Operant and trial and error learning..

[pepsi]

Hello
whats the difference, dont they both learn by consequences ? trial and error - you keep find new ways when its wrong.. isnt it the same as operant or similar ? do those 2 type of learning link in anyway?

and whats the difference between STM and working memory.

first question is more important but it'll be great if anyone can answer both.

thanks

[Odette]

Trial and error learning:
Response or behaviour is learned through trial and error; that is the learning occurs through various attempts and the elimination of incorrect responses until the correct response is achieved.
Operant Conditioning:
A form of learning in which the learner plays an active role.  An operant is a response that the organism produces in order to have some effect on their environment and elicit some sort of consequence.  The consequence will determine whether the response is likely to be repeated or not.

One important difference between the idea of short-term memory and working memory, is that short-term memory was conceived of as a thing.
But working memory, as its name suggests, is now conceived more as a process than a thing. A state of mind. A pattern of activation.
Go to for more info-
http://www.memory-key.com/NatureofMemory/working_memory.htm
I'm not too sure about that difference though(STM and WM i mean) ..
                                            OR
Working memory (WM) is a newer theory of short-term memory (STM), the main differences being the systems by which information is manipulated, and WM's view of STM as an active system and not just a storehouse for information.

[Timtasticle]

Operant conditioning deals with reinforcement and punishment to determine likelihood of repeating behaviour, where in trial and error learning the organism behaves randomly until its achieves the desired outcome.

Trial and error is used at first in the acquisition stage of Operant Conditioning, as the organism associates the previously random behaviour with a desired outcome, it's not behaving randomly. It's learnt what to do.

[rustic_metal]

i got grounded for being naughty.

[brendan]

Hey rustic_metal,

For your VCE program i would definitely put Specialist in 2009. It is better to do spesh after methods thats for sure. That's what I did. You might want to swap Spesh and Eng Language around.
2007: Business Management <37+>
2008: Methods <45+>, Specialist <45+>, Literature <43+>
2009: Physics <40+>, Undecided, Chemistry <43+>, English Language <47+>

[Galelleo]

Hello
whats the difference, dont they both learn by consequences ? trial and error - you keep find new ways when its wrong.. isnt it the same as operant or similar ? do those 2 type of learning link in anyway?

and whats the difference between STM and working memory.

first question is more important but it'll be great if anyone can answer both.

thanks

first questions already been answered but *shrug*
Yes, both learn by the consequences of behaviour. But trial and error learning is random until it gets the consequence it wants... but if it does the same thing again its said to be operantly conditioned, because the behaviour has been strengthened (its stronnger than random lol) by the previous positive consequence.

Allan Baddeley's (cant spell his surname ) model of STM as working memory is the theory that short term memory is where all of the manipulation of information is done, in the brain.
Yes STM stores 7+/-2 infos for 20-30 seconds, but the model of working memory states that the info thats stored in the STM can be worked on by the person. As in, the information is received from sensory memory, or retrieved from long term memory, and then the short term memory does all the thinking on it.

But as far as exams go, you should really only need to know that Phonological Loop = sounds, Visuo-spatial sketchpad = space/kinaesthesia (awareness of space/world aroudn you), and central executive = where you do all the manipulation of information.

hope that helps