PSYA01H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 6.2-6.3: Edward Thorndike, Operant Conditioning Chamber, Reinforcement
Document Summary
If a behaviour led to positive outcome you"re likely to perform the action again and if your behaviour led to a negative outcome, you are less likely to perform the action again. These types of stimulus response relationships are known as operant conditioning, a type of learning in which behaviour is influenced by consequences. The term operant is used because the individual operates on the environment before consequences occur. In contrast to classical conditioning, which typically affects reflexive responses, operant conditioning involves voluntary actions such as speaking or listening, etc. In classical conditioning a response is not required for a reward to be presented. In operant conditioning, a response and a consequence are required for learning to take place. The concept of contingency is important to understand operant conditioning: it simply means that a consequence depends upon action. Reinforcement is a process in which an event or reward that follows a response increases the likelihood of that response occurring again.
