Download Spotlight on Terminology and Language – ESL Pointers

Spotlight on Terminology and Language – ESL
Pointers
When we rig something we make it quickly
and usually without the proper tools.
Module 16: Operant Conditioning
Page 189 “Thorndike’s early research served
as the foundation for the work of one of the
twentieth century’s most influential
psychologists, B. F. Skinner, who died in
1990.”
Page 188 “Very good . . . What a clever idea . . .
Fantastic . . . I agree . . . Thank you . . . Excellent .
. . Super . . . Right on . . . This is the best paper
you’ve ever written; you get an A . . . You are
really getting the hang of it . . . I’m impressed . . .
You’re getting a raise . . . Have a cookie . . .You
look great . . . I love you . . .”
Influential means significant, prominent. An
influential person is often a leader.
Super…. Right on … both of these terms are
slang terms that are used to indicate that an
individual is doing a good job.
Page 189 “You may have heard of the Skinner
box, (shown in Figure 2), a chamber with a
highly controlled environment that was used
to study operant conditioning processes with
laboratory animals.”
Page 188 “But what is especially noteworthy
about them is that each of these simple statements
can be used, through a process known as operant
conditioning, to bring about powerful changes in
behavior and to teach the most complex tasks.”
A chamber is an enclosed space designed for
experimental purposes.
When something is noteworthy it is important, or
deserving of attention.
Page 190 “Skinner, whose work went far
beyond perfecting Thorndike’s earlier
apparatus, is considered the inspiration for a
whole generation of psychologists studying
operant conditioning.”
Page 188 “Operant conditioning is learning in
which a voluntary response is strengthened or
weakened, depending on its favorable or
unfavorable consequences.”
An inspiration is someone or something that
inspires, or encourages a person to work
harder or better.
A voluntary response is one that is done as the
result of someone’s own choice and not because of
any outside pressure.
Page 190 “Reinforcement is the process by
which a stimulus increases the probability
that a preceding behavior will be repeated.”
A favorable consequence is on that has a good or
desirable outcome.
When the probability of an act is increased,
this means that the occurrence or circumstance
is likely to occur again.
An unfavorable consequence is one in which the
outcome is not wanted or desired.
Page 188 “Operant conditioning is at work when
we learn that toiling industriously can bring about
a raise or that studying hard results in good
grades.”
Page 190 “ A reinforcer is any stimulus that
increases the probability that a preceding
behavior will occur again.”
Preceding refers to things that occur before or
prior to something else.
Toiling is working long and hard.
Page 188 “Suppose, though, you had rigged things
so that the cat could escape by stepping on a small
paddle that released the latch to the door of the
cage (see Figure 1).”
Page 193 “For example, if you have an itchy
rash (an unpleasant stimulus) that is relieved
when you apply a certain brand of ointment,
you are more likely to use that ointment the
next time you have an itchy rash.”
Itchy refers to the feeling of a need to scratch a
specific area. An itchy rash is a skin outbreak
that produces feelings of a need to scratch the area.
Poker is a betting card game in which players
attempt to win by collecting different
combinations of card.
Page 193 “Similarly, if your iPod volume is so
loud that it hurts your ears when you first turn it
on, you are likely to reduce the volume level.”
Page 195 “We can answer the question by
examining how we might behave when using a
candy vending machine compared with a Las
Vegas slot machine.”
An iPod is a type of portable media (sound, video,
pictures) player created by the Apple Company.
Page 193 “For instance, when a teenager is told
she is ‘grounded’ and will no longer be able to
use the family car because of her poor grades, or
when an employee is informed that he has been
demoted with a cut in pay because of poor job
evaluations, negative punishment is being
administered.”
When adolescents are grounded, their activities
are confined to a limited area, often their home or
their room.
Page 195 “Punishment has several disadvantages
make its routine questionable.”
When something is questionable it is doubted and
challenged.
Page 195 “An employee who is reprimanded by
the boss may quit; a teenager who loses the use of
the family car may borrow a friend’s car instead.”
To reprimand someone is to talk to them about a
wrongdoing they have done.
Page 195 “Even worse, physical punishment can
convey to the recipient the idea that physical
aggression is permissible and perhaps even
desirable.”
To convey something is to communicate or
express a message.
Page 195 “The world would be a different place if
poker players never played cards again after the
first losing hand, fishermen returned to shore as
soon as they missed a catch, or telemarketers
never made another phone call after their first
hang-up.”
A vending machine is a machine where
individuals can purchase items like candy,
drinks and packaged food by placing money
inside the machine.
Las Vegas is a famous city in Nevada where
gambling is legal. A Las Vegas slot machine
is a gambling machine in which a player
inserts money and pulls a lever that spins
symbols on a dial. If certain combinations of
symbols occur, the player wins.
Page 196 “Similarly, garment workers are
generally paid on fixed-ratio schedules: They
receive a specific number of dollars for every
blouse they sew.”
Garment workers are individuals that make
clothing.
Page 196 “Although the specific number of
responses necessary to receive reinforcement
varies, the number of responses usually
hovers around a specific average.”
To hover is to stay close or wait nearby.
Page 196 “In contrast to fixed- and variableratio schedules, in which the crucial factor is
the number of responses, fixed-interval and
variable-interval schedules focus on the
amount of time that has elapsed since a person
or animal was rewarded.”
Something that is crucial is critical, or
extremely important.
Page 196 “Students’ study habits often
exemplify this reality.”
To exemplify something is to create an
example of it. Students’ study habits are an
example of this behavior.
Page 196 “Just before the exam, however, students
begin to cram for it, signaling a rapid increase in
the rate of their studying response.”
To cram is to pack something into a small space.
When students cram they pack all of their
studying into a small amount of time
Page 190 “There are many complex behaviors,
ranging from auto repair to zoo management, that
we would not expect to occur naturally as part of
anyone’s spontaneous behavior.”
Spontaneous behavior is voluntary behavior that
happens in a moment. It is not premeditated.
Page 190 “Shaping is the process of teaching a
complex behavior by rewarding closer and closer
approximations of the desired behavior.”
An approximation is an inexact result coming
closer in degree to the quality that is desired.
Page 198 “Instead, there are biological
constraints, built-in limitations in the ability of
animals to learn particular behaviors.”
A constraint is something that restricts you from a
given course of action. A biological constraint is
a built-in restriction.
Page 200 “ Although skeptical about the value of
such a program, the couple agreed
to try it for a month and to keep careful
records of the number of arguments
they had during that period.”
If you are sceptical about something then you do
not trust or believe in it. To be sceptical is to doubt
someone or something
Page 200 “Instead, one process—albeit with
considerable complexity in the way it operates—
might better explain behavior.”
Albeit means although.
Page 201 “If the target behaviors are not
monitored, there is no way of knowing whether
the program has actually been successful.”
To monitor something is to check systematically,
usually for the purpose of collecting data.