PSYC 211 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Operant Conditioning, Morris Water Navigation Task, Retina
14 Jun 2016
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Instrumental behaviour and the puzzle box (thorndike, 1938) The reward is contingent on the cat performing an action/response (i. e. unlatch the door: a gradual decrease in escape latencies provides an index of learning. The animals behaviour is instrumental in determining its outcome (e. g. reward) Instrumental responses are operants: operant behaviour can be strengthened and weakened by its consequences. The animal is exposed to an environment that mimics their natural environment. Learning is likely to be highly developed and more directly related to innate neural mechanisms. Four common seminatural learning environment o conditioned taste aversion o radial arm maze o morris water maze o conditioned defensive burying. Conditioned taste aversion: an avoidance response that develops as a consequence of consuming something that lead to illness o rats are neophobic (afraid of new things) Morris water maze o the platform locating in the same position but the start position varies from trial to trial.
