PSY 205 Unit 2 Quiz.

Continuous schedules.

- Reinforcement or Punishment occurs each time a behavior is emitted a. Best Schedule for Acquiring a new behavior or modifying an existing behavior b. Learning occurs most rapidly under this schedule ex: Vending machine (each time you put money in you receive merchandise) Patient Compliance (every time a patient is compliant with treatment you praise them)

Conditioned reinforcer.

A previously neutral stimulus that has been paired a number of times with an established reinforcer and consequently functions as a reinforcer itself. EX: money, grades and praise are conditioned reinforcers.

What is a token economy; how do they work?

A reinforcement system in which conditioned reinforcers called tokens are delivered to people for desirable behaviors: the tokens are later exchanged for backup reinforcers. EX: money (books that range from 20-35 tokens)

Contingency.

A relationship between a response and a consequence in which the consequence is presented if and only if the response occurs. When such a relationship exists, the consequence is said to be contingent on the response.

What is a reinforcer?

A stimulus or event that increases the future probability of a behavior when it occurs contingent on the occurrence of the behavior.

Unconditioned reinforcer.

A stimulus that is naturally reinforcing because the capacity for our behavior to be strengthened by the stimulus has survival value. No prior conditioning is necessary for an unconditioned reinforcer to be a reinforcer. Examples include food, water, escape from extreme stimulation, and sexual contact.

Consequence/antecedent.

Consequence: The stimulus or event occurring immediately after a behavior. Antecedent: A stimulus or event that precedes the target behavior.

What kind of schedule is best for new behavior?

Continuous schedules.

Fixed ratio.

Def: A schedule of reinforcement in which a specific number of responses must occur before the reinforcer is delivered. The number of responses needed for reinforcement does not change. EX:Production Line Work: Workers at a widget factory are paid for every 15 widgets they make. This results in a high production rate and workers tend to take few breaks. It can, however, lead to burnout and lower-quality work.

Variable ratio.

Def: A schedule of reinforcement in which a specified number of responses is needed for the delivery of the reinforcer. The number of responses needed varies around an average number. EX: Slot Machines: Players have no way of knowing how many times they have to play before they win. All they know is that eventually, a play will win. This is why slot machines are so effective, and players are often reluctant to quit. There is always the possibility that the next coin they put in will be the winning one.

Variable Interval.

Def: A schedule of reinforcement in which the first response that occurs after a specified time interval is reinforced. The time interval varies around an average value. EX: Checking Your Email: Typically, you check your email at random times throughout the day instead of checking every time a single message is delivered. The thing about email is that in most cases, you never know when you are going to receive a message. Because of this, emails roll in sporadically at completely unpredictable times. When you check and see that you have received a message, it acts as a reinforcer for checking your email.

Fixed interval.

Def: A schedule of reinforcement in which the reinforcer is delivered for the first response that occurs after an interval of time has elapsed. The interval is the same each time. EX:A weekly paycheck is a good example of a fixed-interval schedule. The employee receives reinforcement every seven days, which may result in a higher response rate as payday approaches.

Negative reinforcer.

Def: A stimulus that will decrease the future probability of a behavior when the stimulus is delivered contingent on the occurrence of the behavior. EX:Bob does the dishes (behavior) in order to stop his mother's nagging (aversive stimulus).

Positive reinforcer.

Def: A stimulus that will increase the future probability of a behavior when the stimulus is delivered contingent on the occurrence of the behavior. EX: A mother gives her son praise (reinforcing stimulus) for doing homework (behavior).

Negative punishment.

Def: A type of punishment in which the occurrence of a behavior is followed by the removal of a reinforcing stimulus. It results in decrease in the future probability of the behavior. EX:A child kicks a peer (behavior), and is removed from his/her favorite activity (reinforcing stimulus removed)

Positive punishment.

Def: A type of punishment in which, contingent on the behavior, an aversive stimulus or event is presented and the probability of the behavior decreases in the future. EX:A child touches a hot stove (behavior) and feels pain (aversive stimulus).

Deprivation/satiation.

Deprivation: A condition in which the person has gone without a particular reinforcer for a period of time. A type of establishing operation; it makes the reinforcer the person has gone without more potent. Satiation: Progressive (and ultimately total) loss of effectiveness of a reinforcer. Satiation occurs when you have recently consumed a large amount of a particular reinforcer or when you have has a substantial exposure to a reinforcing stimulus.

How do you decrease the occurrence of a behavior in the future?

Extinction.

Size/magnitude/intensity.

Given the appropriate establishing operation, generally, the effectiveness of a stimulus as a reinforcer is greater if the amount or magnitude of a stimulus is greater. A larger positive reinforcer strengthens the behavior that produces it to a greater extent than a smaller magnitude of the same reinforcer does.

