reinforcement contingency

the contingency (relationship) between a response and a reinforcer. The contingency may be positive (if the occurrence of the reinforcer is more probable after the response) or negative (if it is less probable after the response). Reinforcement contingencies can be arranged by establishing dependencies between a particular type of response and a reinforcer (as when a rat’s lever presses are followed by presentation of food), or they can occur as natural consequences of a response (as when a door opens when pushed) or by accident (see accidental reinforcement). Also called response–reinforcement contingency.

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Psychology term of the day

January 31st 2025

cellular automata

computer programs used in the study of artificial life. Typically, a display is used on a computer screen, split into an array of cells, with an initial pattern of occupied cells. The pattern evolves through a sequence of steps according to certain rules (e.g., whether or not certain numbers of neighboring cells are occupied). Programs of this type have been used in investigations of such phenomena as social behavior and evolutionary development. [developed in the 1940s by Austrian-born U.S. mathematician John von Neumann (1903–1957)]