PSYCH 1F03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Table Tennis, Operant Conditioning Chamber, Reinforcement
22 Sep 2016
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Document Summary
Classical conditioning- learning contingency between one stimulus and another. Instrumental conditioning- learning contingency between behaviour and its consequences. Measured time it took cat to learn to open door by pulling string. Continued these trials until there was no further change in the speed with which the cat got out of the box. Hypothesized his results would reflect a step function. A number of trials on which the cat took a long time to pull the string, but once the cat understood the response, (aha experience) she would pull the string immediately. Thorndike"s results actually follow a trial and error learning curve. Time to pull the string deceased gradually over a number of trials. On each trial, the behaviours that immediately preceded the food became more and more frequent or probable. The cat beagin to spend more time near the string that opened the door, and more time waving her paw in the air.
