Flashcards
Operant Conditioning
Cards in this deck (6)
- 1Operant ConditioningOperant conditioning involves learning through the consequences of behavioral responses.
- 2Positive reinforcementPresenting the subject with something that it likes. E.g. Skinner rewarded his rats with food pellets.
- 3Negative ReinforcementReward – in the sense of removing or avoiding some aversive (painful) stimulus. E.g. Skinner's rats learned to press the lever in order to switch off the electric current in the cage.
- 4PunishmentImposing an aversive or painful stimulus. E.g. Skinner’s rats were given electric shocks.
- 5Primary ReinforcersThese are stimuli which are naturally reinforcing because they directly satisfy a need. E.g. food, water.
- 6Secondary ReinforcersThese are stimuli, which are reinforcing through their association with a primary reinforcer. I.e. they do not directly satisfy a need but may be the means to do so.
E.g. Money! You cannot eat it or drink it but if you have it you can buy whatever you want. So a secondary reinforcer can be just as powerful a motivator as a primary reinforcer.
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- Undergraduate Psychology Flashcards on Operant Conditioning, created by Demi Barnard on 19/03/2017.
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- Demi Barnard
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