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Instrumental Learning I

1) law of effect and Thornkike/Watson(Little Albert) : The Law of Effect (E. L. Thorndike)

“Of several responses made to the same situation, those which are accompanied or closely followed by satisfaction to the animalwill, other things being equal,

be more firmly connected with the situation, so that, when it recurs, they will be more likely to recur;

those which are accompanied or closely followed by discomfort to the animal will, other things being equal, have their connections

with that situation weakened, so that, when it recurs, they will be less likely to occur. The greater the satisfaction or discomfort,

the greater the strengthening or weakening of the bond." (Thorndike, 1898, p.244).

2) Enter Skinner

Operant Leaning

Learing involves sequencing behavioral units

(R1-S1) via successive approximations such that through shaping the learner will receive a desirable consequence after the sequence is complete. Example (lab and non-lab)

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Lab example: Teach rat to bar press: rats do not come into the world with the capacity to reflexively bar press to receive a reward so therefore you have to train that animal via successive approximation sequence training (shaping)

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Behavioral units

R1-S1 placed in Skinner box and runs

R2-S2 moves toward water source and receives water (CS-UCS) Magazine training

R3-R3 Turns in the direction of bar press (RFT)

R4-S4 Moves in the direction of bar press (RFT)

R5-S5 Touches right paw on bar press (RFT)

R6-S6 Places both paws on bar press (RFT)

Realize that all responses that do not lead to a bar press-like response are

not reinforced or extinguished.

R7-S7 Push bar down and get (RFT)

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Piano Playing, free throws, studying, driving: Shaping, chaining, and successive approximation

Monkey l eventually help disabled at home

Helping Hands has placed some 230 monkeys in foster care nationally and matched 45 with people who have quadriplegia. The Koblinskis are one of five Michigan families providing foster care for a capuchin. Because these
monkeys live to the age of 35-40, they can be long-term companions to quadriplegics. For a monkey to successfully coexist with a quadriplegic, the animals must be socialized from an early age with

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humans. When socialization is complete, the animals are sent to Helping Hands training center in Boston,which is affiliated with Boston University School of Medicine for nine months of training.

They are taught to respond to a beam of light that the disabled ownerdirects from a mouth-operated laser pointer. The owner shines the beam on an object he/she wants the monkey to manipulate.

The monkeys learn to perform tasks such as fetching drinks from a refrigerator, transferring items to and from the microwave. They are taught to place books on a reading stand and put cassettes into a VCR. They can retrieve fallen mouthsticks or other tools.

1) Contiguity R1 > S1

2) Superstition: In six out of eight cases the resulting responses were so clearly defined that two observers could agree perfectly in countinginstances. One bird was conditioned to turn counterclockwise about the cage, making two or three turns between reinforcements.Another repeatedly thrust is head into one of the upper corners of the cage. A third developed a "tossing" response, as if placingits head beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly." (p. 168)

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3) Contingency

4) Extinction

5) Spontaneous Recovery

6) Positive Reinforcer

A positive reinforcer is an appetitive event whose presentation follows an operant response. The positive

reinforcer increases the likelihood of that behavior occurring again under the same circumstances.