PSY260H1 Chapter : Instrumental Conditioning
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PSY260H1 Full Course Notes
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This is the process by which organisms learn to make responses in order to obtain or avoid certain consequences. The consequences are a direct result of the organism behaviour (unlike in classical conditioning, it occurs no matter the response the organism makes or not). Throndike concluded that when an animal"s response was followed by a satisfying consequence then the probability of that response increased. Alternatively, if a response was followed by an unsatisfying consequence, then the probability of that response occurring again decreased. This is known as thorndike"s law of effect. In classical, animals receive a consequence whether or not they have learned the conditioned response. In instrumental, the consequence occurs only if the animal performs the response. If the consequence occurs regardless of responding then the conditioning is classic. If the consequence is contingent on a response, then it is instrumental.
