PSYC 2330 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Reinforcement, Animal Cognition, Classical Conditioning
2 Apr 2016
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Classical conditioning reflects how organisms adjust to events in their environment, that they cannot directly control. Goal-directed/instrumental behavior is responding necessary to produce a desired environmental outcome o o o. The stimuli they encounter is a direct result of their behavior. The behavior continues to occur because similar actions produce the outcome in the past. Instrumental behavior: an activity that occurs because it is effective in producing a particular consequence or reinforcer. Thorndike was originally interested in animal intelligence, especially when darwin"s research indicated that human intellectual capacities were presented in animals as well. He devised a series of puzzle boxes to study this: he placed hungry animals inside the puzzle box with food outside in plain view. The task for the animal was to learn how to escape the box and obtain the food o. This task was completed by pushing down on a lever inside the box, which opened the door o.
