Aspects of Behavioral Conditioning

1. Aspects of Behavioral Conditioning History of Systems Psychology PSY401 Tiffany Jubb, Joe Milillo, Jen Mislinski, and Cesar Monzon

2. Classical and Operant Conditioning • Classical conditioning is the ability to associate a predictive stimuli with a subsequent important event. These behaviors are primarily automatic. (Lorenzetti, Mozzachiodi, Baxter & Byrne, 2005) • Operant conditioning (goal-oriented) is the ability to associate an expressed behavior with its consequences. These behaviors are primarily voluntary in order to learn. (Lorenzetti, Mozzachiodi, Baxter & Byrne, 2005) • Both classical and operant conditioning are allow for a predictive understanding of changing environment (Lorenzetti, Mozzachiodi, Baxter & Byrne, 2005). • Though both are operationally different, there is a question of difference or similarity in terms of mechanisms in the brain (Lorenzetti, Mozzachiodi, Baxter & Byrne, 2005). Joe Milillo

3. Classical and Operant Conditioning(cont.) • Research has been finding reasons to believe that these two forms of associative learning do differ at the cellular level (Lorenzetti, Mozzachiodi, Baxter & Byrne, 2005) • Interesting similarities and differences between classical and operant conditioning are being found. • An important similarity is the reinforcement pathway in which dopamine is the common mediator for both forms of learning (Lorenzetti, Mozzachiodi, Baxter & Byrne, 2005). • At a cellular level, both types share the same locus (specific location of a gene) for changes that occur, but had opposite neuron plateau potentials, exhibiting a major difference at this level (Lorenzetti, Mozzachiodi, Baxter & Byrne, 2005). Joe Milillo

4. Operant Conditioning andApplied Behavior Analysis • Applied behavior analysis (ABA) was established in the second half of the 20th century and is based upon the operant conditioning principles of B.F. Skinner (Ringdahl, Kopelman & Falcomata, 2010). • Operant principles are applied in ABA by examining how events or consequences that follow a specific behavior strengthen or weaken that behavior (Hernandez & Ikkanda, 2011). • One important principle of operant conditioning is the use of reinforcement. Reinforcement occurs when there is an change in a behavior as a consequence of an event that follows the behavior. That is a response is altered when found to create a consequence that desirable (either positive or negative/ increase or decrease) (Hernandez & Ikkanda, 2011). Joe Milillo

5. Operant Conditioning andApplied Behavior Analysis (cont.) • ABA is considered a science and has been effectively used by clinicians with children suffering from Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in modifying socially significant behaviors (Hernandez & Ikkanda, 2011). • ABA is even being studied to improve behaviors of those with ASD in various settings such as a dentists offices (Hernandez & Ikkanda, 2011). • Research is still needed. Important areas are comparisons of ABA with psychopharmacology treatments for ASD, as well as ABA interventions and adults with AS (Matson, Turygin, Bieghley, Rieske, Tureck & Matson) . Joe Milillo

6. Neuro-evolution and Operant Conditioning • Operant condition is learning to initiate a behavior in order to gain a reward. This form of learning has been found to rely on the basil ganglia, and has been carried out by animals since it has directly survival value (Meeter, Veldkamp & Jin, 2009). • By understanding memory’s role in survival there are clear benefits each type of memory the brain utilizes. All three layers of basil ganglia (dorsal striatum, striosomes, ventral striatum) were utilized in operant learning, as well as the dopamine-reward system (Meeter, Veldkamp & Jin, 2009). Joe Milillo

7. Neuro-evolution and Operant Conditioning • Dopamine was released when an unexpected reward was achieved and then found to be released pre-condition stimulus, when the reward was expected (Meeter, Veldkamp & Jin, 2009). • Neuro-evolution of operant reward learning is also affected by surroundings. It can be fostered by environments where varying or exploring behavior (behavior novelty) is associated with low risk (Soltoggio & Jones, 2009). Joe Milillo

8. Video Commentary • I think that skinner makes some really nice points about how goal-oriented behavior is learnt. This is not to say that all behavior is learnt that way. As I found while making my slides, there are many different forms of learning which use different memory stores. I would say in the Skinner/Chomsky debate that each makes valid points and it is a combination of both. Certainly we learnt certain verbal responses or cues that goal-oriented, but as Chomsky puts forward stimulus and response cannot be enough to explain complex behavior. Language is a higher-brain function and is being studied in-depth even through cognitive psychology and neuroimaging. It is a complex function that cannot be simplied to mere condition stimuli. One example which Chomsky gives is the speed which children can learn a language even with little resource available. So it seems that while learning to use language in an operant way should not be confused with the complex functioning that language is, both in usage and learning. Joe Milillo

9. References • Hernandez, P., & Ikkanda, Z. (2011). Applied behavior analysis. The Journal of the American Dental Association, 142(3), 281. • Lorenzetti, F. D., Mozzachiodi, R., Baxter, D. A., & Byrne, J. H. (2005). Classical and operant conditioning differentially modify the intrinsic properties of an identified neuron. Nature neuroscience, 9(1), 17-19. • Matson, J. L., Turygin, N. C., Beighley, J., Rieske, R., Tureck, K., & Matson, M. L. Applied behavior analysis in Autism Spectrum Disorders: Recent developments, strengths, and pitfalls. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, In Press, Corrected Proof. doi: 10.1016/j.rasd.2011.03.014 • Meeter, M., Veldkamp, R., & Jin, Y. (2009). Multiple memory stores and operant conditioning: A rationale for memory's complexity. Brain and cognition, 69(1), 200-208. • Ringdahl, J. E., Kopelman, T., & Falcomata, T. S. (2010). Applied Behavior Analysis and Its Application to Autism and Autism Related Disorders. Applied Behavior Analysis for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, 15-32. • Soltoggio, A., & Jones, B. (2009). Novelty of behaviour as a basis for the neuro-evolution of operant reward learning. In Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference Joe Milillo