PSYC 301 Chapter 6: Chapter 6- The Principles of Learning and Behaviour (animal learning)

• School: McGill University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 301
• Professor: anne almey

Document Summary

Schedule of reinforcement= a program or rule that determines which occurrence of a response is followed by the reinforcer. The delivery of a reinforcer could depend on the occurrence of a certain number of responses, the passage of time, the presence of certain stimuli, the occurrence of other responses or any number or combo of other factors. Reinforcement schedules that involves similar relations between responses and reinforcers produce similar patterns of behaviour. The exact rate of responding may differ, but the behaviour is highly predictable. Schedules of reinforcement influence how instrumental responding is learned and how it"s maintained through reinforcement. Schedule effects are relevant to the motivation of behaviour whether someone is lazy or not depends less on their personality than on the schedule of reinforcement in effect. Lab studies of reinforcement are usually done using a skinner box with clearly defined responses that occur repeatedly. Simple schedules: a single factor determines which occurrence of the instrumental response is reinforced.