Categories Of Behavior

Unconditioned Conditioned

Voluntary or operant

•Looking•Babbling•Crawling

•Reading•Writing•Fence jumping

Involuntary or respondent

•Pupillary response to bright light•GSR response to loud noise

•GSR when telling a lie•Blushing

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

• Context of embarrassing situation ->blushing

• Odor of food that once made you sick ->nausea

• Sight of parent while raiding cookie jar ->fear

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Edward L. Thorndike

1874-1949

Thorndike’s Puzzle Box

“Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select--doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief, and, yes, even beggerman thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors” (Watson, 1925).

John B. Watson, father of Behaviorism

B.F. Skinner

1904-1990

Skinner Box

Pigeon in Operant Chamber

“SKINNER” BOX

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What Operant Conditioning can achieve through Shaping

The Method of Successive Approximations

Classical Conditioning:

US & CS elicit an involuntary response

US -> UR

CS -> CR

Instrumental Conditioning:Voluntary response produces a reinforcer (reward)

R -> SR

Classical Conditioning

Instrumental conditioning

= Pavlovian Conditioning

= Type S Conditioning

= Operant conditioning

= Trial and error conditioning

= Type R conditioning

Type S vs. Type R Conditioning

LAW OF EFFECT

• Skinner: Rate of emitting responses that are followed by a positive reinforcer is increased; by a negative reinforcer is decreased.

• Thorndike: Responses trained by trial and error.

• Skinner: Responses shaped by method of successive approximation.

•Thorndike: Responses that are followed by pleasurable effect is stamped in; responses followed by unpleasurable (painful events) are stamped out.

Instrumental Conditioning

• Doing chores -> money

• Doing chores -> praise

• Telling a lie to avoid blame -> avoidance

• Putting on a coat to remove -> removal chill

• Getting a speeding ticket -> punishment

Basic Conditioning Procedures

• Instrumental conditioning

– Type R conditioning

– Operant conditioning

– Trial and Error Learning

• Pavlovian Conditioning

– Type S Conditioning

– Respondent Conditioning

TYPES OF REINFORCERS

Positive

• Primary [S+R] food, drink, odors

• Secondary [S+r] approval, money

Negative

•Primary [S-R] loud noise, shock, bright light

•Secondary [S-r] angry look, bad grade, fine

INSTRUMENTAL CONDITIONING (Type R)

• Nature of reinforcer can vary:

– Positive - S+R, S+r

– Negative - S-R, S-r

• 2-term contingency:

–response -> reinforcement

–R -> SR

–(bar press) -> (food)

– Primary - S+R, S-R

– Secondary - S+r, S-r

CONTINGENCIES OF REINFORCEMENT:

R-> S+R Reward training (primary reinforcement)

R-> S-R Punishment (primary reinforcement)

R-> S+r Positive secondary reinforcement

R-> S-r Negative secondary reinforcement

R -> removes -> S-R Escape training

R -> postpones -> S-R Avoidance training

R -> SR Omission training

Two-term contingency is typically “occasioned” by a discriminative stimulus (SD)

• SD: R -> SR

• light: bar press -> food

• no light: bar press -> no food

• Nature of discriminative stimuli can vary:

–exteroceptive

–proprioceptive

–interoceptive

Is Punishment Effective?

FUNCTIONS OF A STIMULUS:

Eliciting (US->UR, C->CR)

Reinforcing (S+ R, S-R, S+r, S-r)

Discriminative (SD: R SR;

S : R SR)

Discriminative Operant:

• SD: R SR

• S : R SR

Types Of Discriminative Stimuli

• Exteroceptive: Stimuli generated by sensory organs.

• Proprioceptive: Stimuli generated by muscles and tendons, e.g., doing something by “feel” - knowing where you are in the dark

•Interoceptive: Stimuli generated by internal organs; that are innervated by the autonomic nervous system.

