Psychology -> Elements in operant conditioning


Elements in operant conditioning

Extinction - if the reinforcement ceases, the operantly conditioned response will disappear over time.

Stimulus generalisation - when the organism responds to stimuli which is similar to the original stimulus. For example, if a pigeon has been operantly conditioned to peck a blue light by receiving food pellets whenever it does so, the pigeon may also generalise to other similar coloured lights. However, if other lights are increasingly different from the original light stimulus, the pigeon is less likely to peck at them.


Stimulus discrimination - when the organism learns which responses will be reinforced and which will not.

Spontaneous recovery - when the extinguished response reappears after a rest period.

Shaping - when the organism is reinforced for any response which moves towards the desired behaviour, e.g. rewarding your cat for any behaviour that relates to it using the kitty litter.