Biological Predispositions: the understanding that an animals
capacity for conditioning is constrained by its biology (e.g., it is
much easier to condition a rat to avoid certain tastes than certain
sounds because rats use taste naturally to determine if food is
"good").
Little Albert: young child who was conditioned to fear rats after
a rat was paired with terribly loud noise. John B. Watson carried
out this study and is considered to be the "father of behaviorism".
OPERANT CONDITIONING
Associative Learning: learning that two events (a response and its
consequence in operant condition or 2 stimuli in classical conditioning)
occur together.
Operant Conditioning: a type of learning in which behavior is
strengthened if followed by a reinforcer (positive or negative) and
weakened if followed by a punisher.
Respondent Behavior:
behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus;
Skinner's term for behavior learned through classical conditioning.
Operant Behavior: Skinner's term for behavior that operates
on (affects) the environment, producing consequences.
Law of Effect: Thorndike's principle that behaviors followed by
favorable consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed
by unfavorable consequences be come less likely.
Operant Chamber (Skinner Box): a chamber containing a "bar" that
an animal can manipulate to receive a food or water reinforcer, with
associated devices to record the animal's rate of bar pressing.
Shaping: an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers
guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired
behavior.
Reinforcer: in operant conditioning, any event (consequence) that
strengthens the behavior it follows.
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Positive Reinforcer: a typically pleasurable stimulus that
follows a response (e.g., getting a hug). It strengthens and
increases the response.
Negative Reinforcer: an aversive stimulus that is removed
following a response (e.g., the buzzer stopping once you fasten your
seatbelt). It strengthens and increases the response.
It is NOT the same thing as punishment. (See HANDOUT)
Primary Reinforcer: an innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one
that satisfies a biological need (e.g., food or water).
Secondary (or Conditioned) Reinforcer: a stimulus that gains it
reinforcing power through its association with a primary reinforcer
(e.g., money).
**Remember: Immediate reinforcers (and punishers) are much
more effective than delayed reinforcers (and punishers).
Schedules of Reinforcement
Continuous Reinforcement: reinforcing the desired response every
time it occurs.
Partial (intermittent) Reinforcement: reinforcing a response only
part of the time. This results in slower
(please review HANDOUT)
acquisition of a response but
with much greater to resistance to extinction than a continuous schedule
of reinforcement.
Fixed-ratio: reinforcement of a
response only after a specific number of responses have occurred.
Variable-ratio: reinforcement of a
response after an unpredictable number of responses have occurred.
Fixed-Interval: reinforcement of a
response after a specific amount of time has elapsed.
Variable-Interval: reinforcement of
a response after an unpredictable amount of time has elapsed.
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