PSYCH 1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 31: East Los Angeles College, B. F. Skinner, Operant Conditioning
Document Summary
Law of effect: thorndike"s idea that consequences of a behaviour determine whether its likely to be repeated. Assume that when subject encounters new environment behaviour is very random. Behaviours with favourable outcomes tend to be repeated. Behaviours with no positive consequence are less likely to occur. Event with neutral stimulus) is different from instrumental learning (biological event with response) Response called an operant (behaviour results in either reinforcement or punishment) Reinforcement (behaviour will be more likely exhibited in future) Three term contingency (similar to abc"s of behavioural analysis) Punishment (behaviour will less likely be exhibited) Positive reinforcer something that when presented after behaviour, increases probability of behaviour occurring again. Negative reinforcer something that when removed, increases probability of a behaviour. Response leads to removal of something bad. Continuous reinforcement: each time desired behaviour is shown reward. Intermittent reinforcement: rewarding behaviours on a schedule. Occasional reinforcement of behaviour resistant to extinction (and slower acquisition)
