repeated conditional stimulus positive unconditional stimulus pairings, the fear response declines and is often replaced by an appetitive response.

For example, when training a dog, a person would create a positive response by petting, calming, or feeding the dog to address a dog’s fear of a stimulus such as other dogs.

Question 19

What is incubation?

Answer 19

When a person is exposed to a stimulus which causes fear (for example being bitten by a dog), the fear response can increase over time due to brief exposures to the conditioned stimulus (for example to sight of dogs). This explains how fears can grow

Question 20

What is reciprocal inhibition?

Answer 20

A technique that aims to replace an undesired response (e.g., anxiety) with a desired one by counterconditioning. It relies on the gradual substitution of a response that is incompatible with the original one and is potent enough to neutralize the anxiety-evoking power of the stimulus

Question 21

What is stimulus/biological preparedness?

Answer 21

technique that aims to replace an undesired response with a desired one by counterconditioning

Question 22

What is a reinforcer

Answer 22

stimulus/event that increases the likelihood that a behaviour will be repeated

Question 23

What is positive reinforcement

Answer 23

behaviour is strengthened by a rewarding stimulus

Question 24

What is negative reinforcement?>

Answer 24

when a behaviour is strengthened by the removal of an unpleasant stimulus

Question 26

What is positive punishment give an example?

Answer 26

Behaviour is reduced in frequency by adding an unpleasant stimulus. For example, dog growls at someone he tries to stroke them

Question 27

What is negative punishment? Given an example.

Answer 27

Removing a pleasant stimulus to reduce the frequency of a behaviour for example parent taking a child’s toy off them preferring the food against the wall so the child will be less inclined to repeat the behaviour

Question 28

What are primary reinforcers?

Answer 28

Instinctual desires such as food, water, social approval and sex

Question 29

What are secondary reinforcers? What are they also known as?

Answer 29

Things not neatly appreciated and people have to learn to light them through classical conditioning or other methods such as money. Also called conditioned reinforcers

Question 30

What is a fixed interval?

Answer 30

A reward after a fixed amount of time

Question 31

What is a variable interval?

Answer 31

A reward after a varying amount of time

Question 32

What is a fixed ratio?

Answer 32

A reward occurs after a behaviour is repeated X number of times

Question 33

What is a variable ratio?

Answer 33

A reward occurs after a random number of responses

Question 34

Which schedule of reinforcement is most resistant to extinction?

Answer 34

Variable ratio schedules

Question 35

What is shaping?

Answer 35

When an exact behaviour cannot be performed and therefore cannot be rewarded as helpful to reward successive increasingly accurate approximation to this behaviour

Question 36

What is chaining?

Answer 36

Breaking a complex task into smaller, more manageable sections

Question 37

What is the difference between shaping and chaining?

Answer 37

Shaping always moves forward, whereas it is quite possible to move backward with backward chaining. In shaping each new approximation is reinforced in chaining reinforces are usually provided at the end of the chain

Question 38

What is escape conditioning? What is a form of?

Answer 38

When an aversive situation is removed after response Negative reinforcement

Question 39

What is avoidance conditioning?

Answer 39

When a person learns to respond to a signal in a way that avoids an adversive stimulus before it arrives

Question 40

What is habituation?

Answer 40

There is a decrease in response to a stimulus overtime

Question 42

What is spontaneous recovery?

Answer 42

If the stimulus is removed for a period of time and then re-introduced in the response will appear at full strength

Question 43

What is covert sensitisation?

Answer 43

This is a technique use whereby someone learns to use mental imagery to associate a behaviour with a negative consequence. For example a person may be encouraged to use imagery to link smoking with the development of lung cancer