Respondent Conditioning Ch 21 Conditioning Operant conditioning or

Respondent Conditioning Ch 21

Conditioning • Operant conditioning or instrumental conditioning • Pavlovian or respondent conditioning

B. F. Skinner

Ivan Pavlov

Does respondent conditioning play a role in magazine training? • Remember operant level • What did rat do when pellet dropped?

Terms • • Unconditioned stimulus (UCS or US) Unconditioned response (UCR or UR) Conditioned stimulus (CS) Conditioned response (CR)

US • A stimulus that produces the unconditioned response without previous pairing with another stimulus

UR • An unlearned response elicited by the presentation of an US.

CS • A stimulus that acquires its eliciting properties through previous pairing with another stimulus.

CR • A learned response elicited by the presentation of a conditioned stimulus.

Unconditioned Stimulus UCS (food pellet) An UCS elicits behavior without any learning history with regard to that stimulus.

Unconditioned Response UCS (food pellet) UCR (salivation) An UCR is a reflex response elicited by an UCS. The food pellet elicits salivation.

Respondent Conditioning UCS (food pellet) pairing UCR (salivation) neutral stimulus (click of pellet dispenser) Following repeated pairings of the UCS and a neutral stimulus. . .

Respondent Conditioning CS (click of pellet dispenser) CR (salivation) …the neutral stimulus, when presented alone, elicits the CR. The neutral stimulus is now a CS (no longer neutral) because of the conditioning history.

Respondent Conditioning • No aspect of the procedure depends on the organism’s behavior. Rat did not have to “do” anything. • Procedure consists of presentation of stimuli – Presented according to a prearranged temporal plan • No response contingency (dependency)

Respondent Conditioning UCS (food pellet) pairing ? (salivation) ? stimulus (click of pellet dispenser) Following repeated pairings of the UCS and a ______ stimulus. . .

Respondent Conditioning ? (click of pellet dispenser) ? (salivation) …the neutral stimulus, when presented alone, elicits the ___. The neutral stimulus is now a ___ (no longer neutral) because of the conditioning history.

Respondent Conditioning CS (click of pellet dispenser) CR (salivation) …the neutral stimulus, when presented alone, elicits the CR. The neutral stimulus is now a CS (no longer neutral) because of the conditioning history.

Operant Conditioning Behavior (Response) Peck disk SR+ Grain hopper access

Operant Conditioning Behavior (Response) Peck disk SR+ Grain hopper access ESSENTIAL that the reinforcer presentation depends on the organism’s response.

In operant conditioning, it is the occurrence of a response that causes reinforcement to be delivered. (Reinforcement is contingent upon the response)

In respondent conditioning, the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli are presented without regard to the animal’s behavior. (no contingency)

In operant conditioning, must detect response in order to know when to deliver reinforcement In respondent conditioning, must detect response to know whether conditioning is taking place

Essential features of each procedure? Special exercise helps highlight essential features: -operantly condition vasoconstriction -respondently condition the lever press

Operantly condition peripheral vasoconstriction • Efforts to operantly condition smooth muscle systems have not been very successful • Procedure can be applied to any response system

Respondently condition the lever press • No lever-pressing reflex in the rat’s lever pressing repertoire… • No reinforcement for lever pressing

Respondent vs. Operant Conditioning Feature Respondent conditioning Operant conditioning Procedure Stimuli precede response Consequences follow response Response occurrence Parts of organism involved Non response necessary Glands & smooth muscles Response is necessary Striped muscles Response control Involuntary Voluntary

Phobias? • Long lasting, intense, irrational fear. • Fear is produced by previously neutral stimuli.

What is fear? • “Fears” darkness: Darkness is – a learned aversive stimulus and – a conditioned eliciting stimulus • Responses – physiological and emotional – are conditioned responses to the eliciting stimulus.

Watson & Rayner pairing UCS UCR (Striking iron bar) (fear response) neutral stimulus (White rat) Following repeated pairings of the UCS and a neutral stimulus. . .

Watson & Rayner CS (White rat) CR (fear response) …the neutral stimulus, when presented alone, elicits the CR. The neutral stimulus is now a CS (no longer neutral) because of the conditioning history.

Higher Order Conditioning • Establishing a conditioned stimulus by pairing a neutral stimulus with an already established conditioned stimulus.

Watson & Rayner pairing CS CR (white rat) (fear response) neutral stimulus (Santa’s beard) Following repeated pairings of the CS and a neutral stimulus. . .

Watson & Rayner CS (White rat) CR (fear response) CS (Santa’s beard) …the neutral stimulus, when presented alone, elicits the CR. The neutral stimulus is now a CS (no longer neutral) because of the conditioning history.

Respondent Extinction • Present the conditioned stimulus without pairing it with the unconditioned stimulus or with an already established conditioned stimulus, and the conditioned stimulus will lose its eliciting power.

Operant treatment of phobias • Differential reinforcement • Reinforced practice – reinforce approaching aversive and fear-evoking stimuli • Also involves respondent extinction (repeated presentations of the CS without the UCS)

Systematic Desensitization • Combining relaxation with a hierarchy of fear-producing stimuli arranged from the least to the most frightening – Can be in vivo or with imagination

Systematic Desensitization • Develop hierarchy of fears • Complete relaxation training • Begin systematic desensitization

Hierarchy of Fears 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. Thinking about basement On basement stairs Standing in basement Notice spider webs in basement See a dead spider 5 ft away See a live spider 5 ft away Etc Ect Ect Spider crawling on hand

Relaxation Training • Tense, then relax muscle groups • Imagery – warm sun, calm ocean • Practice

After mastery of relaxation… • After training, begin Systematic Desensitization • Raise finger during presentation of items from hierarchy if tension occurs and lower finger when there is a return to a relaxed state • Repeat until relaxation is maintained throughout hierarchy