PSYB45H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Classical Conditioning, Reinforcement, Stimulus Control
Document Summary
Schedules of reinforcement and stimulus discrimination and generalization. Examining increasingly more complex ways in which reinforcement can be applied. Schedule of reinforcement: a rule specifying which occurrences of a given behaviour, if any, will be reinforced. Different schedules of reinforcement have different impacts on the rate of behaviours and the speed of extinction. Different schedules may be optimal for different kinds of situations. Continuous reinforcement is the simplest schedule of reinforcement. Extinction is the complete opposite of continuous reinforcement. Generally best to provide continuous reinforcement during initial learning of a behaviour (acquisition phase), and then switch to intermittent reinforcement to help maintain the behaviour. Advantages of intermittent reinforcement (vs continuous) for the maintenance of behaviour. Reinforcer remains effective longer because satiation takes place more slowly. Behaviour that has been reinforced intermittently tends to take longer to extinguish. Individuals work more consistently on certain intermittent schedules.
