Psychology VCE Units 3 & 4
Operant conditioning
Learning Activity 1
PAGE
465
Review questions
1 In your own words, explain trial and error learning. Describe a personal example of the use
of trial and error learning in everyday life.
2 a Explain the meaning of the term instrumental learning.
b Draw a diagram (for example, a flow chart) that represents the process of instrumental learning.
3 What is the law of effect?
4 Explain the relationship between instrumental learning and the law of effect.
5 What role does trial and error learning play in instrumental learning?
Copyright © John Grivas, Ross Down and Linda Carter 2004. Published by Macmillan Education Australia.
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Psychology VCE Units 3 & 4
Operant conditioning
6 In Thorndike’s puzzle box experiments, what role did the reward (the fish outside the box)
serve in the process of learning?
7 What does the graph in figure 13.3 indicate about the way the cats learned to escape from
the puzzle-box?
Learning Activity 2
PAGE
470
Review questions
1 Explain the meaning of the term operant conditioning.
2 Why did Skinner adopt the term operant conditioning rather than instrumental learning? In your
answer, include a definition and an example of an operant, with reference to an example not
used in the text.
3 Briefly outline a procedure for an experiment using a Skinner box to
a operantly condition a rat to elict a particular response, and
b operantly condition a rat not to elicit a particular response.
Copyright © John Grivas, Ross Down and Linda Carter 2004. Published by Macmillan Education Australia.
Unauthorised copying prohibited.
Psychology VCE Units 3 & 4
Operant conditioning
4 In Skinner’s opinion, what were the main driving forces behind behaviour?
5 a Identify the independent and dependent variables in Skinner’s (1938) experiment with the
hungry rat outlined on page 467.
b Identify the condition when the IV is present and the condition when it is not present.
Can these conditions be called experimental and control conditions respectively?
Explain your answer.
c Identify the operant responses observed in the rat in this experiment.
Learning Activity 3
PAGE
474
Review questions
1 Define the term reinforcement, with reference to an example.
2 Define the terms positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement.
Copyright © John Grivas, Ross Down and Linda Carter 2004. Published by Macmillan Education Australia.
Unauthorised copying prohibited.
Psychology VCE Units 3 & 4
Operant conditioning
3 In what way are positive reinforcers and rewards similar and in what way are they different?
4 a What do positive and negative reinforcers have in common in terms of their consequences?
b List some of the positive and negative reinforcers that you have observed in everyday life.
c How are positive and negative reinforcers different?
5 What does the term schedule of reinforcement refer to?
6 a Distinguish between continuous and partial reinforcement with reference to a relevant
example in a laboratory setting.
b Give two examples of continunous and partial reinforcement in everyday life.
c Which is more effective in strengthening a response once it has been acquired—continuous
or partial reinforcement? Explain your answer with reference to research findings.
Copyright © John Grivas, Ross Down and Linda Carter 2004. Published by Macmillan Education Australia.
Unauthorised copying prohibited.
Psychology VCE Units 3 & 4
Operant conditioning
d During which phase of operant conditioning is it most advantageous to use continuous
reinforcement?
7 What are some possible effects of a long delay in the presentation of a reinforcer?
8 At what stage of the learning process should a reinforcer be presented to be most effective?
Explain your answer.
9 How might the use of an inappropriate reinforcer affect the learning process?
Learning Activity 5
PAGE
477
Review questions
1 What is punishment and how is it intended to change behaviour?
2 Distinguish between punishment and negative reinforcement, with reference to:
a a relevant example in a laboratory setting.
Copyright © John Grivas, Ross Down and Linda Carter 2004. Published by Macmillan Education Australia.
Unauthorised copying prohibited.
Psychology VCE Units 3 & 4
Operant conditioning
b a relevant example in everyday life.
3 At what stage of the learning process should a reinforcer or punisher be presented to be
most effective?
4 What are some possible effects of a long delay in the presentation of a reinforcer or punisher?
5 How might the use of an inappropriate reinforcer or punisher affect the learning process?
Learning Activity 10
PAGE
486
Review questions
1 Define each of the following terms in relation to operant conditioning and give an example of
their occurrence in (a) a laboratory experiment, and (b) everyday life: acquisition, extinction,
spontaneous recovery, stimulus generalisation and stimulus discrimination.
Copyright © John Grivas, Ross Down and Linda Carter 2004. Published by Macmillan Education Australia.
Unauthorised copying prohibited.
Psychology VCE Units 3 & 4
Operant conditioning
2 a Define the term shaping.
b Under what circumstances would shaping be used in a learning situation?
3 Which of the following scenarios involve stimulus generalisation? Which involve stimulus
discrimination?
a Lauren asks Gino out on a date but he declines. Lauren decides that she won’t ask another
boy out again.
b Koula is paid for doing chores around the home and expects to be paid for doing chores at
her auntie’s place when she stays there.
c Jackson is scared of the sound of a lawn-mower but not the sound of an electric toothbrush.
d Sam is scared of the sound of his dad’s electric drill. When his dad stops using the drill he
relaxes. Sam’s dad then reaches for the electric saw. As soon as Sam sees this, he is scared
and runs inside.
Copyright © John Grivas, Ross Down and Linda Carter 2004. Published by Macmillan Education Australia.
Unauthorised copying prohibited.
Psychology VCE Units 3 & 4
Operant conditioning
4 Mr Ying is a young, handsome Psychology teacher who has just been appointed to a girls’
college. Unfortunately, his Unit 2 Psychology class are so distracted by his appearance that
they find it difficult to focus on their work and on his instructions. There is a lot of giggling,
whispering and a general lack of attention. Mr Ying is determined to make a good impression
with his classroom control and with his teaching methods. He decides to use detention as
a means of pulling the girls’ behaviour into line. He runs a lunchtime detention session for
six girls whose behaviour has been the worst. In the next class, not only do these six girls
misbehave, but they are joined at the next detention by four others. This trend continues until
it’s not long before almost the entire class is on detention.
a Which element of operant conditioning is Mr Ying trying to use to change the girls’
behaviour?
b Provide a description of its effectiveness and an explanation as to why this is so.
c How could Mr Ying change his strategy with the girls and still use operant conditioning?
5 Maria had enjoyed attending the same P-12 college for 10 years. Quite suddenly this year,
her friendship group had drifted away from her and she is now being bullied by some other
girls because she has become a ‘loner’. After an unsuccessful attempt to solve her problems
by speaking with her year-level coordinator, Maria started to take days off school, telling her
mother she wasn’t feeling well. Her absenteeism increased. Although she was concerned
about missing school, she couldn’t face the unpleasant actions of those girls.
a Which element of operant conditioning explains the increase in Maria’s behaviour of
deceiving her mother and staying home from school? Explain how this principle worked in
Maria’s situation.
b Which element of operant conditioning describes the consequence of the bullying
behaviour for Maria? Explain its effect on Maria’s attendance behaviour.
Copyright © John Grivas, Ross Down and Linda Carter 2004. Published by Macmillan Education Australia.
Unauthorised copying prohibited.