Lesson 8 operant conditioning
- 2. Marnieis a nurse at a country hospital. Jimmy, an 8-year-old boy, attends the hospital each fortnight for treatment. On his first visit, Marnie gave him an injection which was very painful. Now he screams when he is approached by a nurse, even if he does not need an injection. According to the classical conditioning model of learning, identify the i. unconditioned stimulus ii. conditioned stimulus iii. unconditioned response iv. conditioned response
- 3. i. unconditioned stimulus: Pain from the needle (pain) ii. conditioned stimulus: Approach of nurse (nurse/sight of approaching nurse) iii. unconditioned response: Fear of pain from injection (scream because of pain) iv. conditioned response: Fear of nurse (scream at approach of nurse) In previous assessment reports it has been emphasised that it is necessary to distinguish between the unconditioned response and the conditioned response. Therefore, in parts iii. and iv., responses were required to be differentiated by identifying the origin as in ‘fear from the pain of the injection’ and ‘fear due to the approach of the nurse’.
- 4. Explain the three-phase model of operant conditioning as informed by B.F. Skinner: positive and negative reinforcement, response cost, punishment and schedules of reinforcement
- 5. A learning process by which the likelihood of a particular behaviour occurring is determined by the consequences of that behaviour Theory of Operant Conditioning - Behaviour operates on the environment and our behaviour is instrumental in producing the consequences - Rewards/Punishments
- 7. American Psychologist, B.F Skinner (1904 – 1990) believed behaviour can be reduced to the relationships between the behaviour, its antecedents (the events that precede it), and its consequences Operant - a response (or set or responses) that occurs in the absence of any stimulus and acts upon the environment in the same way each time
- 11. Any stimulus (event or action) that subsequently strengthens or increases the likelihood of the response (behaviour) that it follows. The reinforcer comes after the response (behaviour) Reinforcement makes things stronger
- 12. Positive Reinforcer PLUS something GOOD A stimulus which strengthens a response by providing a pleasant or satisfying consequence Skinners experiment = food pellets Money Grades Applause
- 13. Negative Reinforcer MINUS something BAD A stimulus that strengthens a response by the reduction, removal or prevention of an unpleasant stimulus The behaviour that removes reduces or prevents and unpleasant stimulus is strengthened by the consequence Skinners experiment = electric shock Taking Panadol for headache Driving slow to avoid fine
- 14. Positive reinforcement add good Negative reinforcement take away bad Both STRENGTHEN a response Overall outcome is desirable to organism, just have achieved it in different ways
- 15. Positive punishment - the delivery of a stimulus following an undesirable response PLUS BAD Negative punishment – the removal of a stimulus following an undesired response MINUS GOOD Punisher – an unpleasant stimulus that when paired with a response weakens the response or decreases the rate of responding over time Punishers reduce unwanted behaviour It is usually more effective to reinforce alternative desirable behaviour than it is to punish undesirable behaviour
- 16. MINUS GOOD Negative punishment often referred to as response cost When a valued stimulus removed Eg. If you drink drive we will take away your liscence
- 17. Continuous Reinforcement necessary for a response to become learned Partial Reinforcement can be more effective at maintaining a response
- 19. Fixed Ratio Fixed number of correct responses Being paid $5 for every 100 newspapers delivered Variable Ratio Variable number of correct responses Poker machines Fixed Interval Fixed time period Teachers at Woodleigh pain every fortnight Variable Interval Variable time period Fishing
- 20. The variable ratio schedule is the most resistant to extinction It leads to the fastest rate of responding Gambling addiction is explicable through variable ratio reinforcement
- 22. Order of presentation – reinforcement needs to occur after the desired response not before! So the organism associates the reinforcement with the behaviour Timing – Reinforcers need to occur as close in time to the desired response as possible. Most effective reinforcement occurs immediately after the desired response Appropriateness of the reinforcer– For a stimulus to be a reinforcer it must provide a pleasing or satisfying consequence for its recipient.
- 23. Stimulus generalization - occurs when the correct response is made to another stimulus which is similar to the stimulus for which reinforcement is obtained Stimulus discrimination - organism makes response to a stimulus for which reinforcement is obtained but not for any other similar stimulus
- 24. Extinction – the gradual decrease in the strength or rate of responding after a period of non- reinforcement. Extinction occurs after the termination of reinforcement Spontaneous recovery – the response is (after a rest period) again shown in the absence of reinforcement