What is operant conditioning?
learning through consequences
what is positive punishment
giving something bad to weaken a behaviour
what is negative punishment
taking away something good to decrease behavior
What is positive reinforcement?
giving something good to increase a behaviour
what is negative reinforcement
taking away something bad to increase a behavior
when do you use reinforcement
when you want a behaviour to be repeated as it strengthens it
when do you use punishment
when you’re trying to reduce a behaviour as this weakens it
what is extinction
when the conditioned behaviour disappears
for operant conditioning to work,what is important
-that the person actually considers the reward (the reinforcement) as a reward and that the punishment is actually perceived as a punishment
what is shaping
selective reinforcement of a succesive,closer approximations to a target behaviour
when is shaping used
when conditioning complex behaviours usually in animals to reward anything thar resembles the desired behaviour
what is a primary reinforcer
satisfies basic needs
what is a secondary reinforcer
anything associated with the basic need (necessary for the basic need eg money to buy food)
what is partial reinforcement
only some of the behaviours are rewarded or only some of the time
what is continuous reinforcement
each behaviour is reinforced with a reward
what are ratio schedules
the reinforcement depends on the number of responses (can be fixed or variable)
what is fixed ratio reinforcement
behaviour is reinforced after a fixed number of responses
what is variable ratio reinforcement
behaviour is reinforced after a varying/unpredictable number of responses
what is fixed interval reinforcement
rewarded for the first correct response after a specific amount of time
what is variable interval reinforcement
reward for the first correct response after a specific amount of time which then changes and a new time period is set
what is a study that contradicts operant conditioning
-Lepper Et Al 1973 when rewarding children for drawing their interest in it decreased (intrinsic motivation)
-Deci 1971 college students less motivated to complete puzzles when paid monetary rewards
what is a token economy
a behaviour management system based on operant conditioning, where desirable behaviours are reinforced with tokens that can later be exchanged for rewards.
explain how a token economy works
1)target behaviour is clearly defined eg completing hwk
2)when the behaviour is shown, the individual gets a token eg a sticker
3)the token acts as a secondary reinforcer
4)tokens are later exchanged for primary reinforcers eg food, activities, privileges
what are some strengths of a token economy
Effective at increasing desirable behaviour
Easy to standardise and monitor
Useful in institutional settings
