LING 200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Operant Conditioning Chamber, Operant Conditioning, Behaviorism

• School: McGill University
• Department: Linguistics
• Course: LING 200
• Professor: Alan Clinton Bale

Document Summary

Behaviorism: philosophical and psychological movement, sought to understand behavior as a function of environmental reinforcement, does not take mental states into account. Operant conditioning: modification of behavior brought about over time by the consequences of this behavior. Uses reinforcement and punishment to increase certain behaviors. Reinforcement: responses from the environment that increase the probability of a behavior being repeated. Punishment: responses from the environment that decrease the probability of a behavior being repeated. Positive reinforcement: occurs when a behavior is followed by a pleasant stimulus that increases that behavior. Skinner box experiment rat presses lever and food/sugar solution is presented. Negative reinforcement: occurs when a behavior is followed by the removal of an unpleasant stimulus, thereby increasing that behavior. Skinner box experiment rat presses lever and a loud noise is eliminated. Interested in the function of language as behavior in the environment in which it occurs.