Chapter 7 - Operant Conditioning

Chapter 7 - Operant Conditioning

Schedules and Theories of Reinf orcement

Lecture Outline

? Schedules of reinforcement

? Continuous vs. intermittent schedules ? Four basic intermittent schedules ? Other simple schedules of reinforcement ? Complex schedules of reinforcement

? Theories of reinf orcement

? Drive reduction theory ? The Premack principle ? Response deprivation hypothesis ? Behavioral bliss point approach

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Now that we have discussed reinforcement . . . .

? It is time to discuss how reinforcements can and should be delivered

? In other words, there are other things to consider than just what the reinforcer should be.

? If you were going to reinforce your puppy for going to the bathroom outside, how would you do it?

? Would you give him a doggie treat every time? Some of the time?

? Would you keep doing it the same way or would you change your method as you go along?

Schedules of Reinforcement

? A schedule of reinforcement is the response requirement that must be met in order to obtain reinforcement.

? Each particular kind of reinforcement schedule tends to produce a particular pattern and rate of performance

? In other words, it is what you have to do to get the reward!

? Example: Does a dog have to roll over just once to get a reward, or does he have to roll over more than once befor e he's given his reward?

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Continuous vs. Intermittent Reinforcem ent

? Continuous

? A continuous reinforcement schedule (CRF) is one in which

? Example: every time the dog rolls over he gets a treat every time a child hangs up her coat she gets praised

? Useful for strengthening newly learned behaviors or when using shaping procedures to train a behavior.

? Leads to rapid increases in the rate of the behavior (begins to occur very frequently).

? Not very common in a natural environment.

Continuous vs. Intermittent Reinforcem ent

? Intermittent

? An intermittent reinforcement schedule is one in which only some responses are reinforced (not every response)

? Example: every third time the dog rolls over he gets reinforced .

? Useful for maintaining behaviors that are already established

? They can be based on the number of responses made (ratio) or the time between reinforcement (interval)

? They can also be fixed or variable.

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Four Basic T ypes of Intermittent Schedules

? Ratio Schedules-

reinforcement given after a number of non-re inf orced responses

? Interval Schedules-

reinforcement given for a responses that occurs after a certain amount of time has passed

? Fixed Ratio

? Fixed Interval

? Variable Ratio

? Variable Interval

Fixed Ratio Schedule

? Fixed ratio schedule (FR) - reinforcement is given after a fixed number of nonreinforced responses (predictable)

? Examples:

? FR4 schedule - a salesperson receives a bonus after every 4 sales

? FR1 schedule - take a break after reading a chapter in the text ? FR50 schedule - a rat received a food pellet afte r every 50 bar

presses. ? "piecework" - paid by number of pieces sewn together

? Schedules can be dense (e.g., FR5) or lean (e.g., FR100)

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Fixed Ratio Schedule

? Characteristic pattern:

? ? Short pause following each

reinforcer ? Higher ratio requirements prod uce

longer pauses after reinforcement ? e.g., FR50 has longer break before

responding again than FR25 ? Can stretch the reinforcement ratio

(e.g., FR1, FR2, FR4, FR6, FR10) ? Ratio strain ? when requirement

increases too quickly behavior becomes erratic or disrupted ? Movement from "dense" to "lean"

schedules should be done gradually.

Variable Ratio Schedule

? Variable Ratio (VR): Reinforcer given after variable amount of non-reinforced responses (less predictabl e)

? VR10 schedule, on average every 10 responses are reinforced but number of responses might vary between 1 and 20

? Examples

? VR6 schedule - a gambling machine pays off every 6 spins on average, but payoff trial cannot be pred icted

? VR50 schedule - a food pellet is dispensed on average every 50 bar-presses, but exact trial cannot be predicted

? Salesperson working on commission

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