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Types of Reinforcers
Reinforcement: Any event that strengthens the
behavior it follows. A heat lamp positively
reinforces a meerkat’s behavior in the cold.
Reuters/ Corbis
Primary & Secondary Reinforcers
1.
Primary Reinforcer: An innately reinforcing
stimulus like food or drink.
2.
Conditioned Reinforcer: A learned
reinforcer that gets its reinforcing power
through association with the primary
reinforcer.
Immediate & Delayed Reinforcers
1.
Immediate Reinforcer: A reinforcer that
occurs instantly after a behavior. A rat gets a
food pellet for a bar press.
2.
Delayed Reinforcer: A reinforcer that is
delayed in time for a certain behavior. A
paycheck that comes at the end of a week.
We may be inclined to engage in small immediate
reinforcers (watching TV) rather than large delayed
reinforcers (getting an A in a course) which require
consistent study.
Delayed Gratification
 http://video.pbs.org/video/1967661034
Reinforcement Schedules
1.
Continuous Reinforcement: Reinforces the
desired response each time it occurs.
2.
Partial Reinforcement: Reinforces a
response only part of the time. Though this
results in slower acquisition in the
beginning, it shows greater resistance to
extinction later on.
Psych Giggles
Ratio Schedules
1. Fixed-ratio schedule: Reinforces a response
only after a specified number of responses.
 faster you respond the more rewards you get
 different ratios
 very high rate of responding
 like piecework pay
Continued
2) Variable-ratio schedule: Reinforces a response after
an unpredictable number of responses. This is hard to
extinguish because of the unpredictability. (e.g.,
behaviors like gambling, fishing.)
average ratios
like gambling, fishing
very hard to extinguish because of unpredictability
Interval Schedules
1. Fixed-interval schedule: Reinforces a response
only after a specified time has elapsed. (e.g.,
preparing for an exam only when the exam
draws close.)
•
response occurs more frequently as the anticipated
time for reward draws near
2. Variable-interval schedule: Reinforces a response
at unpredictable time intervals, which produces
slow, steady responses. (e.g., pop quiz.)
Schedules of Reinforcement
Punishment
An aversive event that decreases the behavior it
follows.
Punishment
Although there may be some justification for
occasional punishment (Larzelaere & Baumrind,
2002), it usually leads to negative effects.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Results in unwanted fears.
Conveys no information to the organism.
Justifies pain to others.
Causes unwanted behaviors to reappear in its
absence.
Causes aggression towards the agent.
Causes one unwanted behavior to appear in
place of another.
Conditioning Reinforcement
Punishment
 Every time someone flushes a toilet in the apartment
building, the shower becomes very hot and causes the person
to jump back. Over time, the person begins to jump back
automatically after hearing the flush, before the water
temperature changes.
Example 1
 This example is classical conditioning because jumping away
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from hot water is an automatic response.
The hot water is the US
The jumping back is the UR
The toilet flush is the CS
The jumping back to the flush alone is the CR
Example 2
 2. Your father gives you a credit card at the end of your first
year in college because you did so well. As a result, your
grades continue to get better in your second year.
 This example is operant conditioning because school
performance is a voluntary behavior.
 The credit card is a positive reinforcement because it is
given and it increases the behavior.
Example 3
 3. Your car has a red, flashing light that blinks annoyingly if
you start the car without buckling the seat belt.You become
less likely to start the car without buckling the seat belt.
 This example is operant conditioning because buckling a
seat belt is voluntary.
 The flashing light is a positive punishment.
 The consequence is given .
 The behavior of not buckling the seat belt decreases.
Example 4
 You eat a new food and then get sick because of the flu.
However, you develop a dislike for the food and feel
nauseated whenever you smell it.
 This example is classical conditioning because nausea is




an automatic response.
The flu sickness is the US.
The nausea is the UR.
The new food is the CS.
The nausea to the new food is the CR.
Example 5
 A professor has a policy of exempting students from the final
exam if they maintain perfect attendance during the quarter.
His students’ attendance increases dramatically.
 This example is operant conditioning because attendance
is a voluntary behavior.
 The exemption from the final exam is a negative
reinforcement because something is taken away that
increases the behavior (attendance).
Example 5
 Your hands are cold so you put your gloves on. In the future,
you are more likely to put gloves on when it’s cold.
 This is an example of operant conditioning because
putting gloves on is a voluntary behavior.
 The consequence is a negative reinforcement because the
coldness is taken away and the behavior of putting on gloves
increases.
Example 6
 John Watson conducted an experiment with a boy named
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Albert in which he paired a white rat with a loud, startling
noise. Albert now becomes startled at the sight of the white
rat.
This is an example of classical conditioning because a
startle response is an automatic behavior.
The loud noise is the US.
The startle is the UR.
The white rat is the CS.
The startle response to the white rat is the CR.
Learned Helplessness
 Seligman and Maler—Father of Positive Psychology
 Taught dogs that they were helpless to escape from an
electric shock by placing a barrier in the cage to prevent
dogs from escaping when they were shocked.
 Removed the barrier but the dogs made no effort to
escape.
 This “learned helplessness” has been compared to people
who are depressed. They feel past/future events are out
of their control and they are helpless = depression.
Bio Feedback
 A technique that uses monitoring devices to provide
precise information about internal psychological
processes, such as heart rate or blood pressure, to teach
people to gain voluntary control over these functions.
