Textbook Notes Psyc 340 Final Exam CH 6 Schedules of Reinforcement and Choice Behavior Stuff From Last Exam That Will Roll Over Presumably Simple Schedules of Intermittent Reinforcement Ratio Schedule depends on number of responses the organism has to perform Fixed of responses same trial to trial Variable of responses varies trial to trial Interval Schedule response is reinforced only if response occurs after a certain amount of time has passed Fixed amount of time that has to pass is constant trial to trial Variable amount of time that has to pass changes from trial to trial Comparison of Ratio and Interval Schedules inter response time IRT interval b w successive responses ratio has higher rate of responding b c of short inter response times or b c feedback function relationship b w response rates and reinforcement rates Choice Behavior Concurrent Schedules concurrent schedule 2 schedules in effect simultaneously organism free to switch Measures of Choice Behavior relative rate of responding pg 166 The Matching Law pg 168 169 the relative rate of responding on an alternative matched the relative rate of reinforcement earned on that alternative 1 Textbook Notes Psyc 340 Final Exam Mechanisms of the Matching Law pg 169 172 Molar theories explain aggregates of responses ignore individual responses Molecular theories what happens at the level of individual responses 1 Maximizing Rates of Reinforcement 2 Melioration local rates of responding and reinforcement choice alternative Complex Choice and Self control Concurrent Chain Schedules pg 172 173 to study how organisms make choices that involve commitment to one alternative or the other involves choice with commitment 2 stages 1 choice link choose between 2 schedule alternatives the terminal link stimulus becomes a conditioned reinforcer 2 terminal link reinforcement schedule Self Control Choice and Delay Discounting pg 174 175 matter of choosing a large delayed reward over a smaller immediate reward delay discounting idea that the value of a reinforcer declines as a function of how long you have to wait to obtain it 2 Textbook Notes Psyc 340 Final Exam CH 7 Instrumental Conditioning Motivational Mechanisms I The Associative Structure of Instrumental Conditioning the IR occurs in the context of specific environmental stimuli Three term contingency involves S R and O The S R Association and the Law of Effect association b w contextual stimuli S and instrumental response R law of effect instrumental conditioning involves the establishment of an S R association b w the S R that are present during reinforcement assumes that the only role of the reinforcer is the strengthen the S R association Expectancy of Reward and the S O Association reinforcement of IR will inevitably result in pairing these stimuli S with the reinforcer or response outcome O IR increases during the course of instrumental learning for 2 reasons 1 2 the presence of S comes to evoke the instrumental response directly through S R association the IR also comes to be made in response to an S O association that creates the expectancy of reward Two process theory there are 2 types of learning pavlovian and instrumental the stimuli S in the presence of which the IR is reinforced become associated with the response outcome O through pavlovian conditioning and this results in an S O association Rescorla and Solomon assumed that the S O association activates an emotional state that motivates the instrumental behavior Pavlovian Instrumental transfer experiment determines how an independently established Pavlovian CS transfer to influence or motivate instrumental responding R O and S R O Relations in Instrumental Conditioning The most common technique used to demonstrate the existence of R O associations involves devaluing the reinforcer after conditioning if reinforcer devaluation disrupts instrumental behavior then the memory of the outcome O was involved in motivating the instrumental behavior the result of devaluation tests indicate that training established an R O association linking each response with its specific reinforcer 3 Textbook Notes Psyc 340 Final Exam Hierarchical S R O Relations R O associations can not act alone to produce instrumental behavior the fact that the instrumental response activates an expectancy of the reinforcer is not sufficient to tell us what caused the response in the first place an additional factor is required to activate the R O association the subject comes to think of the R O association when it encounters S and that motivates it to make the instrumental response II Response Allocation and Behavioral Economics molar approach that focuses on how instrumental conditioning procedures put limitations on an organism s activities and cause redistributions of behavior among available response options Antecedents of the Response Allocation Approach Consummatory Response Theory many reinforcers elicit species typical UR The Premack Principle instrumental responses are typically low probability activities AKA differential probability principle encouraged thinking about reinforcers as responses rather than as stimuli now any behavior could serve as a reinforcer provided that it was more likely than the instrumental response Response Deprivation Hypothesis exactly what it sounds like The Response Allocation Approach how an individual distributes their responses among the various options available unconstrained baseline bliss point reflects unique preferences the outcome depends on the nature of the contingency minimum deviation model the rate of response it brought as close to possible to its preferred level without moving the other response too far away from its preferred level Behavioral Economics the restrictions are provided by the number of responses an organism is able to make income and the number of responses required to obtain each reinforcer price of reinforcer demand curve the relation b w the price of a commodity and how much of it is purchased elasticity of demand the degree to which price influences consumption the price of the reinforcer is determined by the schedule of reinforcement instrumental responding spending instrumental contingencies prices 4 Textbook Notes Psyc 340 Final Exam Determinants of the Elasticity of Demand 1 Availability of Substitutes most important determinant increases the sensitivity of the original item to higher prices decreases demand of the original reinforcer 2 Price Range 3 Income level low price no