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Continuous vs Partial Reinforcement fulfilling the current need. In other words, motivation energises an organism to act In experiments on learning the experimenter can arrange to deliver reinforcement according vigorously for attaining some goal. Such acts to a specific schedule. In the context of persist until the goal is attained and the need learning, two kinds of schedules namely is satisfied. Motivation is a prerequisite for continuous and partial have been found very learning.Whydoesachildforageinthekitchen whenthemotherisnotinthehouse?S/hedoes important. In continuous reinforcement the participant is given reinforcement after each so because s/he needs sweets to eat for which target response. This kind of schedule of s/he is trying to locate the jar in which sweets reinforcement produces a high rate of arekept.Duringthecourseofforagingthechild learns the location of the jar. A hungry rat is responding. However, once the reinforcement is withheld, response rates decrease very placed in a box. The animal forages in the box quickly,andtheresponsesacquired under this for food. Incidentally it presses a lever and food schedule tend to extinguish. Since organism drops in the box. With repeated experience of such activity, the animal learns to press the is getting reinforcement on each trial, the effectiveness of that reinforcer is reduced. In lever immediately after the animal is placed such schedules where reinforcement is not there. continuous, some responses are not Have you ever asked yourself why you are studying psychology and other subjects in reinforced. Hence, they are called partial or intermittent reinforcement. There are several Class XI? You are doing so to pass with good ways in which one might reinforce responses marks or grades in your final examination. according to an intermittent schedule. It has The more motivated you are, the more hard been found that partial reinforcement work you do for learning. Your motivation for learning something arises from two sources. schedules often produce very high rates of responding, particularly when responses are You learn many things because you enjoy reinforced according to ratio. In this kind of them (intrinsic motivation) or they provide you schedule, an organism often makes several the means for attaining some other goal (extrinsic motivation). responses that are not reinforced. Therefore, it becomes difficult to tell when a reinforcement has been discontinued completely and when Preparedness for Learning it has merely been delayed. When The members of different species are very reinforcement is continuous it is easier to telldifferent from one another in their sensory when it has been discontinued. This kind of capacities and response abilities. The differencehasbeenfoundcrucialforextinction. mechanisms necessary for establishing It has been found that extinction of a response is more difficult following partial associations,suchasS-SorS-R,alsovaryfrom species to species. It can be said that species reinforcement than following continuous have biological constraints on their learning reinforcement. The fact that the responses capacities. The kinds of S-S or S-R learning an acquired under partial reinforcement are organism can easily acquire depends on the highly resistant to extinction is called partial associative mechanism it is genetically reinforcement effect. endowed with or prepared for. A particular kind of associative learning is easy for apes or Motivation human beings but may be extremely difficult All living organisms have survival needs and and sometimes impossible for cats and rats. It human beings, in addition, have growth needs. implies that one can learn only those Motivationisamentalaswellasaphysiological associations for which one is genetically state, which arouses an organism to act for prepared. 91 Chapter 5 • Learning Reprint 2026-27