Week 6 - Instrumental conditioning (punishment or negative reinforcement)

     Hello, welcome back to my blog! The topic for this week six was the continuity of instrumental conditioning, this topic was divided in two weeks since first it focused in the classical conditioning with rewards and/or reinforcement and then it explains about the punishment or avoidance techniques.

 

(Resource obtained from: https://www.simplypsychology.org/positive-reinforcement.html)

Non-reward reinforcement:

 

Non-reward reinforcement, also known as negative reinforcement, is a concept in psychology and behaviorism that involves increasing the likelihood of a behavior by removing or avoiding a negative stimulus. Unlike positive reinforcement, which involves the addition of a rewarding stimulus to strengthen a behavior, non-reward reinforcement focuses on the removal or avoidance of something unpleasant.

 

In non-reward reinforcement, the behavior that leads to the removal or avoidance of the negative stimulus is strengthened because it is followed by the reduction or elimination of discomfort, pain, or another aversive condition. This reinforcement strategy can be effective in shaping behavior, as individuals learn to repeat actions that lead to the removal of unpleasant experiences.

 

It's important to note that non-reward reinforcement is different from punishment. In punishment, an aversive stimulus is applied to decrease the likelihood of a behavior, whereas in non-reward reinforcement, the aversive stimulus is removed or avoided to increase the likelihood of a behavior.

 

Punishment:

 

In instrumental conditioning, punishment refers to the application of an aversive stimulus or the removal of a positive one following a behavior, with the intention of reducing the likelihood of that behavior occurring again in the future. It's a form of consequence that decreases the probability of a behavior being repeated.

 

There are two main types of punishment:

 

Positive Punishment: This involves the presentation of an aversive stimulus following a behavior, which decreases the likelihood of that behavior occurring again. For example, if a child misbehaves and is scolded by their parent, the scolding serves as a positive punishment.

 

Negative Punishment: This involves the removal of a positive stimulus following a behavior, which also decreases the likelihood of that behavior occurring again. For instance, if a teenager breaks curfew and as a result, their parents take away their privileges of using the car, this removal of a positive stimulus (car privileges) serves as negative punishment.

 

Avoidance learning:

 

Avoidance learning is a type of learning in which an individual learns to perform a behavior to prevent or avoid the occurrence of an unpleasant or aversive stimulus. This type of learning is often associated with classical and operant conditioning paradigms.

 

Learned helplessness:

 

Learned helplessness is a psychological phenomenon where an individual comes to believe that they have no control over their circumstances, even when they actually do. It typically arises after a person has experienced repeated failures or aversive events that they perceive as beyond their control, leading them to develop a sense of powerlessness and resignation.

 

Question for classmates:

 

How does instrumental conditioning differ from classical conditioning, and can you provide real-life examples of each to illustrate the differences?

 

Thank you for reading, hope you have an amazing day!

References: 

Terry, W. S. (1999). Learning and Memory: principles, processes, and procedures (5th ed.).

Cambridge Dictionary. (2024). https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/memory