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Description of Instrumental Conditioning

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Instrumental or operant conditioning is an associative form of learning where pairing of a response with an outcome changes the future strength of the response. Instrumental conditioning seems to depend either on an association between stimulus and response (e.g., stimulus is lever and response is lever pressing), or between a response and a stimulus (e.g., response is lever pressing and stimulus is food).

Describe instrumental or operant conditioning in more detail.

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Instrumental or operant conditioning is an associative form of learning where pairing of a response with an outcome changes the future strength of the response. Instrumental conditioning seems to depend either on an association between stimulus and response (e.g., stimulus is lever and response is lever pressing), or between a response and a stimulus (e.g., response is lever pressing and stimulus is food).

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There are two types of reinforcement first investigated by E. L. Thorndike, but later polished and extended by B. F. Skinner, and they are "positive" and "negative" reinforcement. The concept of "positive" reinforcement is emphasized by the concept that giving a "reward" results in the ...

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