Operant Conditioning Flashcards
(29 cards)
What is Operant Conditioning?
Operant Conditioning is learning through consequences. Subjects learn to do more or less of something because of the consequences that follow the action
How does operant conditioning differ from classical conditioning?
In operant conditioning, learning occurs through consequences. In classical conditioning, learning occurs through associations.
Operant conditioning tends to relate to voluntary behaviour, whilst classical conditioning generally relies on automatic responses.
What are the two fundamental principles of operant conditioning?
1: reinforcements
2: punishment
What are the two other concepts of operant conditioning?
1: positive
2: negative
Name the four different kinds of consequences associated with operant conditioning
1: positive reinforcement
2: negative reinforcement
3: positive punishment
4: negative punishment
What is positive reinforcement?
Positive reinforcement strengthens a behaviour by presentation of a pleasant or desired stimulus.
What is negative reinforcement?
Negative reinforcement strengthens a behaviour by removal of an unpleasant stimulus
What is positive punishment?
Positive punishment weakens a behaviour by presentation of an unpleasant stimulus
What is negative punishment?
Negative punishment weakens a behaviour by removal of a pleasant or desired stimulus
In operant conditioning, what does positive mean?
Positive means adding a stimulus, we are adding something to the situation.
In operant conditioning what does negative mean?
Negative means taking away a stimulus, we are subtracting something from the situation.
What does reinforcement do?
Reinforcement strengthens a response, making it more likely that the behaviour for which the reinforcement is being applied will be repeated in the future.
Positive reinforcers are often called rewards.
Why do people sometimes confuse negative reinforcement with punishment?
Negative reinforcement is not another term for punishment. Often the word ‘negative’ seems to imply an unpleasant stimulus, however,in the context of operant conditioning, negative means the removal of a stimulus.
What is punishment?
Punishment is an outcome that weakens or decreases the likelihood of a behaviour occurring again.
What is a primary reinforcer?
A primary reinforcer has intrinsic value that does not need to be leaned e.g. food.
They are often associated with a biological drive.
What is a secondary reinforcer?
Secondary reinforcers do not have intrinsic value, rather their value is learned. For example, money.
What is shaping?
Shaping is a method of reinforcement that rewards actions that are more and more like a target behaviour. That is, rewarding successive approximations.
In operant conditioning what does extinction mean?
Extinction refers to the weakening or elimination of a previously reinforced behaviour when the reinforcement is no longer applied.
What contributes to the effectiveness of operant conditioning?
The effectiveness of operant conditioning is related to how often and reliably the reinforcement, either positive or negative, is presented. This is know as the schedule of reinforcement
What is the schedule of reinforcement?
This refers to how often and how reliably the reinforcement, either positive or negative, is applied.
What are the two types of reinforcement schedules?
1: continuous reinforcement
2: partial (intermittent) reinforcement
What is continuous reinforcement?
Continuous reinforcement rewards every instance of a behaviour.
It is the most effective form of reinforcement for establishing behaviour quickly, but when stopped the behaviour is rapidly lost.
What is partial reinforcement?
Partial reinforcement occurs when a behaviour does not receive a reward every instance. It may take longer to learn behaviours using this type of reinforcement, but once learned the behaviours are less subject to extinction.
How do variable schedules of reinforcement vary?
Partial reinforcement schedules vary according to whether the rate of reinforcement is fixed or variable,and whether the schedule is determined by a ratio or by the time taken between reinforcement (known as interval).