Transcript Lecture 14
Reward Punishment Reinforcement/Punishment •Four Possible Consequences There are four possible consequences to any behavior. They are: Something Good can start or be presented PR; Something Good can end or be taken away NP; Something Bad can start or be presented PP; Something Bad can end or be taken away NR. •Something Good can start or be presented, so behavior increases = Positive Reinforcement (R+) •Something Good can end or be taken away, so behavior decreases = Negative Punishment (P-) •Something Bad can start or be presented, so behavior decreases = Positive Punishment (P+) •Something Bad can end or be taken away, so behavior increases = Negative Reinforcement (R-) Negative reinforcement – Active Avoidance Dennis says it all…….. • Dennis, if you don’t stop bothering Mr. Wilson, you can’t listen to MTV=NP HOW COMPLEX BEHAVIORS ARE LEARNED • Successive approximation/shaping = reinforcing behaviors as they come to approximate the desired behavior • Superstitious Behavior = when persistent behaviors are reinforced coincidentally rather than functionally • .5 Prevent a dog from escaping electric shocks, and it will stop trying to get away. Applications for abused women and children Learned Helplessness Paradigm Seligman “Triadic” Design Phase 1 Group A: Escapable Shock Group B: Yoked Inescapable Shock Phase 2 Escape/Avoidance training Group C: Exposure to apparatus only (For Group A shock can be terminated by rotating a wheel.) Learned Helplessness – Seligman, Peterson, et al. • Dogs exposed to unavoidable shocks • Following exposure, when placed in a situation where they can now jump to avoid the shock, they fail to make the escape response. • Learned helplessness occurs when one perceives that one’s actions (e.g., working hard) does not lead to the expected outcome (e.g., high grade). Possible Explanations • Learned Helplessness: Organisms learn that their behavior is ineffectual • Poverty of activity: inescapable shock reduces the variability in behavior that is so crucial for operant conditioning • Inattention: animals stop attending to their own behavior Battered Spouse Syndrome • Learned helplessness • Victim Mentality • Increased dependency on abuser •Psychological: Behavioral Results •Learned Helplessness: •Seligman’s experiments with rats and dogs •Learned helplessness in humans linked with attributions of a lack of control after experiences of being in an impotent position Environment which lacks positive reinforcement > reduction in activities and withdrawal Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome (1956, 1976, 1985) P Alarm Reaction •Fight or flight Resistance •Arousal high as body tries defend and adapt. If stress continues …. Exhaustion •Limited physical resources; resistance to disease collapses; death Interval Fixed Variable Ratio