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Ý Ê
: If the rat presses the pedal three times, he gets a
pellet«or five times, or twenty times, or x times. There is a fixed ratio
between behaviors and reinforcers.
Ý Ê
: If the rat presses the bar at least once during a
particular period of time, say 20 seconds, he gets a pellet. But whether he
presses the bar once or a hundred times within that 20 seconds, he only
receives one reinforcer.
Ý X
: You change the x each time. First it takes 3
presses to get a pellet, then 10, then 4, etc.
Ý X
: You keep changing the time period. First 10
seconds, then 35, then 5, then 40.
D
Ý Degative reinforcement
Ý a procedure where an aversive stimulus is removed
from a subject contingent upon the subjectƞs
emitting a desired behavior
Ý the reinforcing consequence is the removal or
avoidance of an aversive stimulus
Ý Escape conditioning: the behavior is reinforced because
it stops an aversive stimulus
Ý Avoidance conditioning: behavior reinforced because
aversive stimulus is prevented
D
Ý Examples of negative reinforcement in the real
world include:
Ý taking out the trash to avoid your mother yelling at
you
Ý taking an aspirin to get rid of a headache
Ý using a condom to avoid contracting a fatal disease
Ý paying your car insurance on time to prevent
cancellation of your policy
~
Ý Punishment defined
Ý a procedure where an aversive stimulus is
presented to a subject contingent upon the
subject emitting an undesired behavior.
Ý punishment should be used as a last resort in
behavior engineering; positive reinforcement
should be used first
Ý examples include spanking, verbal abuse,
electrical shock, etc.
~
Ý Dangers in use of punishment
Ý punishment is often reinforcing to a punisher
(resulting in the making of an abuser)
Ý punishment often has a generalized inhibiting effect
on the punished individual (they stop doing AD
behavior at all)
Ý we learn to dislike the punisher (a result of classical
conditioning)
~
Ý Dangers in use of punishment
Ý what the punisher thinks is punishment may, in
fact, be a reinforcer to the Ơpunishedơ individual
Ý punishment does not teach more appropriate
behavior; it merely stops a behavior from occurring
Ý punishment can cause emotional damage in the
punished individual (antisocial behavior)
~
Ý Dangers in use of punishment
Ý punishment only stops the behavior from occurring in
the presence of the punisher; when the punisher is
not present then the behavior will often reappear and
with a vengeance
Ý the best tool for engineering behavior is positive
reinforcement
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