| We use the term "operant conditioning" to describe
one type of associative learning in which there is a contingency between
the response and the presentation of the reinforcer. This situation resembles
most closely the classic experiments from Skinner, where he trained rats
and pigeons to press a lever in order to obtain a food reward ("Skinner-Box",
see figure). In such experiments, the subject is able to generate certain
motor-output, (the response R, e.g. running around, cleaning, resting,
pressing the lever). The experimentator choses a suited output (e.g. pressing
the lever) to pair it with an unconditioned stimulus (US, e.g. a
food reward). Often a discriminative stimulus (SD, e.g. a light)
is present, when the R-US contingency is true. After a training
period, the subject will show the conditioned response (CS,
e.g. touching the trigger) even in absence of the US, if the R-US association
has been memorized. Such instrumental or operant conditioning is opposed
to Pavlovian or "classical conditioning",
where producing a response has no effect on US presentations.
In the behavior group,
we have developed a general
model of operant behavior, which joins a description of some more features
of operant conditioning. |
