Learning lecures

Question 1

What is the Law of Effect?

Answer 1

If a piece of behaviour is closely followed by a favourable consequence, the probability that the behaviour will be repeated is increased.

First proposed by EL Thorndike.

Question 2

What does operant conditioning refer to?

Answer 2

Learning an association between a response and its consequences.

Question 3

What is operant behaviour?

Answer 3

Behaviour that is controlled by its consequences. Operant behaviour is said to be emitted.

Question 4

Define reinforcer.

Answer 4

An environmental event (stimulus) which increases the probability or rate of responses which it follows.

Question 5

What is shaping in the context of behaviour?

Answer 5

Reinforcing closer and closer approximations to the desired behaviour.

Invented by BF Skinner.

Question 6

What is a primary reinforcer?

Answer 6

A stimulus which increases the probability of responses which it follows because of its intrinsic biological significance or survival value.

Question 7

Give an example of a primary reinforcer.

Answer 7

Food to a hungry pigeon.

Question 8

What is a secondary (conditioned) reinforcer?

Answer 8

A previously neutral stimulus which has acquired its reinforcing effect because it has been repeatedly paired with a primary reinforcer.

Question 9

Provide an example of a secondary reinforcer.

Answer 9

The sound of the wheat hopper being raised in an experimental chamber, which has been paired with the availability of food.

Question 10

What is positive reinforcement?

Answer 10

An appetitive stimulus is presented contingent on a response, increasing behaviour.

Question 11

Give an example of positive reinforcement.

Answer 11

If you go to work, you will get paid.

Question 12

What is negative reinforcement?

Answer 12

An aversive stimulus is withdrawn contingent on a response, increasing behaviour.

Question 13

Give an example of negative reinforcement.

Answer 13

If you mow the lawn, your spouse will stop nagging you.

Question 14

What is positive punishment?

Answer 14

An aversive stimulus is presented contingent on a response, decreasing behaviour.

Question 15

Provide an example of positive punishment.

Answer 15

If you go swimming with a shark, it will eat you.

Question 16

What is negative punishment?

Answer 16

An appetitive stimulus is withdrawn contingent on a response, decreasing behaviour.

Question 17

Give an example of negative punishment.

Answer 17

If you get caught speeding, you will lose your licence.

Question 18

Define extinction in operant conditioning.

Answer 18

A response has no consequences (is not reinforced or punished), decreasing behaviour.

Question 19

What is continuous reinforcement?

Answer 19

Every response is reinforced.

Question 20

What is intermittent reinforcement?

Answer 20

Only some responses are reinforced, according to a schedule of reinforcement.

Question 21

Explain the Partial Reinforcement Effect (PRE).

Answer 21

Responding which has been reinforced intermittently will be harder to extinguish than responding which has been reinforced continuously.

Question 22

What is a schedule of reinforcement?

Answer 22

A specification of the relation between responding and reinforcement.

Question 23

Fixed-interval (FI) schedule:

Answer 23

A response is reinforced when a fixed amount of time has elapsed since the last reinforcer.
A pigeon’s keypeck is reinforced with wheat when 30 seconds have elapsed since the last reinforcer.

Question 24

Variable-interval (VI) schedule:

Answer 24

A response is reinforced when a variable amount of time has elapsed since the last reinforcer.
Fishing

Question 26

What is omission training?

Answer 26

A Differential-Reinforcement-of-Other-behaviour (DRO) schedule where a reinforcer is delivered after a fixed amount of time since the last response. ## Footnote Example: A reinforcer is delivered when 5 seconds has elapsed since the last response.

Question 27

What is stimulus control?

Answer 27

The extent to which stimuli preceding or accompanying behaviour control the rate or probability of that behaviour. ## Footnote Stimuli can influence behaviour rates significantly.

Question 28

Define discrimination in the context of behaviour.

Answer 28

Responding differently in the presence of different stimuli.

Question 29

What is generalization?

Answer 29

Responding in a similar way in the presence of stimuli similar to the training stimulus.

Question 30

What is a generalization test?

Answer 30

A test where a range of stimuli from the same dimension are presented in extinction, recording the number of responses to each. ## Footnote This helps to determine if responding is controlled by the stimulus.

Question 31

What does a generalization gradient represent?

Answer 31

A graph showing the number of responses at several different points along one stimulus dimension.

Question 32

What is a decremental generalization gradient?

Answer 32

A gradient where the most responses occur at the original training stimulus, decreasing as stimuli become more different. ## Footnote Usually obtained when the training stimulus was associated with reinforcement.

Question 33

What is a concurrent schedule of reinforcement?

Answer 33

A schedule where two or more simple schedules of reinforcement are available at the same time, each with its own discriminative stimulus.

Question 34

What does The Matching Law state?

Answer 34

In a concurrent schedule, the proportion of responses matches the proportion of reinforcers obtained from that alternative.

Question 35

Fill in the blank: Undermatching occurs when choice is usually a little less extreme than the Matching Law predicts, so if 80% of the reinforcers are earned from one alternative, there will be about ______% of the behaviour on that alternative.

Answer 35

75%

Question 36

Define adventitious reinforcer.

Answer 36

A reinforcer that follows a response by chance, not due to a contingency between the response and the reinforcer. ## Footnote Also known as a response-independent reinforcer.

Question 37

What is superstitious behaviour?

Answer 37

Behaviour that is maintained by adventitious reinforcement.