Download Operant Conditioning Today`s study guide is all about an incidental

PSY 201 Intro to Psych
Study Guide 9
Operant Conditioning
Today’s study guide is all about an incidental form of learning called operant conditioning.
Operant conditioning can be extremely useful when it comes to friends, spouses, co-workers,
children, pets, and basically anyone you come into contact with on a regular basis.
What is Thorndike’s Law of Effect? (http://psychology.about.com/od/lindex/g/lawofeffect.htm )
What happens in operant conditioning and how is this different from classical conditioning?
Make sure your answer includes what an operant response is.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operant_conditioning )
How do the following differ from one another? (Same link as previous)
1.
2.
3.
4.
Positive Reinforcement
Negative Reinforcement
Positive Punishment
Negative Punishment
Which types of punishment and reinforcement are more ethical? (Think about it)
Why would reinforcement be preferred over punishment? (http://www.san.beck.org/PunishmentAlternatives.html )
What’s the difference between primary and secondary reinforcers?
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinforcement#Secondary_reinforcers )
How do the following schedules of reinforcement/punishment differ from one another?
(http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/a/schedules.htm )
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
continuous
partial (not defined, but you should be able to figure it out)
fixed
variable
interval
ratio
Which schedules produce the fastest learning? The strongest? (Same link as previous )
Back to Thorndike, how does the situation fit into this? (Think about it)
Now for the fun stuff: What’s shaping, how is it used to produce unnatural operant responses,
and how could you use it to make people behave better?
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaping_%28psychology%29 )
How could operant conditioning produce superstitious like behavior?
(http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_might_the_principles_of_operant_conditioning_help_keep
_superstitions_alive )