Classical and operant conditioning article

What is conditioning?

Conditioning is a type of learning that links some sort of trigger or stimulus to a human behavior or response. When psychology was first starting as a field, scientists felt they couldn’t objectively describe what was going on in people’s heads. However, they could observe behaviors so that’s what they focused on in their experiments. The major theories about learning come from the conclusions drawn from these experiments. 

Operant Conditioning

Behaviorism: Emphasizes the study of observable behaviors and events and the predictable role of environment in causing behavior
Type of learning in which a person repeats a behavior that has been reinforced or ceases a behavior that has punished.

Operant Conditioning
Reinforcement: stimulus followed by behavior that increases the probability the behavior will be repeated. – Positive – Negative
Punishment: stimulus followed by behavior which decreases the probability that the behavior will be repeated. – Positive : Introducing an aversive event – Negative: Withdrawing a positive event

VERBS

A transitive verb is one that requires a direct object to finish its meaning.
Example: He (subject) plays (transitive verb) guitar (direct object).

An intransitive verb is one that does not need a direct object to complete its meaning.
Example: She (subject) laughs and smiles (compound intransitive verb).

Linking verbs—those that join a sentence subject to its complement—are likewise intransitive. Common linking verbs are become, seem, appear, feel, look, taste, smell, sound, and be. Subject complements for linking verbs will be adjectives, nouns, pronouns, possessive pronouns, or adverbs of time or place.

Examples: They (subject) seem (linking verb) joyful (adjective complement).
She (subject) is becoming (linking verb) a superb musician (noun complement).
The winner (subject) is (linking verb) you (pronoun complement).

Some verbs can function as either transitive or intransitive depending on their context.
Examples: When I need some light exercise, often I walk (intransitive).
When I need some light exercise, often I walk (transitive) the dog (direct object).

Other verbs that can be either transitive or intransitive are run, provide, enter, read, and call.

A Closer Look at Sentence Objects

Becoming proficient with transitive and intransitive verbs further includes knowing how they function with direct and indirect objects.

With transitive verbs, an indirect object appears between the verb and the direct object. You can spot a word or phrase as an indirect object by determining if it can follow the direct object with a prepositional phrase that begins with to, for, and occasionally of:

Sentence: The teacher gave the students (indirect object) homework (direct object).
Proof: The teacher gave homework (direct object) to the students (receiving prepositional phrase).

Transitive verbs that often allow indirect objects are give, make, tell, show, bring, send, sell, and offer.

Intransitive structures can at times be more tricky, often because they appear transitive but aren’t because of understood omission in context.
Examples: The inmate escaped the prison.
They left the party.

In the first example, the inmate didn’t escape the prison as a direct action to the object. He escaped from the prison, an intransitive context. The word from is omitted because it’s understood.

In the second sentence, they didn’t leave the party in terms of setting something down in a transitive context (e.g., left a dessert). They left from the party, an intransitive context. The word from is once again omitted because it’s understood.

With these principles in mind, we recognize how direct and indirect objects work in transitive and intransitive structures to add color and clarity.
Examples:
1) Please bring (transitive verb) me (indirect object with omitted to) the book (direct object). Including me conveys the book is destined for me instead of another person.

2) Could you grab (transitive verb with auxiliary could) me (indirect object with omitted for) another beer (direct object)? Once again we use an indirect object to communicate destination.

3) My feet are really aching (present progressive intransitive verb) me (reflexive pronoun operating as an indirect object with omitted to). While many would argue this is more colloquial speech than proper grammar, our deconstruction reveals the parts’ identities.

4) The following sentence applies both transitive and intransitive structures: The inmate escaped (intransitive verb) the prison (prepositional object with omitted from) and left (transitive verb) the warden (indirect object) a note (direct object).

By understanding how verbs are classified and related to the rest of the sentence, you’ll do more than write grammatically. You’ll also ensure that together your words will move as high-performance vehicles instead of as putt-putt wagons that meander through long and winding courses.

ict terms

Input device is a device by which data is fed into the computer.
* Output device is a device by which processed data (information) is obtained from
the computer.
Graph is the Visual/pictorial representation of numerical data.
* Column is a vertical portion/section of a cell on a worksheet identified by an
alphabet.
* Row is a horizontal portion/section of a cell on a worksheet identified by a
number

science tip

Oxygenated blood in the artery is bright  red and the deoxygenated blood  in the vein  is Dark red.