What kind of schedule is best for maintaining behavior?

Intermittent schedules.

Abolishing operations.

One type of motivating operation. An event that decreases the potency of a particular reinforcer at a particular time and makes the behavior that produces that reinforcer less likely to occur. Satiation is a type of abolishing operation.

Establishing operations.

One type of motivating operation. An event that increases the potency of a particular reinforcer at a particular time and evokes the behavior that produces that reinforcer. Deprivation is a type of establishing operation.

Punishment.

Punishment is a term used in operant conditioning to refer to any change that occurs after a behavior that reduces the likelihood that that behavior will occur again in the future.

Know Karen Pryor's 10 laws of shaping and examples of each (on p. 38 in "Don't shoot.")

Raise criteria in increments small enough so that the subject always has a realistic chance of reinforcement. Train one aspect of any particular behavior at a time. Don't try to shape for two criteria simultaneously. During shaping, put the current level of response on a variable ratio schedule of reinforcement before adding or raising the criteria. When introducing a new criterion, or aspect of the behavioral skill, temporarily relax the old ones. Stay ahead of your subject: Plan your shaping program completely so that if the subject makes sudden progress, you are aware of what to reinforce next. Don't change trainers in midstream. You can have several trainers per trainee, but stick to one shaper per behavior. If one shaping procedure is not eliciting progress, find another. There are as many ways to get behavior as there are trainers to think them up. Don't interrupt a training session gratuitously; that constitutes a punishment. If behavior deteriorates, "Go back to kindergarten." Quickly review the whole shaping process with a series of easily earned reinforcers. End each session on a high note, if possible, but in any case quit while you're ahead.

How do you increase the occurrence of a behavior in the future?

Reinforcers (Scheduling of Reinforcements, Positive And Negative Reinforcements, Token economy, Primary and Secondary Reinforcers).

Backup reinforcer.

Reinforcers used in a token economy. A client receives tokens for desirable behaviors and exchanges a specified number of tokens for any of a variety of backup reinforcers.

What is a post reinforcement pause?

Responses occur at a high rate and usually without significant pauses while the subject completes the fixed ratio requirement (the ratio run. On reinforcer delivery, the subject does not immediately resume responding, producing the post-reinforcement pause.

Intermittent schedules.

Schedules in which reinforcement follows some, but not all, correct or appropriate responses or follows when a period of appropriate behavior has elapsed. These schedules include ratio, interval, and response-duration schedules.

Secondary reinforcer.

Secondary reinforcers acquire their power via a history of association with primary reinforcers or other secondary reinforcers. EX: If I told you that dollars were no longer going to be used as money, then dollars would lose their power as a secondary reinforcer.

Successive approximations.

in the operant-conditioning procedure of shaping, behaviors that are ordered in terms of increasing similarity or closeness to the desired response. EX: each time the rat is rewarded, it is being rewarded for a "successive approximation", or for acting in a way that gets closer and closer to the desired behavior.

Extinction.

the diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in classical conditioning when an unconditioned stimulus (US) does not follow a conditioned stimulus (CS); occurs in operant conditioning when a response is no longer reinforced. Imagine that a researcher has trained a lab rat to press a key to receive a food pellet. What happens when the researcher stops delivering the food? While extinction will not occur immediately, it will after time. If the rat continues to press the key but does not get the pellet, the behavior will eventually dwindle until it disappears entirely.

Individual differences.

The likelihood of a consequence being a reinforcer varies from person to person, so it is important to determine that a particular consequence is a reinforcer for a particular person.It is important not to assume that a particular stimulus will be a reinforcer for a person just because it appears to be a reinforcer for most people.

What is shaping? (What are the steps?)

The reinforcement of successive approximations to a target behavior. Shaping is used to establish a novel topography or dimension of a behavior. 1. define target behavior. 2. determine whether shaping is the most appropriate procedure. 3. identify the starting behavior. 4. choose the shaping steps (successive approximations) 5. choose the reinforcer to use in the shaping procedure. 6. differentially reinforce each successive approximation. 7. move at a proper pace through the shaping steps.

Primary Reinforcer.

The reinforcers which are biologically important are called Primary Reinforcers. It is also referred as unconditional reinforcement. These reinforcers occur naturally without having to make any effort and do not require any form of learning. EX: food, sleep, water, air and sex.

Immediacy.

The time between the occurrence of a behavior and the reinforcing consequence is important. For a consequence to be most effective as a reinforcer, it should occur immediately after the response occurs. The longer the delay, the less effective the consequence will be because the contiguity or connection between the two is weakened.