Chapter 11 Learned Reinforcers and Learned Aversive Stimuli (Conditioned Reinforcers & Conditioned Aversive Stimuli PDF

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Principles of Behavior by Malott (7th) Ch:11...

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Chapter 11: Learned Reinforcers and Learned Aversive Stimuli (Conditioned Reinforcers & Conditioned Aversive Stimuli Learned Reinforcer - a stimulus that is a reinforcer because it has been paired with another reinforcer Pairing Procedure - the pairing of a neutral stimulus with a reinforcer or aversive stimulus Value-Altering Principle - the pairing procedure converts a neutral stimulus into a learned reinforcer or learned aversive stimulus -

We learn most normal human behavior through social reinforcement in the form of approval and attention, contingent on normal behavior

Generalized Learned Reinforcer - a learned reinforcer that is a reinforcer because it has been paired with a variety of other reinforcers -

Also called generalized secondary reinforcer or generalized conditioned reinforcer

With tokens, a learned reinforcer is effective only if the organism is deprived of the other reinforcers with which it acquired its reinforcing properties

Token Economy - a system of generalized learned reinforcers in which the organism that receives those generalized reinforcers can save them and exchange them for a variety of backup reinforcers later

Learned Aversive Stimulus - a stimulus that is aversive because it has been paired with another aversive stimulus Generalized Learned Aversive Stimulus - refers to a learned aversive stimulus that is aversive because it was paired with a variety of other aversive stimuli/conditions and/or the loss of a variety of other reinforcers Two ways to unpair: 1. Stop presenting the original reinforcer or aversive stimulus after the learned reinforcer or aversive stimulus, or 2. Have the original reinforcer continuously available

Extinction vs Unpairing -

Learned reinforcers lose their value because they are no longer paired with the original reinforcer - THIS IS NOT EXTINCTION

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Extinction consists of no longer making a reinforcer contingent on a response

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The results of unpairing are different from extinction: -

Unpairing results in the learned reinforcer losing its reinforcing value (the learned reinforcer will no longer reinforce a response)

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Extinction results in the response frequency decreasing, but that learned reinforcer may still be reinforcing other responses on which it is contingent

Conditional Stimulus - elements of a stimulus have their value or function only when they are combined; otherwise, the individual elements may be neutral -

Some stimuli may be learned reinforcers or aversive conditions only when they occur in the presence of some other stimulus

Hedonic Reinforcer - reinforcers that are reinforcing in their own right, even on occasions when clearly they will not lead to backup reinforcers or aversive stimuli Instrumental Reinforcers - learned reinforcers and aversive stimuli that are reinforcing or aversive only because they are instrumental in producing a backup reinforcer or aversive stimulus; they are necessary for the backup stimulus to occur -

Social disapproval is a learned hedonic aversive stimulus; it will punish our behavior so we strive to avoid it - and that keeps our world (somewhat) civilized

We call a reinforcer a learned reinforcer because the value of the stimulus as a reinforcer was learned (as a result of the pairing procedure) -

We don’t call it such because it causes learning; ALL reinforcers, learned and unlearned, cause learning when they follow a response

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ALL reinforcers cause learning, but not all reinforcers are learned reinforcers

As long as the learned reinforcer is occasionally paired with the unlearned reinforcer, it will continue to reinforcer a response, even though that response never produces the unlearned behavior

Conditioned Motivating Operation/Surrogate Motivating Operation - deprivation of learned reinforcers as an effective motivating operation

Simply withholding the potential reinforcer (extinction) is not a good enough control procedure to demonstrate the operation of a reinforcement contingency -

This causes 2 variables: 1. The contingency involving the presentation of those reinforcers 2. The potential reinforcers themselves

A better way to determine the effectiveness of tokens is to non contingently present the potential reinforcers to break the confounding -

Remove the contingency (one of the 2 possible causes) but don’t remove the reinforcers

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If the tokens don’t maintain performance when presented non contingently, we can be sure that they are real reinforcers, and their contingent presentation was crucial

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We can also rule out chance by using a reversal design - stopping the extinction procedure and reinstating the reinforcement procedure; this will show that each phase produces different data

Imprinted Reinforcer - a reinforcer that requires its unlearned reinforcing properties as a result of being the first stimulus the organism contacts during a brief period shortly after birth -

It is not a learned reinforcer, although it may be an acquired reinforcer

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It isn’t a learned reinforcer because it isn’t paired with anything

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It is an acquired reinforcer because it becomes reinforcing as a result of early exposure

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