PSYC 351 Lecture 38: class 38
8 Apr 2020
School
Department
Course
Professor
Psyc 351
Fundamentals of learning Class 38
The RESPONSE-ALLOCATION APPROACH
• considers the problem of reinforcement and instrumental
• conditioning from a broader perspective than the Premack principle or the response-
deprivation hypothesis.
• It considers the broad range of activities that are always available to an individual. It refers
to how an individual
• distributes his responses among the various options that are available.
• Scientists who use this approach examine how the distribution of responses is altered when
an instrumental
• conditioning procedure is introduced and what factors determine the nature of the response
reallocation.
• The starting point for these analyses if the UNCONSTRAINED BASELINE which is how
the individual
• allocates his responses to various behavioral options when there are no restrictions and
presumably reflects the
• individual’s unique preferences.
• Ex: during summer vacation, you will see friends, sleep in, tan, go fishing, and NOT look
at textbooks and study.
• This is the unconstrained baseline. But, when school starts again, you return to your notes
and spend less time
• doing those fun activities.
• The same thing happens in instrumental conditioning when an organism’s unconstrained
baseline is disrupted and
• causes a redistribution of responses.
• The unconstrained baseline is also called the BEHAVIORAL BLISS POINT. The term
bliss point refers to a
• preferred response allocation in the absence of restrictions
Behavioral Bliss Point
• Every organism has a preferred (optimal) distribution of possible activities called the
behavioral bliss point.
• Defend against challenges to their bliss point through response allocation: rate of one
response to its preferred
• level, without moving to other response too far from its preferred level.
Imposing an Instrumental Contingency
• Ex: The introduction of an INSTRUMENTAL CONTINGENCY between studying and
being on Facebook. If
Document Summary
The response-allocation approach: considers the problem of reinforcement and instrumental, conditioning from a broader perspective than the premack principle or the response- deprivation hypothesis. It considers the broad range of activities that are always available to an individual. The term bliss point refers to a: preferred response allocation in the absence of restrictions. Imposing an instrumental contingency: ex: the introduction of an instrumental contingency between studying and being on facebook. If the student studies 10 minutes, he gets 10 minutes on facebook. If he studies 1 hour, he gets 1 hour on facebook. Individuals generally define their response allocation against challenges to the unrestricted baseline or bliss point: condition. But, the baseline response allocation cannot be reestablished after an instrumental contingency has: been introduced (you are stuck with it), defending the baseline study or defending the baseline facebook time both have their disadvantages. That is often the dilemma posed by an instrumental contingency.
