Lecture 3 Flashcards
(26 cards)
What are contrived vs natural reinforcers
Contrived - reinforcers put in place by an interventionist for the purpose of modifying behaviour
Natural - those that haven’t been put in place
Primary reinforcer
Primary - reinforcers that are not dependent on their association with other reinforcers
Eg related to basic human needs like warmth food o2
Secondary reinforcer
Reinforcers that are dependent on their association w other reinforcers eg money, clicker training in dogs
Operant conditioning definition
Learning process where behaviours are modified through consequences, either rewards or punishments, making desired behaviours more likely and undesired behaviours less likely
Research eg of reinforcement
Allen (1974)
Girl not playing enough with peers, craved adult attention.
Made adult attention the reinforcer. (Made adult attention contingent on her playing with the kids)
Allen (1974) research design
ABAB
Results Allen et al (1974)
Intervention didn’t work, found it the reinforcer distracted her
Went back to the FBA, used toy as a reinforcer
Saw interactions go up by 60%
Rules for using reinforcement
1.define target behaviour
2.select appropriate reinforcers (natural, secondary, positive)
3.make reinforcers immediate and certain
4.monitor results
Why do the reinforcers need to be secondary
Bc primary reinforcers satiate - once full looses appetitive function
Why do reinforcers need to be immediate and certain
How quickly the reinforcer follows behaviour rly important - needs to be quick.
Reward needs to follow behaviour reliably on every occassion to see behaviour change.
Must give out specifically to instances of that behaviour only
Problems with reinforcement
Bootleg reinforcement - reinforcement that is accessed without meeting the response requirements of the contingency. Uwanted behaviours being strengthened due to sneaky reinforcements that are not part of and tend to undermine the intervention
Reliance on reinforcement - doesn’t usually happen, tend to evolve from contrived to natural
Behavioural contrast - if u train something in one setting that doesn’t mean it will generalise to a new setting
Inappropriate use of reinforcers
Bootleg reinforcement
Unwanted behaviours are strengthened by sneaky reinforcements that is not part of the intervention, tends to undermine the intervention
Reliance on reinforcement - dig deeper
Need that reinforcement to engage in the TB forever?
Not likely as they turn from contrived to natural
Behavioural contrast definition
If you train something in one setting it doesn’t necessarily mean it will generalise to a new setting
If One part of a reinforcement plan changes, the behaviour in another part can be influenced in the opposite way. Eg child gets punished for talking back at home, but not when at grandmas. The child might start talking back more at grandmas bc not facing the same consequences.
Extinction
Operant behaviour is maintained by reinforcers. Thus preventing those reinforcers should weaken the behaviour. Thus extinction invokes withholding the reinforcer that maintains the target behaviour
Research example of extinction
France and Hudson (1990)
Researchers think that children waking up in the night and their inability to self-soothe is due to parent intervention. Used a camera that points at the child - when cries can see they are safe and stops the adult from going into the room.
Research design - MBD
Results - no. Of awakens during the night decreased
Rules for extinction
Define the target behaviour
Identify the reinforcers that maintain the target behaviour
Withhold all reinforcement of the TB
monitor results
Problems with extinction
Uncontrolled reinforcement
It can be slow
Extinction bursts - behaviour gets worse before it gets better
Spontaneous recovery - a behaviour that was learned a long time ago pops up
Differential reinforcement
Combination of extinction and reinforcement
Types of DR
DR of Low rate - DRL
DR of alternative behaviour - DRA
DR of incompatible behaviour - DRI
research example of DR
Rekers and Lovaas (1974)
Boy too feminine, wanted to make more masculine
Reinforced masculine behaviours and used extinction for feminine behaviours
Instructed mother to walk away for extinction and give attention for reinforcement. Results - graph moved towards masiculine behaviours
Rules for using DR
Define TB
Extinguish undesirable TB
Reinforcement of desirable TB
monitor results
Types of punishment
Reprimanding - saying something verbally that changes rate of behaviour. Used 2x more than praise
Response cost
Time out
Over correction
Physical punishment
Research example of punishment
Dorsey (1980)
Wanted to see if could reduce self-injurious behaviour by using water mist to the face.
Design - MBD
through classical conditioning paired water mist with the word no. Became aversive -> reduced rate of TB
