PSYA01H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 21: Classical Conditioning, Operant Conditioning, Reinforcement
Document Summary
Discrimination: when an operant response is made to one stimulus but not to another (even if similar: ex. you may learn that your father will lend you the car whereas your mother will not. In classical conditioning, generalization refers to the extent to which a stimulus similar to the cs can elicit the cr. In operant conditioning, generalization refers to the extent to which a stimulus similar to the discriminative stimulus elicits a response. Animals can learn to both generalize, and simultaneously, to discriminate. In a sense, they learn to categorize stimuli into those that should be responded to, and those that are not worth the effort: ex. Mixed group of people, have to decide how to act (the way you are with your friends, or the angelic version of yourself) Most operant conditioning experiments use primary reinforcers during learning. Reinforcer: a stimulus that is contingent upon a response, increases probability of response recurring ex. money, food, pain.
