reinforcing that desired response every time it occurs
operant conditioning
a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher
variable-ratio schedule
in operant conditioning, a schedule of reinforcement that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses
respondent behavior
behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus; Skinner's term for behavior learned through classical conditioning
discrimination
in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguished between a conditioned stimulus and other stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus
conditioned reinforcer
a stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with a primary reinforcer; also known as secondary reinforcer
mirror neurons
frontal lobe neurons that fire when performing certain actions or when observing another doing so; the brain's mirroring of another's action may enable imitation, language learning, and empathy
conditioned stimulus (CS)
in classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (UCS), comes to trigger a conditioned response
operant chamber (Skinner box)
a chamber containing a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer, with attached devices to record the animal's rate of bar pressing or key pecking; used in operant conditioning research
punishment
an event that decreases the behavior that it follows
