| A stimulus that signals wheter a particular response will lead to a particular outcome | What is the discriminative stimulus? (SD) |
| The process of providing outcomes for a behaviour that increases the probability of that behaviour occurring again in the future | Define reinforcement |
| An operant conditioning paradigm in which the animal can operate the experimental apparatus "freely", responding to obtain reinforcement (or avoid punishment) when it chooses | Define the free-operant paradigm |
| An operant conditioning paradigm in which the experimenter defines the beginning and end points | Define trials paradigm |
| A conditioning chamber in which reinforcement or punishment is delivered automatically whenever an animal makes (or ceases making) a particular response (such as pressing a lever) | What is the Skinner Box? |
| A device that records behavioural responses, the height of the line drawn represents the number of responses that have been made (cumulatively) up to the present time | What is a cumulative recorder? |
| An operant conditioning technique in which successive approximations to a desired response are reinforced | What is shaping? |
| An operant conditioning technique in which organisms are gradually trained to execute complicated sequences of discrete responses | What is chaining? |
| A consequence of behaviour that leads to increased liklihood of that behaviour occurring again in the future | Define reinforcer |
| A stimulus, such as food, water, sex or sleep, that has innate biological value to the organism and can function as a reinforcer | define primary reinforcer |
| A stimulus (such as money or tokens) that has no intrinsic value but that has been praied with primary reinforcers or that provides access to primary reinforcers | Define secondary reinforcer |
| An environment (such as a prison or schoolroom) in which tokens function the same way as money does in the outside world. | What is token economy? |
| Situation in which an organism will respond less strongly to a less-preferred reinforcer that is provided in place of an expected preferred reinforcer than it would have if the less-preferred reinforcer had been provided all along | What is a negative contrast? |
| A consequence of behaviour that leads to decreased likelihood of that behaviour occurring again in the future | Define Punisher |
| In operant conditioning, the process of providing outcomes for a behaviour that decrease the probability of that behaviour occurring again in the future | What is punishment? |
| More variable behaviour | Punishment leads to… ? |
| Cheating | Discriminative stimuli for punishment can encourage …. ? |
| The punishment | Concurrent reinforcement can undermine … ? |
| Punishment is most effective if a strong punisher is used from the outset | Initial intensity matters |
| A method to decrease frequency of unwanted behaviours by instead reinforcing preferred alternate behaviours | Define differential reinforcement of alternative behaviours (DRA) |
| A schedule determining how often reinforcement is delivered in an operant conditioning paradigm | What is a reinforcement schedule? |
| A type of operant conditioning in which the response causes a einforcer to be 'added' to the environment; over time, the response becomes more frequent | Define positive reinforcement |
| A type of operant conditioning in which the response causes a punisher to be 'added' to the environment; over time, the response becomes less frequent | Define positive punishment |
| A type of operant conditioning in which the response causes a punisher to be taken away or 'subtracted from' the environment; over time, the response becomes more frequent | Define negative reinforcement |
| A type of operant conditioning in which the response causes a reinforcer to be taken away or 'subtracted from the environment; over time, the response becomes less frequent | Define negative punishment |
| Clean room -> get weekly allowance (reinforcement). Tease little sister -> receive parental scolding (punishment) | Positive example: |
| Take aspirin -> headache goes away (reinforcement). Fight with other children -> time-out from play (punishment) | Negative example: |
| Where every instanse of the response is followed by the consequence | Define continuous reinforcement schedule |
| Only some responses are reinforced | Define partial reinforcement schedule |
| In operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule in which a specific number of responses are required before a reinforcer is delivered; for exampled FR5 means that reinforcement arrives after every fifth response | What is a fixed-ratio (FR) schedule? |
| In operant conditioning with a fixed-ratio (FR) schedule of reinforcement, a brief pause following a period of fast responding leading to reinforcement | What is postreinforcement pause? |
| In operant conditioning, a reinfocement schedule in which the first response after a fixed amount of time is reinforced; thus, FI 1-m means that reinforcement arrives for the first response made after a one-minute interval since the last reinforcement | Define Fixed-interval (FI) schedule |
| In operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule in which a certain number of responses, on average, are required before a reinforcer is delivered; thus, VR5 means that, on average, every fifth response is reinforced | Define Variable-ratio (VR) schedule |
| A reinforcement schedule in which the first response after a fixed amount of time, on average, is reinforced; thus, VI 1-m means that the first response after one minute, on average, is reinforced | Define variable-interval (VI) schedule |
| A reinforcement schedule in which the organism can make any of several possible responses, each of which may lead to a different outcome reinforced according to a different reinforcement schedule | Define concurrent reinforcement schedule |
| The principle that an organism, given a choice between multiple responses, will make a particular response at a rate proportional to how often that response is reinforced relative to the other choices | Define Matching law of choice behaviour (Hernstein, 1961) |
| The study of how organisms allocate their time and resources among possible options | What are behavioural economics? |
| In behavioural economics, the allocation of resources that maximises subjective value or satisfaction | What is a bliss point? |
| The theory that the opportunity to perform a highly frequent behaviour can reinfoce a less frequent behaviour; later refined as the response deprivation hypothesis | What is the Premack principle? |
| A refinement of the Premack principle stating that the opportunity to perform nay behaviour can be reinforcing if access to that behaviour is restricted | What is the response deprivation hypothesis? |
| Time it took for a cat to escape from a puzzle box. Time declined over trials. Behaviour that leads to a satisfying outcome increases in the future | What was Thorndike's experiment? |
| Operant | If the outcome occurs regardless of response, this is ____ conditioning |
| Classical | If the outcome is contingent on a response, this is ____ conditioning |
| Instrumental response -> Appetitive stimulus -> response increases | Positive Reinforcement stages |
| Instrument response (avoidance) -> aversive stimulus stops -> response increases OR instrumental response - No aversive stimulus -> response increases | Negative reinforcement (escape) stages |
| Instrumental response -> aversive stimulus -> response decreases | Positive punishment stages |
| Previously rewarded response -> no appetitive stimulus (no reward) -> response decreases | Negative Punishment (extinction) stages |
| Instrumental response -> appettitve stimulus withdrawn -> Response decreases | Negative punishment (omission) stages |
| Food, sex, Hull's Drive reduction theory (learning occurs via a biological need to reduce innate drives, I,e hunger) | Examples of Primary reinforcers |
| A stimulus with no intrinsice biological value that has been paired with/provides access to primary reinforcers | Examples of conditioned reinforcers |
| How different are reinforcement and non-reinforcement conditions | What is the discrimination hypothesis? |
| Partial reinforcement: some reward+some frustration | What is the frustration hypothesis? |
| Partial reinforcement: Behaviour + reward associated with previous trial where behaviour + no reward | What is the sequential hypothesis? |
| OC may occur outside of consciousness awareness. However, awareness can facilitate behavioural change in humans. | Is there any difference between human operant conditioning and animal operant conditioning and does awareness/consciousness help? |
| The reinforcement of successive approximations gradually results in desired behaviours | Shaping = |
| Learned sequence of behaviour | Chaining = |
| Initially neutral stimulus that becomes reinforcing because it has been repeatedly associated with the primary reinforcer | Conditioned Reinforcer = |
| Motivational need or desire for a particular reinforcer | Drive = |
| Only present when reinforcement occurs. Acts as a signal for correct context of behaviour | Discriminative Stimulus = |
| The contingency (relationship) between the timing or frequency of response and reinforcement | Reinforcement Schedule = |
