Author: ewl5254

positive vs negative reinforcement

It can be hard to distinguish whether reinforcement is happening or punishment. It can also be hard to distinguish whether it is positive or negative. Reinforcement is when behavior is increased. Whether it is negative or positive reinforcement, the behavior is always increased. Positive reinforcement is when a positive stimuli is presented and negative reinforcement is when behavior is increased by taking away a negative stimuli. An example of positive reinforcement would be getting a sticker every time  you do well on a test. An example of negative reinforcement would be the annoying beeping sound in the car when you don’t put your seatbelt. This is considered negative reinforcement because once you put on the seatbelt, the negative stimuli (beeping sound) is taken away. 

I recently got a new a puppy and we have been using reinforcement help house train her. Basically what we do is every time she goes the side door to be let out and she waits until she is outside to relieve herself, we give a small treat. We do this in hope that she will continue to wait by the side door when she need to go to the bathroom rather than going inside the house. This is an example of positive reinforcement. We are trying to increase her behavior (which is why it is reinforcement and not punishment) and it is positive since we presenting a positive stimuli and not taking away a negative stimuli. The stimuli in this scenario would be the treats and the behavior would be waiting by the side door. 

It is important to be able to identify reinforcement. The first step is to see if the behavior is increasing or decreasing.  If the behavior is increasing then you know that it must be some kind of reinforcement. Once you have identified it as reinforcement you can then see if it is positive or negative reinforcement. If a stimuli is being presented then it is positive and if a stimuli is being taken away then it is negative reinforcement. 

“Here let me show you” Procedural/implicit LTM

It’s the things that we do everyday without even thinking about. It comes to to us automatically without a second thought. Sometimes we even do them without noticing we do them. These tasks are part of our implicit memory which is apart of our long term memory. Implicit memories are things that we do without consciously thinking about them as we do them. It is often unintentional that we store those memories. For example, if someone asked you how to tie a shoe, you most likely would show them how to do it rather than talk them through it. This is because it is easier to show than to give step by step instructions because chances are you haven’t really thought about having to describe how to do such a small task. The saying “ it’s like riding a bike” is referring to implicit memory. It is quite hard to forget how to ride a bike because it is a motor skill that you learned and stored in your memory when you first learned how to ride a bike. You could be in the tour de France, world class biker, and it would still be difficult for you to describe to someone who has never ridden a bike how to ride. Walking, riding a bike, tying a shoe etc. are all skills that have been picked up from watching others and although you may have mastered those skills a long time ago, it is hard to describe (using only words)  exactly how to do those tasks. 

Every time I go home for a weekend I have a moment of panic where I wonder if I will remember how to drive my car. Before college I would drive a lot. However I don’t have my car at school so I don’t get to drive while I’m at school. Once I sit down in the driver seat it is like something washes over me and I begin to drive like I still do it daily. I don’t even think about it any more. My younger brother who just got his permit was asking me about the turn signals one day and if you push the lever up or down to signal right and I had to take a minute and really think about it. Even after I answered I second guessed myself because I haven’t really thought about it in so long, it just comes naturally when I’m driving.

Next time someone asks you how to do something and instead of describing how to do it you say “here let me just show you”, take a moment and think if that motor skill is stored in your implicit long term memory. 

Sources:

Cherry, K. (2019, August 29). What’s the Difference Between Implicit and Explicit Long-Term Memory? Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/implicit-and-explicit-memory-2795346.

Illusory Correlation: correlation not causation

People often look for order when random events occur. They want an explanation when something occurs and often make assumptions about the causation based on insufficient data. This phenomenon is called illusory correlation. Illusory correlation is the perception that two variables have a strong relationship even though no such relationship exists. Superstitions are a common example of illusory correlation. Many sports fans believe that they must wear the same jersey every time their favorite team plays in order for that team to win. Does wearing the same jersey really make the team win? No, it is just a coincidence that their team happened to win when they were wearing the jersey. This belief that the jersey made their team win was based upon insufficient data and therefore is an illusory correlation. There was no evidence to support that the jersey was what made the team win. 

 

Correlation and causation are not the same thing. The picture above shows a graph of the divorce rate in Maine and per capita consumption of margarine. There is a strong correlation between the two variables, however there is no relationship between them. No plausible explanation as to why the divorce rate in Maine decreases as the per capita consumption of margarine increases exists. 

Illusory correlation is also seen in everyday life. Stereotyping is one of the most prevalent examples of illusory correlation. Stereotyping is making assumptions about an individual based on what group they are associated with. People judge others based on insufficient data. They believe that just because one member of certain group acts a certain way then everyone in that group acts the same way. It might seem that everyone in a certain group acst one way but there is no way to tell if an individual only acts that way because they are apart of the said group. There is no proof of causation between the two variables. 

When I was in high school I played soccer. Before one of our games against one of the harder teams in the league my pre-wrap that I was using as a headband broke. I didn’t have any extra on me so I asked one of my teammates to use some of theirs. It was a different color than what I normally used but I didn’t really care at the time. We ended up winning the game which meant we qualified for playoffs. I, for some reason, thought the pre-wrap had something to do with us winning. So before every game I would ask my teammate for pre-wrap in hopes that we would win every game. The “superstition” worked for most of the season but eventually we ended up losing. 

The belief that the pre-wrap was what made my team win games was an example of illusory correlation. Although I was wearing the pre-wrap and my team was winning games, they were unrelated. Wearing the pre-wrap did not cause my team to win games.We won the game because we scored more goals than the other team. The pre-wrap had nothing to do with my team winning. It is important to remember that while two variables may have a strong correlation, that doesn’t mean there is a relationship between the two or that one causes the other. 

Sources: 

Vigen, Tyler. “15 Insane Things That Correlate With Each Other.” Spurious Correlations, https://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations.