Applications of operant conditioning in daily life
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Applications of operant conditioning in daily life
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[post_date] => 2024-12-25 13:41:40
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[post_content] => Practice Passage (Question 1-5)
*This passage is the property of Khan Academy and has been reformatted into an AAMC-style interface in their entirety by MedLife Mastery. MedLife Mastery does not endorse and is not an affiliate of Khan Academy.
Jeff has two cats, Whiskers and Tiger. Jeff wants to play with both of them using a laser pointer, but the cats respond very differently to playtime. Whiskers is an active cat and loves to chase the red dot, but he sometimes gets so excited by playtime that he becomes overly agitated and attacks Jeff. Tiger is very lazy - he loves to look out the window from his bed and lounge in the sun; he is almost never interested in playing with the laser pointer. Jeff wants both of his cats to be equally active and healthy, so he decides to use principles from behaviorism to teach his cats better play behavior. He has two goals - to increase Tiger’s playtime, and to decrease Whisker’s aggressive playtime.
He uses a variety of different strategies with his cats: he tries giving each cats treats when they play nicely, taking away Tiger’s bed to increase playtime, putting the cats in a carrier when they do not play nicely, and loudly yelling “No!” if Whiskers becomes aggressive. Jeff notices that the cats respond well to the treats, so he decides to vary when and how Whiskers and Tiger receive their treats. Table 1 outlines the different schedules of reinforcement that Jeff tries with Whiskers and Tiger.
Table 1
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[question] => One of Jeff’s friends suggests giving Whiskers a treat when he is aggressive, as a way to distract him. Could this be an effective way to teach Whiskers to behave properly during playtime?
[value] => Array
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[answer] => 2
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
Negative reinforcement would encourage desired behavior, but requires the removal of a stimulus.
Positive reinforcement is useful in encouraging desired behavior.
Jeff would be encouraging Whiskers to continue acting out if he gave him treats.
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[answers] => Array
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[each_answer] => A. No, Whiskers would be negatively reinforced to act out more often
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[each_answer] => B. No, Whiskers would be positively reinforced to act out more often
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[each_answer] => C. Yes, Whiskers would be negatively reinforced to behave properly
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[each_answer] => D. Yes, Whiskers would be positively reinforced to behave properly
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[quiz_unique_key] => 3873426850
[question] => What type of reinforcement schedule does Schedule C describe?
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[answer] => 4
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
Variable ratio is a reward after a randomized number of responses.
Variable interval would be a reward after a random amount of time.
Fixed interval is a reward after a set period of time.
Fixed ratio would be a reward after a set number of responses.
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[each_answer] => A. Variable ratio
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[each_answer] => B. Fixed interval
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[each_answer] => C. Variable interval
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[each_answer] => D. Fixed ratio
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[quiz_unique_key] => 83407773
[question] => Which of the following describes why rewarding Tiger with a treat for every 3 minutes of play could be more effective in changing his behavior than taking away his bed?
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[answer] => 4
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
The schedule described is not a variable schedule; it is fixed.
There is no evidence that behavior reinforced positively is extinguished more or less quickly than behavior reinforced negatively.
Jeff takes away the bed to increase Tiger’s play behavior, not decrease it. Thus, taking away the bed is not punishment, it is reinforcement.
The immediacy of feedback is an important factor in influencing behavior.
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[each_answer] => A. Variable reinforcement is learned more quickly than fixed reinforcement
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[each_answer] => B. Negative reinforcement is extinguished more quickly than positive reinforcement
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[each_answer] => C. Punishment is not the best way to shape an animal’s behavior
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[each_answer] => D. More immediate feedback following desired behavior makes for a stronger consequence
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[question] => When Jeff put the cats in a carrier when they didn’t play nicely, what kind of operant conditioning strategy was he using?
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[answer] => 3
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
Positive refers to adding a stimulus.
Negative refers to removing a stimulus.
Punishment refers to the decrease of a behavior.
Reinforcement refers to the increase of a behavior.
When Jeff put the cats in a carrier when they didn’t play nicely, he was seeking to decrease a behavior (not playing nicely), an example of punishment. Jeff added a new stimulus, placing the cats in the carrier, an example of positive operant conditioning.
Thus the operant conditioning strategy Jeff used is best described as positive punishment.
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[each_answer] => A. Positive reinforcement
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[each_answer] => B. Negative reinforcement
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[each_answer] => C. Positive punishment
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[each_answer] => D. Negative punishment
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[question] => Jeff has been successfully increasing the number of times Whiskers has to play nicely before he receives a treat, until finally he decides he can stop giving treats during playtime all together. Whiskers suddenly becomes ultra-aggressive – he bites, hisses, and scratches at an increased rate when playing with the laser pointer. Which of the following best describes Whisker’s behavior?
[value] => Array
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[answer] => 4
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
For Whiskers’ behavior to be generalized, he would need to react aggressively during other types of play – maybe with a mouse or a feather toy.
Whiskers’ behavior has been shaped to be non-aggressive, not aggressive.
Continuous reinforcement occurs on a 1:1 ratio – this means that for each behavior, there is a reward. Whiskers has responded well to larger ratios of reinforcement, which means that this statement is inaccurate.
When an animal no longer receives regular reinforcement, its original behavior will sometimes spike (meaning increase dramatically) – this is known as an extinction burst.
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[each_answer] => A. Whiskers only respond to continuous reinforcement.
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[each_answer] => B. Whisker’s aggressive behavior has become generalized.
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[each_answer] => C. Whiskers’ behavior has been shaped to be aggressive.
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[each_answer] => D. Whiskers are experiencing an extinction burst.
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