goal directed behaviour Flashcards
What did Thorndike’s Puzzle Box experiments demonstrate?
Animals learn through trial and error to escape a box by performing a specific action.
What is Thorndike’s Law of Effect?
Behaviours followed by positive outcomes are more likely to be repeated.
What is Thorndike’s Law of Exercise?
Repetition strengthens the connection between response and outcome.
What is Thorndike’s Law of Readiness?
Learning is influenced by the organism’s internal state or motivation.
What is operant (instrumental) conditioning?
Learning associations between a behaviour and its consequences.
What is a positive reinforcer?
A pleasant stimulus added to increase the likelihood of a behaviour.
What is a negative reinforcer?
An unpleasant stimulus removed to increase behaviour.
What is punishment in operant conditioning?
An aversive stimulus that decreases the likelihood of a behaviour.
What is omission in operant conditioning?
Removal of a positive reinforcer to decrease behaviour.
What is continuous reinforcement?
Every correct response is reinforced.
What is partial reinforcement?
Only some responses are reinforced.
What is a fixed ratio schedule?
Reinforcement after a set number of responses (e.g., FR10).
What is a variable ratio schedule?
Reinforcement after a varying number of responses (e.g., VR5).
What is a fixed interval schedule?
Reinforcement after a fixed amount of time (e.g., FI10).
What is a variable interval schedule?
Reinforcement after varying time intervals (e.g., VI10).
What is respondent (classical) conditioning?
Learning associations between stimuli; behaviour is elicited by a stimulus
What is operant conditioning?
Learning associations between behaviour and outcomes; behaviour is emitted.
How do classical and operant conditioning interact?
Example: avoidance learning—classical conditioning links stimulus to fear, operant conditioning links action to safety.
What did Garcia & Koelling’s taste aversion study show?
Animals are biologically predisposed to form certain associations more easily (Preparedness Principle).
What is the Preparedness Principle (Seligman, 1970)?
Some associations are more easily learned due to evolutionary factors.
What is latent learning (Tolman)?
Learning that occurs without reinforcement and becomes apparent when needed.
How does latent learning challenge traditional behaviourism?
It shows learning can happen without reinforcement, challenging the idea of the “empty organism.”
What shapes goal-directed behaviour according to Skinner and Thorndike?
The consequences of actions—reinforcement or punishment
How do schedules of reinforcement influence behaviour?
They determine how often and when behaviour is reinforced, affecting learning speed and consistency.
