KEY CONCEPTS
Brief History
Reinforcement and Punishment: The Carrot and the Stick
Positive and Negative Reinforcers and Punishers
Primary and Secondary Reinforcers and Punishers
Principles of Operant Conditioning
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INTRODUCTION
An emphasis on the environmental consequences of behavior is at the heart of operant conditioning.
KEY CONCEPTS EXPLAINED
| Thorndike's Law of Effect | |||
| • | The famous "Cats in a puzzle box." | ||
| • | When the cats chose a trial-and-error response that permitted them to escape the box and obtain satisfying food, those responses became "stamped in". | ||
| • | Conclusion: Behavior is controlled by its consequences (Thorndike's Law of Effect"). | ||
| BF Skinner Arrives on the Scene | |||
| • | Radical behaviorism: A focus on external causes of behavior only. | ||
| • | Is there free will? Not according to the determinist view that we are shaped by the environment and our genetic heritage. | ||
GLOSSARY
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operant conditioning |
LINKS About Skinner
- wwwlink: BF Skinner autobiography
- wwwlink: Review of Beyond Freedom and Dignity
- wwwlink: discussion about Skinner's views of mental notions in psychology.
- weblink: A clever way to use determinism for self-help.
- wwwlink: William James on the dilemma of determinism (about 1/2 way down - do a FIND: determinism in your browser to get to it).
Reinforcement and Punishment: The Carrot and the Stick [p.272]
INTRODUCTION
A response can lead to one of three types of consequences. Each has its unique effects on the response.
KEY CONCEPTS EXPLAINED
| Three types of Consequences | |||
| • | Neutral - No effect on behavior | ||
| • | Reinforcement - response strengthened | ||
| • | Punishment - response weakened | ||
| Instinctive Drift | |||
| • | Reversion to instinctive behavior over reinforced behavior | ||
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reinforcement | ||
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punishment | ||
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instinctive drift |
LINKS About Instinctive Drift
- wwwlink: instinctive drift and other misbehavior
Positive
and Negative Reinforcers and Punishers [p.273]
INTRODUCTION
There are two brands of reinforcement, and one is likely to cause you to miss a question on the exam.
KEY CONCEPTS EXPLAINED
| Remember, the term reinforcement means that the response increases. | ||||
| Positive Reinforcement |  |
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| Negative Reinforcement | ||||
| key point - negative reinforcement does include something unpleasant. However, it is the removal of the unpleasant stimulus that leads to an increase in the response rate. |
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| Punishers reduce the probability of a response | ||||
| Punishment | adding something unpleasant - a shock | |||
| Negative Punishment | losing something important - a fine | |||
| Here are activities that are designed to help you master these concepts. | ||||
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Interactive: Consequence Matching Game | |||
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The four consequences for studying for the next exam. | |||
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Operant conditioning exercises that demonstrates each of the consequences.((Not Currently Functioning)) | |||
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Difference between negative reinforcement and punishment. | |||
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"Dr. Mike" also tries to help with negative reinforcement and punishment. |
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Negative
Reinforcement University Requires Shockwave. Animated exercises but can be very time consuming. |
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GLOSSARY
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positive reinforcement | ||
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negative reinforcement |
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Primary and Secondary Reinforcers and Punishers [p.274]
INTRODUCTION
There are two types of reinforcers and punishers.
KEY CONCEPTS EXPLAINED
| Primary means unlearned | ||||
| • | Primary Reinforcers | Satisfy biological needs, e.g. food | ||
| • | Primary Punishers | Inherently punishing (e.g. pain) | ||
| Secondary means learned | ||||
| • | Secondary Reinforcers | money, praise, gold stars | ||
| • | Secondary Punishers | criticisms,demerits, bad grades | ||
GLOSSARY
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primary reinforcer | |
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primary punisher | |
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secondary reinforcer | ||
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secondary punisher |
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Principles of Operant Conditioning [p.275]
INTRODUCTION
A description of some of the more important processes in operant conditioning
KEY CONCEPTS EXPLAINED
Extinction
When a reinforcer is removed, the response stops.
Immediate Versus Delayed Consequences
The sooner the reinforcer or punisher, the greater the effect.
Response generalizes to similar stimuli.
Different responses to similar stimuli.
Green light to proceed, telephone ring as opportunity to talk to someone.
The control over your driving behavior that a green traffic light has.
How one "schedules" the delivery of the reinforcers influences the rate of responding and how resistant the response is to extinction. Continuous reinforcement
- Response reinforced everytime it occurs.
- Produces rapid learning.
Partial/Intermittent reinforcement
- Reinforce some, not all, responses.
- Produces resistance to extinction.
If you want to get rid of a behavior, don't reinforce it intermittently!
| Shaping | ||||
| When the desired response is very complex, we start with a simpler approximation and then reward closer and closer approximations until we reach the desired behavior. | ||||
| - | ex: Pigeons learning how to play ping pong | |||
| - | ex: You learning how to play the piano. | |||
| Superstitions | ||||
| Superstitious behavior may be the result of coincidental reinforcement. | ||||
| • | Intermittent reinforcement makes the superstitious behavior resistant to extinction. | |||
| • | Superstitions may also be rewarded by others. | |||
GLOSSARY
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extinction | |
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stimulus generalization | |
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stimulus discrimination | ||
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discriminative stimulus | ||
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stimulus control | ||
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continuous reinforcement | ||
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intermittent (partial) schedule of reinforcement | ||
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shaping |
LINKS About Superstitious Behavior
- wwwlink: Superstitious Sports Fans.
- wwwlink: A list of baseball superstitions.
- wwwlink: Urban legends and superstitions.
- wwwlink: Superstitions for fishing
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| Next Topic - Operant Conditioning in Real Life.......... ............... Chapter Contents |