A thread through the archive

secondary reinforcers

Essays tagged “secondary reinforcers”. Follow an idea across the archive.

Essays on secondary reinforcers

2 essays

Jul 6, 2011LW

Basics of Human Reinforcement

Scott explains how reinforcement learning concepts like secondary reinforcers, generalization, and social learning apply to human behavior, while acknowledging these mechanisms don't fully explain complex decisions like quitting smoking on medical advice.

13 min read 1,986 words

Jul 5, 2011LW

Basics of Animal Reinforcement

Scott explains the basics of classical and operant conditioning, focusing on B.F. Skinner's work with pigeons and different reinforcement schedules, ultimately connecting variable ratio reinforcement to slot machines and human behavior.

8 min read 1,130 words

animal behavior B.F. Skinner Behaviorism