Which is the best description of instrumental conditioning?
Instrumental conditioning is another term for operant conditioning, a learning process first described by B. F. Skinner. In instrumental conditioning, reinforcement or punishment are used to either increase or decrease the probability that a behavior will occur again in the future.
Who is Steven Gans and how does operant conditioning work?
Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital. Operant conditioning (sometimes referred to as instrumental conditioning) is a method of learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for behavior.
How does reinforcement affect the operant conditioning process?
Skinner identified several different schedules of reinforcement that impact the operant conditioning process: 4 Continuous reinforcement involves delivering a reinforcement every time a response occurs. Learning tends to occur relatively quickly, yet the response rate is quite low. Extinction also occurs very quickly once reinforcement is halted.
summary so far… •Instrumental conditioning as a form of adaptive control over the environment: animal behaves so as to bring about good things and avoid bad things •Thorndike – a theoretician (S-R, habits, law of effect, law of readiness) •did not study the whole spectrum of phenomena (eg., extinction)
Is it possible to control reflexes with instrumental conditioning?
Instrumental control of reflexive behavior appears to be possible under highly controlled experimental conditions. For example, Miller (1969) demonstrated that many reflexes can be modified with instrumental conditioning, utilizing a complicated operant conditioning procedure.
How are classical and instrumental learning processes used in dogs?
Through the combined efficacy of classical and instrumental learning processes, dogs can reliably predict and control the occurrence of biologically significant events.
Which is a vital function of classical conditioning?
A vital function served by classical conditioning is the formation of reliable predictive representations about the occurrence or nonoc-currence of beneficial or dangerous events.