Explain this (what does this mean)

Relevance or Belongingness in Instrumental Conditioning

- Analogous BELONGINGNESS and RELEVANCE relations occur in instrumental conditioning. A behavior cannot be reinforced by a reinforcer if it is not naturally linked to that reinforcer in the repertoire of the animal.

- Ex: you can train a cat to escape a Thorndike puzzle box by operating a latch and pulling a string but learning to escape by scratching itself and doing a bona fide yawn is very difficult.

- Certain responses naturally belong with the reinforcer because of the animal's evolutionary history. So, pulling the latch is naturally related to escaping but scratching and yawning do not belong with release from a puzzle box.

- Additional examples of misbehavior were needed to make a difference on the behavior theory: Breland & Breland

a. They set up a business to train animals to perform entertaining response chains for displays in amusement parks and zoos.

b. They observed dramatic behavior changes that were not consistent with the reinforcement procedures they were using. Ex: could NOT teach a racoon to drop a coin in a box, it would only rub the coins together.

c. Such responses are called INSTINCTIVE DRIFT. The extra responses that developed in these food reinforcement situations were activities the animals instinctively perform when obtaining food.

d. Raccoons rub and dunk food-related objects so this competed with the response required by the training procedures.

Class notes. Easier to train responses that belong with the reinforcer (cannot train yawns or scratching as an escape response).