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Concurrent-chain schedule of reinforcement' – A complex reinforcement procedure in which the participant is permitted to choose during the first link which of several simple reinforcement schedules will be in effect in the second link. Once a choice has been made, the rejected alternatives become unavailable until the start of the next trial.
The results were consistent with the Premack principle: only the children who preferred eating candy over playing pinball showed a reinforcement effect. The roles of responses were reversed in the second test, with corresponding results. That is, only children who preferred playing pinball over eating candy showed a reinforcement effect.
If R 1 and R 2 are the rate of responses on two schedules that yield obtained (as distinct from programmed) rates of reinforcement Rf 1 and Rf 2, the strict matching law holds that the relative response rate R 1 / (R 1 + R 2) matches, that is, equals, the relative reinforcement rate Rf 1 / (Rf 1 + Rf 2).
The most notable schedules of reinforcement studied by Skinner were continuous, interval (fixed or variable), and ratio (fixed or variable). All are methods used in operant conditioning. Continuous reinforcement (CRF): each time a specific action is performed the subject receives a reinforcement. This method is effective when teaching a new ...
The reinforcement schedule can also be manipulated to determine how motivated an animal is to receive stimulation, reflected by how hard they are willing to work to earn it. This can be done by increasing the number of responses required to receive a reward (FR-2, FR-3, FR-4, etc.) or by implementing a progressive-ratio schedule, where the ...
Melioration theory accounts for many of the choices that organisms make when presented with two variable interval schedules. Melioration is a form of matching where the subject is constantly shifting its behavior from the poorer reinforcement schedule to the richer reinforcement schedule, until it is spending most of its time at the richest ...
Reinforcement occurs when the consequence of a behavior makes it more likely for that behavior to occur in the future. Reinforcing consequences can be either positive, where something preferred is added, or negative, where something aversive is removed. [63] Reinforcement is the key element in operant conditioning and most behavior change programs.
Skinner's theory of operant conditioning played a key role in helping psychologists understand how behavior is learned. It explains why reinforcement can be used so effectively in the learning process, and how schedules of reinforcement can affect the outcome of conditioning.