Secondary Reinforcers & Punishers

Lecture 9

Reinforcers & Punishers

Primary reinforcers & punishers biologically important stimuli food, water, sexual pleasure, pain

& illness Secondary reinforcers & punishers

money praise

How do they become an SR? Are associated with primary SR ~

Secondary SRs

How do we know if something is an SR ? Strengthen or weaken behavior

that precedes it? How does it become a secondary SR?

Classical conditioning SD or SΔ that reliable predicts SR ~

Secondary SRs are Predictive 3 functions

As CS or SD/SΔ

1. CS elicits reflexive responses With emotional component (CER)

2. CS as a consequence *CS CER Modifies operant behavior

3. SD/SΔ sets occasion For SR ~

Pavlovian & Operant Conditioning

CS CR Consistently predicts US

SD consistently predicts SR

Becomes secondary SR

Higher order conditioning CS & SD can act like US & SR ~

appetitive

aversive

SD

Positive RFT

NegativePunishment

PositivePunishment

Negative RFT

Operant Conditioning

Contingency

positive negative

SΔ

CERs

AppetitivePositiveAffect

NegativeAffect Aversive

Contingency

positive negative

US

CS+ CS-

PositiveAffect

NegativeAffect

CER / SR

AppetitivePositiveAffect

NegativeAffect Aversive

Contingency

positive negative

US or SR

CS+ or SD CS- or SΔ

PositiveAffect

NegativeAffect

Conditioning: Pavlovian

Strong CS-US association Strong CR ~

Mompicks up

Food

CS1 URUS

: CS-US pairings

Hunger+

Positive Affect

Positive Affect

Mompicks up After

learning

CS1 CR

Higher Order: Pavlovian

SeeMom

MomPicks up

CS2 CRCS1

: CS2-CS1 pairings

Positive Affect

Positive Affect

SeeMom

After learning

CS2 CR

Strong CS1 Strong CR Can act like a US CS2 becomes associated CR ~

Generalized Secondary SRs

Reinforce or punish wide variety of behaviors

Money Token Cultural differences ~

Generalized Secondary SRs

Social attention Affiliation isolation

Facial expressions Smiles Frowns ~

Review: Secondary SRs

US & SR

Biologically important events CS+ & CS- similar to SD & SΔ

Signals for important events US elicits reflexive response

& unconditional emotional response

CS+ & CS- CERs Learned reflexes, automatic ~

Review: Secondary SRs

Higher order learning New cues associated with CS Also come to elicit CERs

Predictive cues SD & SΔ for SR

Also CSs elicit CERs CERs become secondary SR

Tokens: e.g. money Social attention ~