Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF OPERANT CONDITIONING (THE RESEARCH OF B. F. SKINNER…
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF OPERANT CONDITIONING
THE LAW OF EFFECT
Thordike's Experiments
Animals explored the space and escaped the first time by what seemed to be accident
His measure of performance was
escape latency
, or the amount of time it took the subject to escape each trial
He placed a hungry animal in a
puzzle box
, a small chamber that would open a door if an appropriate response was given from the animal
Concluded his experiment with proposing the
Law of Effect
(aka
positive reinforcement
) which states that the greater the satisfaction or discomfort from an action, the greater or the weaker the bond between stimulus (the puzzle box) and response (the behavior that opened the door) will be. The result of escaping is referred to as the
reinforcer
which determines satisfaction or discomfort
First to see how animals non-reflexive behaviors may be modified as a result of its experiences
Guthrie and Horton: Evidence for a Mechanical Strengthening Process
Their experiments saw that in early puzzle box trials, cats would have a lot of variety in solving a task. Once they were successful around ten times, they would rely on one method of solving the puzzle box showing little variability. Each cat had unique methods
The
stop-action principle
states that because of positive reinforcement, animals will more likely repeat things like body position and muscle movements in the moment of reinforcement
Superstitious Behaviors
Commonly arises in situations where there is believed but no actual control
Skinner focused on idiosyncratic (individual) superstitions but they exist on a much wider scale. The number 13 being unlucky is a good example of a widely believed superstition
Humans show this. For example, the bowler who releases his ball and continues to behave as if he were controlling it by twisting and turning his arm and shoulder. He isn't but it worked once so the bowler will continue this after each bowl
In a repetition of Skinner's experiment,
Staddon and Simmelhag
found interim and terminal behaviors.
Interim behaviors
are those that were frequent in the early part of the interval and may be somewhat innate and unrelated to reinforcement.
Terminal behaviors
were frequent in the late part of the interval
Famous
superstition experiment
placed pigeons in a box where they received food every 15 seconds. Six of the eight produced behavioral patterns in between food though not required for food to drop
Adjunctive behaviors
are those which occur after reinforcement and may be innate behaviors to pass time
THE PROCEDURE OF SHAPING, OR SUCCESSIVE APPROXIMATIONS
Behavior variability allows for the use of
shaping
, the method of successive approximations
Shaping Level Pressing in Rat
The
conditioned reinforcer
is a previously neutral stimulus that has acquired the capacity to strengthen responses because that stimulus has been repeatedly paired with some primary reinforcer.
The criterion for reinforcement is the point at which the subject is rewarded in order for shaping to occur in a direction that is intended (when a rats head is above 2.5 inches, give him food)
A
primary reinforcer
is a stimulus that naturally strengthens and response it follows
Shaping Behaviors in the Classroom
Shaping is most effective when the subject is unaware
Shaping as a Tool in Behavior Modification
A common component of behavior modification is rewarding systematic removal of the bad habit as opposed to cold turkey
Works well in situations that reward good behavior to eliminate bad habits in individuals and groups
Making Shaping More Precise: Percentile Schedules
This means that there are very specific rules for what is being reinforced and is not left to the discretion of the therapist
The subject will only be rewarded when there is an increase in performance by a certain percentage that is ideally obtainable
Percentile schedules
are measurements of a response compared to the last several responses.
Versatility of the Shaping Process
The law of effect is much more applicable than classical conditioning as classical conditioning relies on behaviors that are reliably elicited
The shaping process is only limited by the capabilities of the subject
THE RESEARCH OF B. F. SKINNER
Operant conditioning is when the subject receives reinforcement by operating on the environment. Instrumental conditioning suggests the subjects behavior is instrumental in obtaining the reinforcer
The Free Operant
The puzzle box is an example of discrete because it was over after the action was completed once and would then have to be restarted by the administrator.
Free-operant procedures
may occur at any time and repeatedly without intervention
Latency was used in discrete settings and was the time it took to perform a behavior. Rate is used in free-operant procedures and is the responses per minute
The Three-Term Contingency
--context response stimuli
Stimulus control
refers to stimuli that precede a behavior that can control the occurrence of that behavior
In the presence of the
discriminative stimulus
the reinforcer will occur iff the operant response occurs
Basic Principles of Operant Conditioning
--extinction
--spontaneous recovery
--acquisition
--discrimination
--generalization
Resurgance
Resurgence
is the reappearance of a previously reinforced response that occurs when a more recently reinforced response is extinguished.
Seen as a possible source of creativity as previous methods that used to work combined with those that also used to work made a working solution for pigeon (115)
Conditioned Reinforcement
Marking
is providing immediate feedback for a particular response
Bridging
is when a conditioned reinforcer fills the time period between response and the delivery of primary reinforcer
Money is considered one of the strongest conditioned reinforcers because it is wide access to many primary pleasures
The information hypothesis states that conditioned reinforcers affect behavior because they provide information about future delivery of a primary reinforcer. The additive hypothesis is that they add additional reinforcing value above what the primary reinforcer provides
Generalized reinforcers
are those that are associated with a large number of different primary reinforcers
Conditioned reinforces are similar to that of second order conditioning in classical conditioning
Response Chains
Forward chaining
is when the instructor begins with the first task and moves on chronologically
The
total-task method
is taught all at once using verbal instructions to prompt the correct response
A method of teaching response chains is
backward chaining
where the instructor begins with the last step first and work backwards
BIOLOGICAL CONSTRAINTS ON OPERANT CONDITIONING
Instinctive drift and autoshaping have raised serious questions about the limitations of the general principles of learning
Instinctive Drift
Pigs were taught to bring a wood coin to a deposit slot. After repeated conditioning, they became slower and actually ate less than they normally would in a day. This was shown in multiple pigs. The slower movements were also innate qualities. This was coined as
instinctive drift
Autoshaping
Some say pecking is the conditioned response to eating grain
Not superstitious behavior. Pecking occurred even when no food was presented
Pigeons were given food 60 seconds after a light lit up. Despite not needing any behavior to trigger, they pecked at the light.
Chicks given a light and warmth from a lamp showed snuggling characteristics until the heat actually came on at which point they no longer were acting innate. They spread out their wings and stood motionless
The
behavior systems analysis
says that autoshaped behaviors are related to species-typical behavior related to the reward.
Pretty much a break down of operant conditioning
Reconciling Reinforcement Theory and Biological Constraints
Instinctive drift pretty much destroys the principle of reinforcement
Skinner was neither surprised or disturbed by autoshaping and instinctive drift
Autoshaping is seen as a good example of classical conditioning, and a break down of operant conditioning
We should not be surprised to see instances where hereditary traits overpower learned traits