Instrumental Conditioning
Synonyms
Operant conditioning
Definition
Instrumental conditioning occurs when a response is acquired and controlled by a contingency between the response and a reinforcer or outcome. In the case where there is a positive relationship between the response and the reinforcer, so that the response causes the reinforcer, two processes control responding: an S–R/reinforcement process mediating habitual behavior and an R–O process underlying goal-directed action. The conditions of training determine whether the habitual or goal-directed process predominates. Moreover, these two processes can be dissociated within the prefrontal cortex and striatum with the dopamine system being particularly implicated in habit learning. Stimuli serve multiple functions in instrumental conditioning. First, they act as discriminative stimuli in that they control when a response is performed. Although this control acts by the direct elicitation of the response in the case of habitual behavior, goal-directed...
References
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