NROC61H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 6: Operant Conditioning, Motivation, Aspirin
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Operant behaviours occur when behaviour is influenced by their consequences, and the effect of those consequences upon behaviour are called operant conditioning (response operates on the environment) Instrumental conditioning (response is instrumental in producing consequences) Thorndike believed that we should(cid:374)"t assu(cid:373)e that a(cid:374)i(cid:373)als (cid:271)eha(cid:448)i(cid:374)g i(cid:374) a (cid:449)a(cid:455) a(cid:396)e doi(cid:374)g so fo(cid:396) intelligent reasons, neither should we accept anecdotes as facts. Skinner believed that behaviour could best be analyzed as a reflex. After his findings he came to believe that behaviours can be divided into 2 categories: respondent behaviour: involuntary, reflexive-type behaviours, operant behaviour: voluntary, controlled by consequences rather than by stimuli that proceed them. Operant conditioning = a type of learning in which the future probability of a behaviour is affected by its consequences. Avoided any speculation about what the animal might be thinking/feeling and simply emphasized the effect of the consequence on the future probability of the behaviour.
