280 likes | 430 Views
Module 10. Operant & Cognitive Approaches. OPERANT CONDITIONING also called Instrumental conditioning. Thorndike’s law of effect states that behaviors followed by positive consequences are strengthened, while behaviors followed by negative consequences are weakened
E N D
Module 10 Operant & Cognitive Approaches
OPERANT CONDITIONINGalso called Instrumental conditioning • Thorndike’s law of effect • states that behaviors followed by positive consequences are strengthened, while behaviors followed by negative consequences are weakened • People/Animals learn to do and not do things because of the results they get. Ex: You will study for a test to get a good grade.
Puzzle Box Experimentby E.L. Thorndike http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDujDOLre-8
OPERANT CONDITIONING • Skinner’s operant conditioning • focuses on how consequences (rewards or punishments) affect behaviors • Cornerstone of his theory was the Skinner’s Box
OPERANT CONDITIONING • Principles and procedures • Skinner box: • automated to record the animal’s bar presses and deliver food pellets • Skinner box is an efficient way to study how an animal’s ongoing behaviors may be modified by changing the consequences of what happens after a bar press • 3 factors in operant conditioning of a rat: • a hungry rat will be more willing to eat the food reward • operant response: condition the rat to press the bar • shaping: procedure in which an experimenter successively reinforces behaviors that lead up to or approximate the desired behavior
OPERANT CONDITIONING (CONT.) • Principles and procedures of the Skinner’s Box • A rat is placed in a box, with nothing except a bar attached to one wall • The rat can then be lured to hit the bar when it is rewarded with a food pellet • a hungry rat will then quickly learn that hitting the bar means getting a food pellet • Equally possible would be the ability to stop the rat pushing on the bar when it is punished with an electrical shock
Skinner Box • Shaping (Molding behavior to accomplish a specific task) • Facing the bar a. rat is put in box. b. when rat finally faces the bar, food pellet is released c. rat sniffs the food pellet • Touching the bar d. rat faces and moves towards the bar e. another pellet is released. f. Rat eats then wanders. Returning to sniff for a pellet, another pellet is dropped into the cup. Rat places a paw on the bar and another pellet is released.
Skinner Box • Shaping (To Review) • Pressing the bar • When rat touches bar pellet is released. Rat eats and then puts paws back on bar and gets another pellet. Wait for rat to now push bar then release pellet. • Rat soon presses bar over and over again to get pellets. • Rat’s behavior was reinforced as the rat leads up to, or approximates, the desired behavior of bar pressing
OPERANT CONDITIONING (CONT.) • Shaping: the procedure in which an experimenter successfully reinforces behaviors that lead up to the desired behavior
OPERANT CONDITIONING (CONT.) • Chaining: the individual learns the final behavior, and then the next to last, and so on, until the beginning of the sequence is reached.
OPERANT CONDITIONING (CONT.) • Immediate reinforcement • reinforcer should follow immediately after the desired behavior b. if reinforcer is delayed, the animal/human may be reinforced for some undesired or non-associated
REINFORCERS • Reinforcement is a consequence that increases the chance that a behavior will continue. 1. Positive Reinforcer • Increases the chance that a behavior will occur again when presented. Ex: good grades, treat, pay raise 2. Negative Reinforcer • Increases the chance that a behavior will occur again when this is removed. Ex: aspirin, being “ungrounded” _________________________________________________ Positive and Negative Reinforcers can be both: 1. Primary= unlearned needs ex: food, sex, drinking 2. Secondary: learned needs through experience ex: money, good grades, being “good”
REINFORCERS (Punishment) • Punishment: a stimulus that discourages behavior (2) types • Positive punishment • refers to presenting an aversive (unpleasant) stimulus after a response ex: a spanking after a child is bad • Negative punishment • refers to removing a reinforcing stimulus after a response ex: a child is bad therefore they cannot watch any tv
SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT • Skinner’s contributions • Schedule of reinforcement • refers to a program that determines how and when the occurrence of a response will be followed by a reinforcer • Continuous reinforcement • Behavior is constantly reinforced; behavior disappears very quickly if the reward is removed • Partial reinforcement • Reward is given only some of the time; effective in maintaining behavior in the long run
SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT (CONT.) • Partial reinforcement schedules • Fixed-ratio schedule • a reinforcer occurs only after a fixed number of responses are made by the subject ex: You get a bonus for every 100 items you sell • Fixed-interval schedule • a reinforcer occurs following the first response that occurs after a fixed interval of time ex: earn a sick day after every 100 days worked
SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT (CONT.) • Partial reinforcement schedules • Variable-ratio schedule • a reinforcer is delivered after an average number of correct responses has occurred ex: a slot machine rewards the user on a variable ratio • Variable-interval schedule • reinforcer occurs following the first correct response after an average amount of time has passed ex: a soldier is granted leave ever so often, but doesn’t know when
OTHER CONDITIONING CONCEPTS • As with Classical conditioning; concepts such as Generalization, Discrimination, Extinction, and Spontaneous Recovery also apply to Operant Conditioning. • an animal or a person emits the same response to similar stimuli Ex: a child stops crying for a candy bar and generalizes to stop crying for lollipops as well • Discrimination • occurs during conditioning when an organism learns to make a particular response to some stimuli but not to others Ex: a baby will stop crying in his mother’s arms but not his aunt’s
COGNITIVE LEARNING • Cognitive learning Involves mental processes such as attention and memory; learning can occur through observation and imitation and does not involve any external rewards. • Learning can take place even without a reinforcer. • Animals develop a layout and a process in their brains.
COGNITIVE LEARNING (CONT.) • Cognitive Learning established by Albert Bandura • focused on how humans learn through observing things • Social cognitive learning • results from watching, and modeling and does not require the observer to perform any observable behavior or receive any observable reward EX: A child who witnesses aggression at home may be aggressive to others at school.
COGNITIVE LEARNING (CONT.) • Bandura’s social cognitive theory • emphasizes the importance of observation, imitation, and self-reward in the development and learning of social skills, personal interactions, and many other behaviors. No external rewards present • Four processes • Attention • observer must pay attention to what the model says or does • Memory • observer must store or remember the information so that it can be retrieved and used later • Imitation • observer must be able to use the remembered information to guide his or her own actions and thus imitate the model’s behavior • Motivation • observer must have some reason or incentive to imitate the model’s behavior.
INSIGHT LEARNING • Insight learning • Insight • a mental process marked by the sudden and expected solution to a problem: a phenomenon often called the “ah-ha!” experience. • Using perception, intelligence, ability to think to solve a problem. ex: using an instrument to unlock your car door.
INSIGHT LEARNING * Famous Study: Wolfgang Kohler observed Sultan (chimpanzee) attain fruit by using objects and tools to knock it down.*