Operant Conditioning

Module 2: Learning and Behavior

Sept. 5, 2023

Cognitive
Psychology

Operant

Conditioning

​What behaviors do we perform, and under what condition?

Multiple Choice

Who said "Responses followed by pleasant or satisfying stimuli will be strengthened and occur more often. "?

• Skinner

• Tolman

• Thorndike

• Pavlov

The Law of Effect

● Cats could escape by making a response (e.g., pulling

on a string)

● Measure of performance was escape latency

● Thorndike’s version of the principle of reinforcement

The Law of Effect

● Any behaviour that is followed by pleasant

consequences is likely to be repeated/reinforced.

● The response/behavior will become associated with a

situation and the response will be more likely to occur

again in that same situation.

The Three-Term Contingency

●

Discriminative stimulus

○

The context or situation in which the response occurs

●

Operant response

○

The response or the behavior that follows the

discriminative stimulus

●

Reinforcer/punisher

Multiple Choice

Money is a good example of a _____ reinforcer.

• primary

• rewarding

• conditioned

• generalized

●

Primary reinforcer

●

Conditioned reinforcer

●

Generalized reinforcer

Poll

Jake always forgets to do his chores, so his parents take away his video game time for the evening. Now, he starts remembering to do his chores. What is this an example of?

• Positive Reinforcement

• Negative Reinforcement

• Positive Punishment

• Negative Punishment

Poll

Alex hates doing chores. His parents tell him that if he finishes his homework before playing, they'll do his chores for him. Alex starts doing his homework as soon as he gets home from school.

• Positive Reinforcement

• Negative Reinforcement

• Positive Punishment

• Negative Punishment

Multiple Choice

Jason consistently visits his grandma during the weekends. She frequently gives him freshly baked cookies and shares interesting stories.

• Positive Reinforcement

• Negative Reinforcement

• Positive Punishment

• Negative Punishment

Multiple Choice

When Timmy didn't do his homework, his teacher scolded him in front of the whole class. Timmy starts doing his homework regularly to avoid getting scolded.

• Positive Reinforcement

• Negative Reinforcement

• Positive Punishment

• Negative Punishment

Multiple Choice

Mark broke his curfew after going to a party, so his parents grounded him for a week.

• Positive Reinforcement

• Negative Reinforcement

• Positive Punishment

• Negative Punishment

Multiple Choice

Rachel is anxious about tests, so she studies diligently to manage her anxiety.

• Positive Reinforcement

• Negative Reinforcement

• Positive Punishment

• Negative Punishment

Reference: https://opentext.wsu.edu/principles-of-learning-and-behavior/chapter/module-6-operant-conditioning/

Multiple Choice

Tommy loves playing a claw machine game at the arcade. Sometimes, after inserting a coin and trying a few times, he wins a stuffed toy. However, he never knows exactly how many tries it will take to win a prize. Sometimes it's 3 tries, other times it's 7 tries.

• Fixed Ratio

• Fixed Interval

• Variable Ratio

• Variable Interval

Multiple Choice

Lia's favorite TV show airs every Monday at 9 PM.

• Fixed Ratio

• Fixed Interval

• Variable Ratio

• Variable Interval

Reinforcement Schedules

● Fixed-Ratio (FR)

● Variable-Ratio (VR)

● Fixed-Interval (FI)

● Variable-Interval (VI)

● Continuous Reinforcement (CRF)

Questions or
clarifications?

Superstitious Behaviors

● A behavior that occurs because, by accident or

coincidence, it has previously been followed by a

reinforcer.

● Superstitions that are widely held are probably due to

communication with others

Response Chaining

● a sequence of behaviors that must occur in a specific

order, with the primary reinforcer being delivered

only after the final response of the sequence

○ Backward chaining

○ Forward chaining

Questions or
clarifications?