Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to explore the examined effects of the subjects' behavior change as a function of a schedule. Rat participants were placed in an operant chamber for sessions of habituation, magazine training, and shaping on a fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement. These rats did not have any previous exposure to the operant conditioning chamber, or any training. These rats were to press a lever for reinforcement on a fixed ratio schedule of four presses by the end of the experiment. The data showed that there was a significant difference in the means. The main effect of fixed ratio reinforcement schedules in conjunction with the means suggests that behavior does in fact change as a function of schedule demands. The rate of lever presses increased as the ratio of fixed lever presses increased.
Fixed Ratio Schedule Training:
Training Laboratory Rats
Animals can learn interesting and complex behaviors through the means of conditioning and other training methods. The two types of conditioning are classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Conditioning incorporates both reinforcement and punishment. Reinforcement will increase the likelihood or a behavior, where punishment, and extinction will decrease it. Lee and Belfiore stated that “reinforcement is one of the most misused and misunderstood terms in the analysis of behavior” (1997). Along with these types of conditioning are other factors that help one train an organism. Habituation, magazine training, shaping, and different schedules of reinforcement help one reach the desired behavior. All these factors are part of training an organism to reach a desired behavior.
Classical conditioning was made famous by...
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In this experiment, we explore the effects of extinction on the subject. In previous exercises, the subject received a food pellet whenever it pressed the bar. However, in this experiment, the operant chamber is modified so that no food pellet will be delivered regardless of any bar pressing that may occur. Additionally, the pellet dispenser will also be muted so there will be no magazine sound that accompanies bar pressing. Therefore, both the primary reinforcer (food) and secondary reinforcer (magazine sound) are removed. For these experiments, the independent variable is the schedule of reinforcement and the dependent variable is the extinction rate. The schedule of reinforcement refers to the schedule that the reinforcer is provided, which in this case is never and the extinction rate refers to the time it takes for an operant response to be extinguished after the reinforcer is no longer provided. We considered extinction to be reached when the subject presses the bar no more than twice in a 5-minute period, as shown in the cumulative
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The study by Watson and Rayner was to further the research of Ivan Pavlov. Pavlov was a Russian physiologist whose most famous experiments involved that of animals, specifically the unconditioned and conditioned reflexes of canines, in reference to salivation and conditioned emotional response. Pavlov demonstrated that if a bell was rang each time a dog was fed; ultimately the animal would befall conditioned to salivate at just the sound of the bell, even where food is was no longer present (The Salivation reflex). Watson and Rayner set out to further the research of conditioned stimulus response, with little Albert. ‘These authors without adequate experimental evidence advanced the view that this range was increased by means of conditioned reflex factors.’ (B.Watson, R Rayner , 1920).
This time you don’t bother pressing once with your pink padded foot. You press three times. The reinforcement contingencies change the way in which the animal responds,” (Slater 10-11). The rat being studied on and knowing how to press the level already knew how many presses of the lever he needed in order to get food
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The participants were the twenty-seven students of Professor David Otis' Experimental Psychology class. The group of twenty-seven was split into smaller groups. We were not paid with pecuniary funds, but we did receive partial credit towards our final grade in the class.
Behavior modification is based on the principles of operant conditioning, which were developed by American behaviorist B.F. Skinner. In his research, he put a rat in a cage later known as the Skinner Box, in which the rat could receive a food pellet by pressing on a bar. The food reward acted as a reinforcement by strengthening the rat's bar-pressing behavior. Skinner studied how the rat's behavior changed in response to differing patterns of reinforcement. By studying the way the rats operated on their environment, Skinner formulated the concept of operant conditioning, through which behavior could be shaped by reinforcement or lack of it. Skinner considered his discovery applicable to a wide range of both human and animal behaviors(“Behavior,” 2001).
Classical conditioning emphasises the importance of learning from the environment and supports nurture over nature. However, limiting the source of learning to only environment is a reductionist explanation of behaviour. When complex behavi...
Ivan Pavlov developed a theory called classical conditioning which proposes that learning process occurs through associations between an environmental stimulus and a naturally occurring stimulus. Classical conditioning involves placing a neutral signal before a naturally occurring reflex like associating the food with the bell in Pavlov experiment. In classical conditioning, behavior is learnt by association where a stimulus that was originally neutral can become a trigger for substance use or cravings due to repeated associations between those stimuli and substance use (Pavlov, 1927).
Pavlov’s dogs. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/pavlov.html 11. McLeod,S., (2007). Psychology Perspectives from http://www.simplypsychology.org/perspective.html 12. Lybarger,M. (2014).
Regarding punishment in the two-factor theory, this Pavlovian conditioning must bring about fear within the subject. When the punished response is made the subject will experience fear, however, should the subject experience any response other than the punishment res...
Weiner, I. Healy, A. Freedheim, D. Proctor,R.W., Schinka,J.A. (2003) Handbook of Psychology: Experimental psychology,18, pp 500
Pavlov saw that both the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli produced similar responses to indicate that the conditioned and unconditioned responses are the same. Pavlov saw that a conditioned stimulus triggers the same response as an unconditioned stimulus because the unconditioned stimulus initiates one brain part that has the role of handling the unconditioned stimulus. Pavlov also suggested that there is a connection that is present between the unconditioned stimulus brain center and the intellect center responsible for the unconditional response. A conditioned stimulus produces the same answer as the unconditioned stimulus because of
Overall, Behaviorism is an important topic in today’s society. Although the main focus was in the 20th century, Behaviorism is still talked about today by many psychologists. Three important figures like Watson, Pavlov and Skinner were only a few that came up with their own experiments in order to prove that behaviorism all depends on observable behavior. Hence, Behaviorism is known to be behaviors that are acquired through conditioning in the
In the same study by Breland and Breland (1961) a pig was conditioned to pick up wo...