Question | Answer |
Schedule of Reinforcement | rule specifying which occurrences of a given behavior, if any, will be reinforced |
Continuous Reinforcement (CRF) | every correct response is reinforced; fast learning & fast extinction |
Intermittent Reinforcement | Only some correct responses are reinforced; slow learning & slow extinction |
Aquisition Phase | Behavior is being conditioned or learned |
Maintence Phase | Behaivor has become well-learned |
Free-Operant Procedure (2) | Individual is "free" to respond repeatedly |
Fixed-ratio (FR) | Reinforcement occurs with a fixed number of responses, high response followed by a pause, initially high rate of responding during extinction, high resistance to extinction |
Advantages of Intermittent Reinforcement (4) | 1. Reinforcer remains effective longer
2. take longer to extinguish
3. work more consistently
4. likely to persist in natural environment |
Ratio Strain | deterioration of responding from increasing an FR schedule too rapidly |
Variable-ratio (VR) | # of responses unpredictable from one to next, high steady response, little post-reinforcement phase, |
Fixed - Ratio (FR) schedule | Reinforcement occurs each time a set number of responses of a particular type is emitted |
Differences between FR and VR | VR increase faster the FR w/o ratio strain, VR lasts longer, VR has a higher resistance to extinction and FR |
FI & VI are based on | TIME |
VR & FR are based on | # of responses |
Fixed Interval (FI) | The first response after a fixed amount of time following the previous reinforcement is reinforced, no limit on how long after the end of the interval a response can occur in orderto be reinforced |
FI Schedules produce: | Behavior increases near the end of time until a reinforcement is given; Post-reinforcement pause |
Post Reinforcement Pause | The higher the value of reinforcer the longer the pause |
Variable-Interval (VI) | The length of the interval changes unpredictably |
Length of VI schedule | vary around some mean value |
Why aren't simple interval schedules used often? | FI produces long post-reinforcement pauses, VI generates lower response rates than ratio schedules, requires continuous monitoring of B after each interval |
Fixed Duration (FD) | the period is fixed |
Variable Duration (VD) | interval changes unpredictably |
Duration Schedule of reinforcement | reinforcement after behavior for a continuous period of time |
When can you use Duration Schedule? | only when target behavior can be measured continuously |
Concurrent Schedule of reinforcement | Schedule of reinforcement that are in effect at any time |
Pitfalls of Intermittent Reinforcement | doing it wrong, introducing intermittent schedule too quickly, schedule is too hard to follow |
Herrnsteing's (1961) matching law | The response rate or the time devoted to an activity in a concurrent schedule is propotional to the rate of reinforcement of that activity rather than the rates o other concurrent activites |
Differential Reinforcment of Low Rates (DRL) | Reinforcing only low rates of responding |
Limited Responding DRL | Maximum number of allowable responses during an interval |
Example of Limited Responding DRL | Blurting max of 3 times |
Limited is useful when | some of the behavior is tolerable, less is better |
Spaced-Responding DRL | No behavior for interval, then after interval passed, behavior is reinforced; Behavior spaced over time; little is desirable |
Differential Reinforcement of Zero Responding (DRO) | Reinforcer presented only if response does not occur within an interval |
How to use a DRO | if response occurs, start over; |
Differential reinforcement of other responding | reinforcement of any other behavior |
in DRO Length of interval increased gradually until: | behavior is little or none; minimum amount of reinforcement is given for nonoccurence |
Differential Reinforcement of Incompatible Responding (DRI) | two behaviors that are not compatible; reinforce incompatible response |
Differential Reinforcement of Alternate Behavior (DRA) | allows the strengthening of a desirable behavior while decreasing the likelihood of undesirable behavior. |
Example of DRI | Bubble mouth and talking (Can't do both)reinforce not talking |
Example of DRA | if the challenging behavior is disruption in the classroom, the alternative behavior might be hand-raising |
Example of DRO | reinforcer if child doesn't suck thumb for 60 seconds |
Example of DRL | Calling out correct answers in class is reinforced if it only occurs once every 15 minutes |
Situations in which behaviors occur are analyzed in terms of | ABC Antecedent Stimuli, Behavior, Consequences |
Antecedent Stimuli | Stimuli that exist just prior to behavior |
Stimulus Control | Degree of correlation between a stimulus and subsequent response |
Good or effective stimulus control | High correlation |
Stimulus Discrimination | Learn to emit specific behavior in presence of some stimuli and not in presence of other stimuli |
Stimulus Discrimination Training | Process of teaching stimulus discriminations |
Controlling Stimuli | Stimuli that control behavior due to reinforcement in their presence and extinction in their absence |
SD | Disctiminative stimuli |
Discriminative Stimulus for Extinction (S-delta) | Response has been extinguished only in the presence of a particular stimulus; cue that won't work |
Discriminative Stimulus for Reinforcement (SD) | response has been reinforced only in the presence of a particular stimulus; cue that it will work |
Stimulus Generalization | transfer of a response learned to one stimulus to a similar stimulus |
Effective Stimulus Discrimination Training | Choose distinct signals; minimize errors; maximize number of trials; rules speed up learning |