Conditioning Learning Unit 2 Exam Study Guide Operant conditioning definitions and procedures Instrumental versus elicited behavior o Elicitation of a response in single stimulus learning or classical conditioning doesn t require the organism to make a certain response o In operant conditioning things in the environment are presented as a result of behavior Stimuli are said to be contingent on a response Responses are said to be evoked and are instrumental for achieving a goal Probability of behavior in the future changes as a result of being followed Operant Contingency by stimuli The Law of Effect o Thorndike s puzzle boxes o Response stimulus probability of occurring again response Hungry cat has to get out of box to get food Across trials cat got faster at getting out Thorndike postulated that an association was made between stimulus cues and the responses that helped it achieve its goal S R learning Standardized ways to measure operant conditioning o Discrete trial procedures Instrumental response is performed only once per trial Examples rat mazes learning sessions for children o Free operant procedure behavior No limit to number of responses i e operants per trial more continuous May require shaping Examples skinner box pouring a cup of coffee Types of operant conditioning response outcome o Defined by how the response changes in frequency after presentation of the stimulus does the operant increase or decrease the probability o Reinforcement is said to occur if behavior increases o Punishment is said to occur if behavior decreases Types of operant conditioning role of the stimulus o Stimulus that follows an operant response can be Appetitive something pleasant and desired Aversive something unpleasant and not desired o These types of stimuli can either be Positive something introduced into the environment Negative something removed from the environment Procedures o Type of conditioning defined by future likelihood of behavior will it increase or decrease presence and type of stimulus following behavior is it there or not and is it good or bad o Positive reinforcement behavior increases because it is followed by the presentation of an appetitive stimulus o Negative reinforcement behavior increases because it is followed by the removal of an aversive stimulus o Positive punishment behavior decreases because it is followed by the presentation of an aversive stimulus o Negative punishment behavior decreases because it is followed by removal of an appetitive stimulus 1 Determine how the behavior of interest changes that narrows you down to reinforcement or punishment 2 Assess if something is added or removed from the environment contingent on the behavior of interest Operant conditioning mechanisms Fundamental elements of operant conditioning The nature of the operant o Instrumental learning is behavior that is controlled by consequences Both the response and the stimulus as well as their relation to each other will influence the speed and efficacy of learning o Belongedness certain responses are easier to change in frequency than others because they are more easily associated with consequences Ex Is it easier to teach a dog to ring a bell or lie down in or to be let out to pee o Certain responses that are in an animal s repertoire are easier to change in frequency contingent on a consequence o Certain responses that are not in conflict with other behaviors an animal naturally performs instinctive drift are easier to change in frequency contingent on a consequence Example is it easier to teach a cat to pee in a litter box on the toilet The nature of the reinforcer behavior they follow o Reinforcers have to be a certain magnitude or quality in order to change the o But they also cant be too large as to discourage the anticipation of the next behavior thus slowing responding or too small to make it not worth it o Ex Quitting smoking for 1 10 or 100 a week choose 10 o The efficacy of the reinforcer is based on how its quantity and quality compares to the animal s past experiences o Positive contrast elevated responding for a favorable reward resulting from prior experience with a less attractive outcome o Negative contrast decreased responding for a small reward because of previous experience with a better outcome The nature of the reinforcer o The ability of a stimulus to control the probability of a behavior is based on o Temporal relation how close in time the stimulus follows the response Immediate usually works best but responding can be maintained over delays through use of secondary reinforcers o Causal relation how necessary the response is for the presentation of the stimulus Behavior that precedes the presentation of an appetitive stimulus might be repeated despite no contingency due to superstition o Learned helplessness previous inability to control things in the environment disrupts subsequent learning about them Have to unlearn that theirs no contingency or association Similar to retardation of acquisition and associative interference in CC Operant conditioning schedules Intermittent reinforcement o Stimuli that serve as reinforcers rarely follow an operant response every time Partial or intermittent reinforcement is said to occur when reinforcers follow responding some of the time o Schedules of reinforcement rules that determine when reinforcement is o Schedules influence response rate learning and maintenance pattern delivered persistence Schedule rules o Scheduling rules can be based on The occurrence of a certain number of responses The passage of time The presence or absence of certain stimuli The concurrent occurrence of other responses o Can be simple one factor or complex multiple factors Types of simple schedules o Ratio Reinforcement depends on the number of responses emitted o Fixed ratio FR every nth response is followed by a stimulus that serves as a reinforcer If a reinforcer is presented after every 7th response the schedule is said to be an FR7 o Continuous reinforcement CRF special type of FR schedule in which reinforcement follows each response Also considered an FR1 that serves as a reinforcer o Variable ratio VR every nth response on average is followed by a stimulus If a reinforcer is presented after every 7th response on average the schedule is said to be an VR7 That means sometimes the reinforcer will follow 2 responses sometimes 12 sometimes 4 sometimes 10 2 12 4 10 28 4 7 o Interval Reinforcement depends on the amount of time that has