Sn-3 :Rn-3 -> Sn-2 :Rn-2 -> Sn-1:Rn-1 -> Sn :Rn->S

turn approach seize press

Skinner’s Theory of Chaining

r/DD r/D r/D R

Stimuli used in Hull’s experiment on concept formation

Schedules Of Reinforcement

• Time (Interval)

– First response after t seconds SR

• Number (Ratio)

–n responses -> SR

Basic Schedules:

• Fixed Ratio (FR)

• Variable Ratio (VR)

•Fixed Interval (FI)

•Variable Interval (VI)

Skinner Box

Cumulative Record

no responses constant rate accelerating

Schedules of ReinforcementFixed Ratio

Variable Ratio

Variable Interval

Fixed Interval

Cumulative Records of Typical Schedule Performance

Skinner’s “Theory” of Instrumental Conditioning

• Nature of reinforcer can vary: R -> S [S+R, Sr, S-R, S-r].

• 3-term contingency (Discriminative operant)SD : R -> SR (light: bar press -> food)S : R -> SR (no light: bar press ≠ food)

• Chaining of discriminative operants:

Sn-3:Rn-3 Sn-2:Rn-2 Sn-1:Rn-1 Sn:Rn S

r/DD r/D r/D R

• Two-term contingency: R -> SR

•Nature of discriminative stimulus can vary: –Exteroceptive–Interoceptive–proprioceptive

Skinner’s “Theory” (cont.)

• Schedule of reinforcement can vary: Rn/t S±R

– subject must emit n responses within a particular time frame t.

• Verbal Behavior. Behavior that is reinforced by a member of one’s verbal community.

• Private events. Discriminative responding to proprioceptive or interoceptive stimuli (stimuli under our skin). Sd : r Sr or Sd : r Sr.

•Contingency of reinforcement can vary: R S±R(r)

Pascal: “The heart has reason

that reason will never know.”

Descartes: “I think, therefore I am.”

Skinner [& Freud (& Terrace)] On Consciousness

• Consciousness is a proper subject matter for psychology but it is not an explanation of behavior. It is what has to be explained (e.g., Tom hit Bill because Tom felt angry). – Why did Tom feel angry?– How did Tom know he was angry?

• Consciousness vs. Awareness:–Animals are aware of objects (but only fleetingly).–Humans are conscious of objects (because they can name them).

• Feedback about private events is not as precise as feedback for tacting public events.

• Discriminative control of inner states (tacting) becomes autonomous with experience.

Skinner [& Freud (& Terrace)] On Consciousness

•Consciousness develops because it enhances the social fabric of the verbal community. It provides us with a sense of “other minds”, another person’s hunger, pain, fear, rage, sadness, truthfulness, etc. In this sense, consciousness is adaptive.

–Internal states are inferred by adult (“You seem hungry.”)

Verbal Behavior

• Mands (“demands”), a 2-term contingency:– verbal response SR [”baba” bottle]

• Tacts - [tactus (Latin, “to point”)], a 3-term contingency: – SD: verbal response -> Sr

– [Sight of Tom’s apple]: Mary: “May I please have an apple?” Tom gives Mary an apple.]

•Verbal Behavior. Behavior that is reinforced by a member of one’s verbal community.

Verbal Behavior (con’t.)

Examples of discriminative control of verbal behavior:– echoic behavior:

*Mother says [“dog”]: “dog” “good”–textual behavior:

*Printed word [dog]: “dog” “good”–transcription:

*Write the word [d-o-g]: d-o-g “good”–intraverbal responses:

*Printed word [c-h-I-e-n]: “dog” “bien”*“How are you?”: “Fine thanks” “good” *Printed letters [Na]: “sodium” “good”*“3 x 3”: “9” “good”

Animal Learning Lab-200C Schermerhorn Hall

Animal Learning Lab-200C Schermerhorn Hall

Animal Learning Lab-200C Schermerhorn Hall

Problems with Classical Conditioning

The Equipotentiality principle does not hold: some stimuli belong together (taste + nausea), and some do not (sound + nausea)

Learned taste aversion with long CS - US intervals: conditioning occurs even when the US (nausea) occurs

several hours after the CS (e.g., rabbit meat).