Download AP Psychology Unit 6- Operant Conditioning

Unit 6: Learning
Operant Conditioning
Operant Conditioning
• Respondent Behavior: behavior that occurs as an automatic response to
some stimulus
• Instrumental Learning
• Operant Conditioning: A type of learning in which behavior is strengthened
if followed by a reinforce or diminished if followed by a punisher
• Operant Behavior: behavior that operates on the environment, producing
consequences
• How is this different from classical conditioning?
B. F. Skinner
• Law of Effect: Thorndike’s principle that behaviors followed by favorable
consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable
consequences become less likely
• Operant Chamber: aka Skinner Box
• Shaping: an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior
toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior
• Discriminative Stimulus: A stimulus that elicits a response after association with
reinforcement (in contrast to related stimuli not associated with reinforcement)
Reinforcements
• Reinforcer: Any event that event that STRENGTHENS the behavior it
follows
• Positive Reinforcement: increasing behaviors by presenting positive stimuli
such as food (any stimulus that, when presented after a response strengthens
that response)
• Negative Reinforcement: Increasing behavior by stopping or reducing
negative stimuli, such as shock (any stimulus that, when removed after a
response, strengthens that response)
• Escape Learning
• Avoidance Learning
Reinforcements
• Primary Reinforcers: innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies a
biological need
• Conditioned (Secondary) Reinforcers: stimulus that gains its reinforcing
power through its association with a primary reinforcer; things we learn to
value
• Generalized Reinforcer: Special kind of secondary reinforcer because it can
be paired with other reinforcers and functions as a reinforcer itself
• Token Economy
• Premack Principle
Reinforcement Schedules
• Continuous Reinforcement: reinforcing the desired response every time it
occurs
• Partial (Intermittent) Reinforcement: reinforcing a response only part of the
time; results in slower acquisition of a response, but greater resistance to
extinction
Reinforcement Schedules
• Fixed-Ratio Schedules: schedule that reinforcers a response only after a
specific number of responses
• Variable-Ratio Schedules: schedule that reinforces a response after an
unpredictable number of responses
• Fixed- Interval Schedules: schedule that reinforces a response only after a
specified time has elapsed
• Variable-Interval Schedules: schedule that reinforces a response at
unpredictable time intervals
Punishment
• Punishment: an event that decreases the behavior it follows
• Positive Punishment: addition of something unpleasant to decrease the
behavior it follows
• Negative Punishment (omission training): removal of something pleasant to
decrease the behavior it follows
Extending Operant Conditioning
• Cognitive Map: Mental representation of the layout of one’s environment
• Latent Learning: Learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an
incentive to demonstrate it
• Insight: A sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem
Extending Operant Conditioning
• Intrinsic Motivation: A desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake
• Extrinsic Motivation: A desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake
• Biological Predispositions: animal predispositions constrain the ability to condition;
biological constraints predisposed organisms to learn associations that are naturally adaptive
• Do you think food is a good reinforcement? How might this be dangerous to people?
• Applications
•
•
•
•
School
Work
Home
Self-Improvement