CAS PS 101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 6: Operant Conditioning Chamber, Operant Conditioning, B. F. Skinner

• School: Boston University
• Department: Psychological & Brain Sciences
• Course: CAS PS 101
• Professor: Ira Wells

Document Summary

Operant conditioning a particular behavior leads to a particular outcome. An actions consequences determine the likelihood that it will be performed in the future. Human or animals makes associations between events it can control whereas classical, you associate events that cannot be controlled. Law of effect thorndike discovered that any behavior that leads to a satisfying state of affairs is likely to occur again. Cat in the box it learned to escape the box and receive food after repeatedly accidentally pushing a lever the cat soon learned that the lever means escape. Reinforcer stimulus that occurs after a response and increases the likelihood the response will be repeated. Skinner believed that eating, studying, and driving, etc occurs because it has been reinforced. Skinner box: exposed rats to repeated condiotnning trials and only observed. Shaping reinforcing behaviors that are similar to the desired behavior. Primary reinforcers: stimuli like water and food that are necessary for survival.