Definitions I
The meaning of Thorndike's term "Connectionism"
What is, the basis for learning is the stimulus response connection that is stamped into the brain via neural connections.
Describe Skinner's definition of "choice"
What is... conflicting schedules of reinforcement
Justify or refute the idea that reinforcement is purely external, using anecdotal evidence
What is... any compelling example of self-motivation/internal motivation (we will dig into this in the next 2 modules)
Booster sessions are used in Applied Behavior Analysis therapy to strengthen and maintain behaviors. Give an example of a real life booster session you may have encountered in childhood, that promoted or extinguished a certain behavior
What is... some situation where an environment was created to promote a certain behavior for the child. i.e. parents told child to stop saying a bad word, and gave candy afterwards
Describe an example of external motivation, anecdotally
What is... some situation where environment controlled behavior i.e. getting paid for work
Define Tabula Rasa in the context of Connectionism
What is... we are all born a blank slate, waiting to be filled in by environmental interactions that produce learning
Three aspects of reinforcement
What is...
1) Increases probability that behavior will recur
2) Separate from behavior
3) Occurs in environment/externally
You are the new head operating officer of a manufacturing plant, which is struggling amidst low worker satisfaction. Describe a way to increase satisfaction
What is... positively reward or praise workers' efforts i.e. giving them rewards, increasing the pay...
Thorndike's and Skinner's observations were conducted on "lower" species of mammals (cats, rats, pigeons...). Justify whether you believe human behavior is something more than these, or if it simply a more complex version of environmentally-mediated actions.
What is... an explanation that explains human behavior as complex contingencies of reinforcement, or that amounts human behavior to something greater
Your child is misbehaving, and not eating their vegetables. You decide to positively and negatively reinforce this behavior (in tandem). Provide 2 things you will do to 1) positively reinforce and 2) negatively reinforce this behavior
What is...
Positive - Let them watch TV after, buy them a gift
Negatively reinforce - give them less vegetables next time, give them different or better tasting vegetables
Define "Radical Behaviorism"
What is... All behavior is controlled by environmental contingencies of reinforcement
Give two examples of "covert behavior", according to Skinner
What are... thoughts and emotions
A poor man is arrested for robbing a convenience store. Using Skinnerian logic, defend this man
What is...
The man's behavioral repertoire was conditioned for his specific environment. Give him money/stability, and he will improve
What is... a description that either amounts personality to predictable behaviors, or a description that includes emotions, thoughts, etc.
Justify or contest Skinner's idea that knowledge of another person is simply the ability the predict their behavior using anecdotal evidence
What is... a justifiable claim that attests to empathy and emotion, or that attests to the predictability of others in response to stimuli
Define Thorndike's Law of Effect, Law of Readiness, and Law of Exercise
What is...
Law of Effect: Behaviors that are followed by satisfying effect are stamped in
Law of Readiness: An organism must be ready to receive a reward for learning to occur
Law of Exercise: The more an action occurs, the more likely it is to occur again in the future
Contrast a continuous schedule of reinforcement to a variable ratio (intermittent) schedule of reinforcement
What is...
Continuous - rewards given after every desired response
Variable Ratio - A certain number of desired responses is desired for each reinforcement, and this number changes after each reinforcement
Lay out the merits of salary (yearly pay), wage (hourly pay), and piece-rate (fixed ratio pay) compensation methods, and determine a hierarchy of motivation for the three. Use S-R models to justify your answer
What is (though other answers may be accepted)...
1) Piece-rate
2) Wage
3) Salary
1) is most motivating. 3) is yearly pay, so not much motivation to go into work each day
The intermittent schedule of reinforcement that is most resistant to extinction, and justification
Variable ratio. Think of the lottery or gambling!
You are a therapist who is seeing a patient who is a kleptomaniac (mental health condition, sometimes serious, where patient has recurrent inability to resist urges to steal items). Describe 3 methods, based on Applied Behavior Analysis, that could be used to treat them
What is... reinforcement, punishment, response cost, extinction, differential reinforcement of incompatible behaviors
Define the four ways to reduce the likelihood of a behavior, based on Applied Behavior Analysis
What is...
Extinction - Identify what controls behavior and remove reinforcement (primary means)
Response Cost - Patient loses rewards with negative behavior
Punishment (ineffective)
Differential Reinforcement of Incompatible Behaviors - Reinforce a positive behavior over the negative one
Outline the 3 steps in planning for scientific management
What is...
1) Identify the most efficient worker
2) Identify the behaviors of that worker
3) Contingently reinforce all other workers such that the adopt behaviors of most efficient worker
Differentiate between operant and classical conditioning, and give one example of each
What is... operant conditioning is based on rewards/punishments that affect voluntary behavior, whereas classical conditioning is the pairing of a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus such that the neutral stimulus alone can elicit the unconditioned response, which is called the conditioned response. Examples can vary
Complete the Analogy: College is a "Skinner Box"... why?
What is... a suitable justification that accounts for external reinforcement being the main determinant of behavior
Justify or contest the idea that behavior can be controlled using an anecdotal piece of evidence
What is...
A comprehensive response that highlights individual autonomy, or reduces it to being dependent on the environment