PSYCH 1F03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Rein, Reinforcement, Mandelbrot Set
30 Jan 2017
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Instrumental conditioning is all about learning the contingency between behaviours and their consequences. Early theorists trying to understand the connections between behaviour and its consequences appealed to mental processes which could not be readily measured. Although we remain ultimately interested in how instrumental conditions guides human behaviour, much of the early work was done in experiments with animal subjects. The noted psychologist edward l thorndike began his investigations by studying cats in a puzzle box. This put the focus on overt behaviour rather than on mental elements or conscious experiences. The puzzle box was a small chamber with a door that could be opened by performing behaviour such as pulling on a rope. Outside the box was a small dish of food that provided motivation for the hungry cat to escape. Over several trials, the cat was placed in the puzzle box as throndike carefully observed their behaviours and recorded their escape time.
