PSY100H1 Chapter Notes - Chapter 6.2: Operant Conditioning, Nucleus Accumbens, Reinforcement

• School: UTSG
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY100H1
• Professor: Dan Dolderman

Document Summary

Operant conditioning: type of learning in which behaviour is influenced by consequences. operant is used because individual operates on environment before consequences can occur. Voluntary actions such as speaking or listening. In classical conditioning, response isn"t required for reward to be presented. In operant conditioning, response and consequence are required for learning to take place. Reinforcement: event or reward that follows response increases likelihood of that response occurring again. Thorndike"s puzzle box: law of effect: responses followed by satisfaction will occur again and those not followed by satisfaction become less likely. Skinner"s boxes (operant chambers: reinforcer: stimulus that is contingent upon response, and that increases probability of response occurring again. Reinforcer would be stimulus (like food) and reinforcement would be changes in frequency of behaviour (like lever pressing that occur as result of food award) Punishment: process that decreases future probability of response. Punisher: stimulus that is contingent upon response, and that results in decrease of behaviour.