Behavioral Essays - Behaviorism, Learning, Experimental Psychology

Behavioral Conditioning What I want to do is train my dog to shake with either paw upon request. If I say "right" I want him to raise his right paw and the same for the left. I would use operant and classical conditioning to reach the goal of teaching this trick to my dog. I must condition the dog to shake by using positive reinforcement. The dog (Max) already puts his paw on me when I grab his head so I will act like I am going to reach for his head and when he puts his paw on me I will say, "shake." Every time he puts his paw on me after I say shake I will give him a liver treat. Once I have conditioned him to shake it will then be time to differentiate right from left. I want the words, "shake right" and "shake left " to be the conditioned stimulus (CS) and the raising of the appropriate paw to be the conditioned response (CR). I will condition the unconditioned response (UCR), shaking; the unconditioned stimulus (UCS), tapping his leg, by using operant conditioning and liver treats as positive reinforcement. Day 1: I began by acting like I was going to grab Max' head. Just as I suspected he put his paw on my arm. I tapped his leg and I gave him a treat as a positive reinforcer. I am using operant conditioning at this point in order to establish an unconditioned stimulus (taping Max' leg) and an unconditioned response (putting his paw in my hand). Once I have shaped this behavior I can then go on to the second phase using Pavlov's classical conditioning. Day 2: After two days of fixed ratio reinforcement, Max is beginning to give a conditioned response every time I tap his leg. Every time I tap his leg we exchange a paw for a liver treat. I am using continuous reinforcement today. Day 3: I have switched to using variable interval reinforcement. I will only give him a liver treat whenever I feel like it. Max is now learning that when I tap his leg he is to give me his paw. I am actually conditioning an unconditioned response. I am still using variable interval reinforcement but I only gave him two treats the whole day. Day 4: It is now time to switch over to classical conditioning. I have the active ingredient to do a Pavlov classic experiment. My UCS is now the leg tap and the UCR is Max shaking. I no longer have to use any reinforcement. Every time I tap Max' leg, he shakes. Day 5: I now introduce the words "shake right," the neutral stimulus (NS), as I tap the appropriate leg. I am beginning to get the conditioned response, which is lifting the appropriate paw. Day 6: I now introduce the words "shake left," as I tap the appropriate leg. I now have to reintroduce positive reinforcement. I am afraid Max might be forgetting the CR. He is not wanting to cooperate. Day 7: The NS alone now produces a conditioned response, thereby becoming a CS. I must use variable interval reinforcement to insure the CR continues. I will use this schedule of reinforcement so that Max won't know when to expect a treat. I figure that if he doesn't know when to expect a treat, he will give the CR to the CS more often than not. Day 8: When I say, "shake right," Max will lift his right paw. When I say, "shake left" he lifts the left paw. I will continue to use the variable interval reinforcement to maintain the behavior. This was a lot of fun and my dog just got smarter. I think I got smarter too. I think I could teach Max to do whatever I want him to as long as I follow the simple steps of conditioning, classical and operant.

Free Essays on Sibling Rivarly

The Love and Hate between Siblings: Sibling Rivalry One moment children can look like cherubs cuddling on a Christmas card. At other times when a parent turns their back- a full-scale brawl erupts between the siblings. â€Å"Mom, she’s in my room getting into things again!† â€Å"Dad, he won’t stop looking out my window!† â€Å"Me first! Me first!† So children don’t always get along. In fact, sometimes they seem to genuinely despise each other. Think back to childhood. How well did you get along with your siblings? As long as there are brothers and sisters there will be sibling rivalry. This doesn’t mean parents have to sit back and watch their children tourcher each other. The term ‘sibling’ refers to children who are related and living in the same family (Child Development Institute 1). It’s not strange to here the word sibling; however it is the word â€Å"rivalry† that catches society’s attention. The term â€Å"rivalry† is usua lly about something that one sibling has that the other sibling wants. Sibling rivalry has existed since the human race began. Think back to Biblical times and Joseph’s problems with his brothers (Child Development Institute 1). The Bible records the first murder case of sibling rivalry- Cain; the first-born was irrated at constantly having to help take care of his younger brother, Abel. The story of Cain and Abel had a tragic ending; Cain became so angry he killed Abel (Faull 88). Though sibling rivalry is an age-old obsession, surprisingly few formal studies have not probed the psychological impact of conflict between brothers and sisters; nor have they examined how parents arbitrate those disputes (Barovick 91). Many parents follow the popular lore: it’s best for the siblings to work it out for themselves. A study published in Development Psychology found that most parents follow the popular lore’ even the parents feel the popular is ineffective. Over the years... Free Essays on Sibling Rivarly Free Essays on Sibling Rivarly The Love and Hate between Siblings: Sibling Rivalry One moment children can look like cherubs cuddling on a Christmas card. At other times when a parent turns their back- a full-scale brawl erupts between the siblings. â€Å"Mom, she’s in my room getting into things again!† â€Å"Dad, he won’t stop looking out my window!† â€Å"Me first! Me first!† So children don’t always get along. In fact, sometimes they seem to genuinely despise each other. Think back to childhood. How well did you get along with your siblings? As long as there are brothers and sisters there will be sibling rivalry. This doesn’t mean parents have to sit back and watch their children tourcher each other. The term ‘sibling’ refers to children who are related and living in the same family (Child Development Institute 1). It’s not strange to here the word sibling; however it is the word â€Å"rivalry† that catches society’s attention. The term â€Å"rivalry† is usua lly about something that one sibling has that the other sibling wants. Sibling rivalry has existed since the human race began. Think back to Biblical times and Joseph’s problems with his brothers (Child Development Institute 1). The Bible records the first murder case of sibling rivalry- Cain; the first-born was irrated at constantly having to help take care of his younger brother, Abel. The story of Cain and Abel had a tragic ending; Cain became so angry he killed Abel (Faull 88). Though sibling rivalry is an age-old obsession, surprisingly few formal studies have not probed the psychological impact of conflict between brothers and sisters; nor have they examined how parents arbitrate those disputes (Barovick 91). Many parents follow the popular lore: it’s best for the siblings to work it out for themselves. A study published in Development Psychology found that most parents follow the popular lore’ even the parents feel the popular is ineffective. Over the years...