PY 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Classical Conditioning, Slot Machine, Behaviorism

• School: University of Alabama
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PY 101
• Professor: Gable

Document Summary

Discovered operant conditioning: cats escaped puzzle boxes. Law of effect explained his findings: probability of a behavior being repeated is increased if it is followed by a pleasant consequence. Law of effect (thorndike"s law: behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely, we learn to associate a certain response (voluntary behavior) with its consequence. Operant conditioning: the learning of voluntary behavior through the effects of pleasant and unpleasant consequences, (responses mean voluntary actions) The consequences serve to increase or decrease the likelihood of making that response again. The response can be associated with cues in the environment. (coins in a vending machine obtain food; out of order sign causes us to refrain). In operant conditioning, the stimulus is a cue, it does not elicit the response. In operant conditioning, the response elicits a reinforcement stimulus, whereas in classical conditioning, the us elicits the reflexive response.