 Control anxiety & headaches
Skinner’s Legacy
Skinner argued that behaviors were shaped by
external influences instead of inner thoughts and
feelings. Critics argued that Skinner
dehumanized people by neglecting their free will.
Falk/ Photo
Researchers, Inc.
Operant vs. Classical Conditioning
Cognition & Operant Conditioning
Evidence of cognitive processes during operant
learning comes from rats during a maze
exploration in which they navigate the maze
without an obvious reward. Rats seem to
develop cognitive maps, or mental
representations, of the layout of the maze
(environment).
Cont.
Overjustification Effect
 the effect of promising a reward for doing what
one already likes to do
 the person may now see the reward, rather than
intrinsic interest, as the motivation for
performing the task
Latent Learning
Such cognitive maps are based on latent
learning, which becomes apparent only when
an incentive is given (Tolman & Honzik, 1930).
Learning by Observation
©Herb Terrace
The monkey on the
right imitates the
monkey on the left in
touching the pictures in
a certain order to obtain
a reward.
© Herb Terrace
Higher animals,
especially humans,
learn through observing
and imitating others.
Mirror Neurons
Reprinted with permission from the American
Association for the Advancement of Science,
Subiaul et al., Science 305: 407-410 (2004)
Neuroscientists discovered mirror neurons in
the brains of animals and humans that are active
during observational learning.
Learning by observation
begins early in life. This
14-month-old child
imitates the adult on TV
in pulling a toy apart.
Meltzoff, A.N. (1998). Imitation of televised models by infants.
Child Development, 59 1221-1229. Photos Courtesy of A.N. Meltzoff an
Imitation Onset
Bandura's Bobo doll
study (1961) indicated
that individuals
(children) learn
through imitating
others who receive
rewards and
punishments.
Courtesy of Albert Bandura, Stanford University
Bandura's Experiments
Bandura
 Bandura wanted to study aggression in
adolescents. He suggested that environment
causes behavior, true; but behavior causes
environment as well. He labeled this concept
reciprocal determinism: The world and a
person’s behavior cause each other.
Lev S. Vygotsky (1896-1934)
*humans use various symbols and items that
help us to develop cultures
*we change, interact and go through
development within our cultures
*higherﾊthinking skills depend on the
internalization of the items we used to
develop within our culture and communicate.
*used blocks to distinguish children's
mastery of the concept from simple
memorization
**His work was suppressed by Marxist
Russian authorities for over 20 years after his
death.
Born in Russia
(Jewish)
Law degree
Unive of
Moscow
PhD Literature
& Linguistics
Lev S. Vygotsky (cont)
Several theories regarding learning and development.
1) Theory of Value: what knowledge and skills are worth
learning? (varies--past experiences and prior
knowledge important to create new ideas--language,
culture and social interactions important)
2) Theory of Knowledge: how is knowledge different from
belief? (intellectual abilities are specific to the
culture in which the child was reared)
1) Incoherent coherence: making mistakes is crucial
to child development.
Lev S. Vygotsky (cont)
3) Theory of Human Nature: how do humans differ from
other species? (we develop as humans through the
ways we interact with those around us--ability to
develop psychological tools that are "used to gain
mastery over one's own behavior and cognition")
4) Theory of Learning: how are knowledge and skills
acquired? (through social interaction and language-learning is what leads to the development of higher
order thinking) (IMPORTANT CONCEPTS: Zone of
Proximal Development (ch 4), Scaffolding (ch 4, ))
Lev S. Vygotsky (cont)
5) Theory of Transmission: who is to teach? methods?
curriculum? (defined those who are to teach as the
"More Knowledgeable Other." (MKO) includes
parents, teachers, peers, siblings et.al.--jigsaw
method, teacher as collaborator)
6) Theory of Society: what institutions are involved?
(allows the learner to develop cognitively through
social interactions--language and environment
important---learning takes place in ANY
environment)
Lev S. Vygotsky (cont)
7) Theory of Opportunity: who is to be educated?
(socialization is the process of cultural
transmission, both unintentional and deliberate-children w/ disabilities should not be separated)
8) Theory of Consensus: why do people disagree?
(because they are engaged in class struggle for
dominance among competing social groups--the
most powerful members of dominant groups create
the rules for success and opportunity in society,
often denying subordinate groups such success and
opportunities)
Applications of Observational Learning
Unfortunately,
Bandura’s studies
show that antisocial
models (family,
neighborhood or TV)
may have antisocial
effects.
Positive Observational Learning
Bob Daemmrich/ The Image Works
Fortunately, prosocial (positive, helpful) models
may have prosocial effects.
Gentile et al., (2004)
shows that children in
elementary school
who are exposed to
violent television,
videos, and video
games express
increased aggression.
Ron Chapple/ Taxi/ Getty Images
Television and Observational Learning
Modeling Violence
Children modeling after pro wrestlers
Glassman/ The Image Works
Bob Daemmrich/ The Image Works
Research shows that viewing media violence
leads to an increased expression of aggression.
Journal
 Describe one or two of your worst habits. What keeps you
from doing this habit? Why don’t you stop? How would it
feel if you suddenly stopped? (classical)
 Think of a time someone gave you a compliment that you did
not feel that you deserved. How did it make you feel?
(operant)