PSYC 110 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Swear Jar, Tantrum, Behaviorism
27 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Operant responses operate on the world to produce some effect. They are also called instrumental
responses because they function like instruments, or tools, to bring about some change in the
environment.
The process by which people or animals learn to make operant responses is called operant conditioning
or instrumental conditioning. It is a learning process by which the effect of a response influences the
future rate of production of that response.
They are both forms of associative learning.
Classical conditioning uses a stimulus to elicit a response. They form associations between the stimuli. It
involves automatic reactions to stimuli. The stimulus precedes the response and elicits it. External event
-> External event
Operant conditioning uses a stimulus to predict the future recurrence of a response. Organisms
associate their own behavior with consequences. Stimulus follows the response and strengthens it.
Behavior -> External Event. Associate a behavior with an environment where it is not caused.
Thorndike:
Deprived cats of food for long enough and then placed them in a puzzle box with food outside of it. The
box had an easy access from the inside such a lever or a loop. The cat would furiously attempt to escape
from the cage and eventually after trying long enough, would be successful in opening the door. He
repeated the experiment many times and successively, the cat learned how to escape the cage on its
first try.
Thorndike defined learning as a trial and error process.
Law of effect: Responses that produce a satisfying effect in a particular situation become more likely to
occur again in that situation, and responses that produce a discomforting effect become less likely to
occur again in that situation.
Reinforcement: Anything that increases the frequency of behavior. Eg: fake social media points such as
likes, upvotes, +1. Do not really give you any rewards physically but is a good reinforcer for continuing
the behavior.
Punishment: Anything that decreases the frequency of behavior. Eg: Speeding ticket, if you are super
rich, you might still drive rashly.
Positive - good or added - something that was not present and has been added. Added. The behavior is
absent and then a positive consequence makes it appears over time.
Negative - initially present, the behavior occurs and then it goes away. Subtracted. The behavior was
always present and a negative consequence causes it to go away.
Skinner:
Operant Response: Any behavioral act that has some effect on the environment
Operant conditioning: The process by which the effect of an operant response changes the likelihood of
the response's recurrence.
Reinforcer: A stimulus change that follows a response and increases the subsequent frequency of that
response.
Conditioned reinforcers: Stimuli that have reinforcing value only because of previous learning. Eg:
money - once a person learns what money can buy, he/she will learn to behave In ways that yield more
of it.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Operant responses operate on the world to produce some effect. They are also called instrumental responses because they function like instruments, or tools, to bring about some change in the environment. The process by which people or animals learn to make operant responses is called operant conditioning or instrumental conditioning. It is a learning process by which the effect of a response influences the future rate of production of that response. Classical conditioning uses a stimulus to elicit a response. The stimulus precedes the response and elicits it. Operant conditioning uses a stimulus to predict the future recurrence of a response. Associate a behavior with an environment where it is not caused. Deprived cats of food for long enough and then placed them in a puzzle box with food outside of it. The box had an easy access from the inside such a lever or a loop.
