Reinforcement Consequences that strengthen responses

Timing Reinforcement should be immediate to have the greatest effect Delayed reinforcement slows the process of conditioning

Primary vs. Secondary Primary reinforcers are events that are inherently reinforcing because they satisfy biological needs –Examples? Secondary or conditioned reinforcers are events that become reinforcing because they are associated with primary reinforcers. They are also called conditioned reinforcers. –Examples?

Schedules of Reinforcement In real life, organisms (people and animals) are seldom reinforced for every correct response – continuous reinforcement. Rather, reinforcement is usually intermittent or partial.

types of schedules ratio based schedule of reinforcement – the organism is reinforced based on the number of responses it makes interval based schedule of reinforcement – the organism is reinforced based on the amount of time that has passed.

Fixed vs Variable Either type of schedule (ratio or interval) can be described as fixed or as variable. In a fixed schedule, the number of responses (ratio) or the amount of time passed (interval) between reinforcement remains constant. In a variable schedule, the number of responses (ratio) or the amount of time passed (interval) between reinforcement changes or varies.

Practice time! Now I am going to divide you into groups and ask you to generate a list of real life reinforcements that occur on one of the four types of schedules: Fixed ratio Variable ratio Fixed interval Variable interval

Concurrent schedules of reinforcement In real life organisms have to choose between responses that involve different reinforcement schedules… –Ex. On a given night to I spend my time grading papers, or doing laundry, or going to the movies?

Matching law – under concurrent schedules of reinforcement, organisms’ relative rate of responding to each alternative tends to match each alternative’s relative rate of reinforcement If the size of the reinforcement is changed, the organism will adjust its responding to match that change

Optimal foraging theory – the food-seeking behaviors of many animals maximize the nutrition gained in relation to the energy expended to locate, secure and consume various foods.

Escape learning Escape learning involves an organism acquiring a response that decreases or ends some unpleasant stimulation (negative reinforcement)

Avoidance learning In avoidance learning the organism acquires a response that keeps the aversive stimulation from happening But…. Shouldn’t the response eventually become extinct because the aversive stimulus is never delivered…the reinforcement doesn’t really happen

Two-process theory of avoidance `