OperantInstrumental Conditioning

1
Operant/Instrumental Conditioning
Schedules of Reinforcement
Ratio Schedules
Fixed Ratio (e.g., FR 10)
Variable Ratio (e.g., VR 10)
Interval Schedules
Fixed Interval (e.g., FI 1min)
Variable Interval (e.g., VI 1min)
2
Operant/Instrumental Conditioning
Schedules of Reinforcement
3
Operant/Instrumental Conditioning
Limits of Conditioning
- can any learning organism be trained to do
anything?
- some tasks physically impossible (e.g. teaching
your turtle to drive a car)
- even when training initially seems to be
effective, performance may degenerate due to
instinctive drift
4
Latent Learning
As discussed earlier, there are many reasons,
other than learning, why behavior might change
(e.g., fatigue)
- there are also situations in which behavior
does not (instantly) change even though learning
has occurred
5
Latent Learning
Tolmans Maze Study
- one group of rats finds food if they find their
way through the maze
- these rats quickly learn to follow the correct
path (they run to the end)
- another group of rats exposed to the maze, but
no food is present
- these rats just wander around
6
Latent Learning
Tolmans Maze Study
- a third group also placed in maze with no food
available for the first 10 days
- they wander around like the previous group
- on Day 11 food is introduced
- by Day 12 these rats are just as good at
navigating the maze as rats trained continuously
with food
7
Latent Learning
Tolmans Maze Study
- one group of rats finds food if they find their
way through the maze
- these rats quickly learn to follow the correct
path (they run to the end)
- another group of rats exposed to the maze, but
no food is present
- these rats just wander around
8
Latent Learning
Tolmans Maze Study
- a third group also placed in maze with no food
available for the first 10 days
- they wander around like the previous group
- on Day 11 food is introduced
- by Day 12 these rats are just as good at
navigating the maze as rats trained continuously
with food
9
Latent Learning
Tolmans Maze Study
- rats in the third group must have been learning
about the layout of the maze while they were
just wandering around
- no behavioral evidence of this learning until
the situation changes (i.e., there is some reason
to want to get to a particular part of the maze
quickly)
- learning is latent until situation changes
10
Observational Learning
Social-Cognitive theories of learning
- much of what we learn may come from observing
the behavior of others in social contexts
Banduras Bobo Doll Study
- children who watched movies of adults
hitting/kicking an inflatable doll behaved in the
same manner when left alone with the doll