learning - operant conditioning

Question 1

operant conditioning

Answer 1

-process in which behavioural change (i.e., learning) occurs because of the consequences of behaviour

Question 2

thorndike: law of effect - aim

Answer 2

-toinvestigate the development of learned behaviour in animals that he could generalise to humans

Question 3

thorndike: law of effect - method

Answer 3

-thorndike put hungry cats in cages with automatic doors that could be opened by pressing a lever inside the cage and he timed how long it took the cat to escape
-when first placed in the cages, the cats displayed unsystematic trial-and-error behaviours trying to escape. e.g. they scratched, bit, and wandered around the cages without identifiable patterns
-thorndike would then put food outside the cages, the catsthen experimented with different ways to escape and reach the fish
-eventually, they would stumble upon the lever which opened the cage
When it had escaped, the cat was put in again, and the time it took to escape was recorded

Question 4

thorndike: law of effect - key findings

Answer 4

-in successive trials, the cats learnt that pressing the lever would have the favourable consequence of getting food, which led to the cats becoming quicker at pushing the lever
-thorndike proposed the Law of Effect - any behaviour that is followed by pleasant consequences is likely to be repeated in that situation, and any behaviour followed by unpleasant consequences is likely to be stopped

Question 5

thorndike: law of effect - contributions

Answer 5

-introduced the concept of reinforcement – the idea that a behaviour can encouraged by pleasant consequences
-provided a foundation for Skinner’s work on operant conditioning

Question 6

thorndike: law of effect - limitations

Answer 6

-hard to generalise results to a human population as animal and human cognitive processes are different
-oversimplifies human behaviour as it doesn’t acknowledge more complex cognitive processes and motivations that may be involved in learning

Question 7

three phase model - antecedent

Answer 7

-the stimulus that occurs before the behaviour, e.g. zookeeper gives a signal to the seal

Question 8

three phase model - behaviour

Answer 8

-action that occurs due to the antecedent, it’s an active behaviour that operates upon the environment to generate consequences e.g. seal does a trick

Question 8

three phase model - consequence

Answer 8

-result of the behaviour, seal gets a fish

Question 9

reinforcement

Answer 9

-a consequence which increases the likelihood of a desirable behaviour occurring again
-reinforcers can be primary (things that are innately reinforcing such as food or warmth) or secondary (things that are learned such as money

Question 10

positive reinforcement

Answer 10

-addition of a pleasant consequence to increase the likelihood of a desirable behaviour occurring again, e.g. seal gets a fish when it performs a trick

Question 11

negative reinforcement

Answer 11

-removal of an aversive consequence to increase the likelihood of a desirable behaviour occurring again, e.g. car stops beeping when you put on your seat belt

Question 12

punishment

Answer 12

-a consequence which decreases the likelihood of an undesirable behaviour occurring again

Question 13

positive punishment

Answer 13

-addition of an aversive consequence to decrease the likelihood of an undesirable behaviour occurring again, e.g. electric fence zapping an animal trying to escape

Question 14

negative punishment

Answer 14

-removal of a pleasant consequence decrease the likelihood of an undesirable behaviour occurring again, e.g. taking away a child’s toy because they have been misbehaving

Question 15

factors of the effectiveness of operant conditioning

Answer 15

1. appropriateness
2. timing
3. schedules of reinforcement

Question 16

appropriateness

Answer 16

-reinforcement or behaviour needs to match the behaviour
-a parent helping their child pay for a car would be appropriate reinforcement for a good ATAR but not for keeping their room tidy
-detention would not be an appropriate punishment for a student throwing a chair at a teacher, but would be for not doing homework

Question 17

timing

Answer 17

-punishment or reinforcement must occur after the behaviour, so it is seen as a consequence
-must be immediate

Question 18

schedules of reinforcement

Answer 18

-pattern that defines how often a desired response will be reinforced
-reinforcement schedules take place in both naturally occurring learning situations as well as more structured training situations
different patterns influence:
-response rate: how many times the behaviour is displayed
-extinction rate: how long does it take for the behaviour to disappear without reinforcement

Question 19

continuous reinforcement

Answer 19

-desired behaviour is reinforced each and every time it occurs, used to teach a new behaviour
-desired behavior is typically learned quickly
-difficult to maintain over a long period of time due to the effort of having to reinforce a behavior each time it is performed
-e.g. seal gets a fish everytime it performs a trick when it is first learning it

Question 20

fixed ratio

Answer 20

-behaviour is reinforced only after a specific number of responses
-builds a high response rate
-has a medium extinction rate, irregular responding may occur if reinforcement is stopped
-e.g. you get a free coffee after every 10th coffee purchase at a café

Question 21

fixed interval

Answer 21

-behaviour is rewarded only after a specified amount of time has elapsed
-medium response rate
-produces a choppy stop-start pattern rather than a steady rate of response
-tend to respond more frequently as the anticipated time for reward draws near
-medium extinction rate
-e.g. employees receive a paycheck every fortnight

Question 22

variable ratio

Answer 22

-behaviour is reinforced after an unpredictable number of responses
-response rate is fast
-responses are persistence in hope that the next response might be one needed to receive reinforcement
-extinction rate is slow
-e.g. slot machines at casinos

Question 23

vairable interval

Answer 23

-occur when a response is rewarded after an unpredictable amount of time has passed
-moderate but steady response rate
-extinction rate is slow
-e.g. receiving social media notifications, and fishing

Question 24

skinner (1948) - aim

Answer 24

-to investigate whether pigeons would develop “superstitious” behaviours when food was given randomly, without a clear connection to their behaviour

Question 25

skinner (1948) - method

Answer 25

-subjects were eight pigeons which were fed less than their normal daily amount for several days, so that they would be highly motivated to perform behaviours for food -each pigeon was placed into the experimental cage for a few minutes each day and observed.  -during this time, reinforcement in the form of food in a food hooper was being delivered automatically every 15 seconds, regardless of their behaviour -after several days of conditioning in this way, two independent observers recorded the birds' behaviour in the cage

Question 26

skinner (1948) - key findings

Answer 26

-6/8 pigeons became superstitious and behaved as if there was a relationship between their behaviour and the presentation of food -none of these behaviours had been observed in the birds prior to the conditioning procedure -one believed that turning around anticlockwise in the cage twice or three times would lead to it being fed -another repeatedly thrust it’s head into one of the upper corners of cage. -third developed tossing response as if placing head under bar and lifting it repeatedly -two developed pendulum swing motion of head -one pecked towards the floor. -after reinforcement was discontinued, one pigeon whose reinforcement interval had been raised to over a minute required over 10,000 responses before extinction occurred

Question 27

skinner (1948) - contributions

Answer 27

-clear demonstration of operant conditioning and how reinforcement schedules make learned behaviours resistant to extinction -provided insight into superstitious behaviour by showing how organisms can learn to associate consequences with unrelated events

Question 28

skinner (1948) - limitations

Answer 28

-difficult to generalise results to humans due to sample but also the environment was so controlled it’s unrealistic -ethics implications such as stress on animals -focus on behaviour but not taking into account the cognitive processes that lead to that behaviour

Question 29

token economics - application of operant conditioning

Answer 29

-desired behaviours are reinforced by tokens (secondary reinforcers) which can then later be traded for another reward (primary reinforcers) -effectively used in schools, prisons and psychiatric institutions -strength: econdary reinforcers are more attractive as they can be traded in for different primary reinforcers, same primary reinforcers may become ineffective if used continuously (saturation) -limitation: desired behaviour may become extinct if the token economy is removed