ICT Notes For SHS 2

THE MASTER SLIDES
The master slide is a special slide that controls many formatting features in a all other slides of the same presentation.

ICT Notes For SHS 2

THE MASTER SLIDES
The master slide is a special slide that controls many formatting features in a all other slides of the same presentation.

What is Instagram?

Instagram is a popular photo-sharing app for smartphones. Compared with other social networks, Instagram is relatively simple—it's focused exclusively on sharing photos with your friends.

Why use Instagram?

At this point, you may be thinking: Why do I need a separate app for sharing photos? Couldn't I just post them on Facebook or another social network? One reason for Instagram's popularity is its simplicity. Rather than focusing on a lot of different features, Instagram has only one core feature, which makes it especially easy to share photos and see photos from your friends.

Filters are another reason people like using Instagram. Whenever you take a photo in Instagram, you can quickly apply a filter to give the photo a unique look. Filters can help transform an ordinary photo into something worth sharing without much effort.

Getting started with Instagram

To use Instagram, you'll need to download the Instagram app on your smartphone—it's available for Android,iPhone, and Windows Phone.

Creating an account

After you download the Instagram app, you'll need to create an account and add a profile picture. You can create an account with your email address or sign in with an existing Facebook account.

Common Instagram terms

Hashtags? Feed? Filters? If you're new to Instagram, there are a few terms that may seem a little confusing at first. Reviewing some of the most commonly used terms will give you a better understanding of how Instagram works and what to expect as you get started.

hashtags   

Captions and Hashtags

You can add text captions to any post that you share on Instagram.

A hashtag is any word in a post's caption that's preceded by a pound sign (#).

Posts

The photos that you share on Instagram are calledposts.

Filters

You can apply a filter to give your photos a unique or artistic look.

Dealing with email attachments

Email attachments are especially dangerous because they can contain viruses and other malware. When you open the attachment, the malware can be automatically installed on your computer, and you may not even realize anything has happened. Malware can damage files on your computer, steal your passwords, or spy on you, so it's important to be extra careful when you receive attachments.

Tips for dealing with attachments:

• Don't open any attachment you weren't expecting. Even if an email looks like it's from someone you know, it may have been automatically sent to you by a virus. This is how many email viruses are spread. If you receive an attachment from a friend, you should call or email that person to verify that the email was meant for you.
• Keep your antivirus software updated. Viruses can spread quickly, and if your antivirus software isn't up to date it may not be able to block new viruses.
• Keep your computer's firewall on. Firewall software helps to prevent people or malware from gaining access to your computer through the Internet.
• Scan attachments for viruses before downloading. Many online email providers can scan attachments for viruses, and some will not let you download any attachment without scanning it.

Passwords: The first step to safety

Most people don't put a lot of thought into creating a password. It's usually easiest just to create a short, easy-to-remember password, or even just to use the same password for every account. After all, the average person probably won't be able to guess your password.

However, hackers often use password-cracking software that can keep testing different passwords until they find the correct one, and they can easily crack weak passwords. By creating strong passwords, you can greatly reduce the chance that your personal or financial information will be stolen.

Common password mistakes

Many people create passwords based on their spouse's names, a hobby, or a simple pattern because these types of passwords are easy to remember. Unfortunately, they are also easy for hackers to guess. To create a strong password, you will need to avoid these types of common mistakes.

what is Phishing?

Phishing is a type of scam in which an email pretends to be from a bank or another trusted source to trick you into handing over your personal information. Scammers can use this information to withdraw money from your bank account or steal your identity. A phishing email will often have a sense of urgency. For example, it may claim that "unauthorized charges" were made on your credit card and that you need to immediately verify your information.

Email scams

Many spam emails aren't trying to sell you something—they're trying to steal your money or personal information.Email scams come in many different forms, but generally they work by promising you something that's too good to be true or by making you think something bad will happen if you do not act. Popular email scams include work-at-home offers, weight-loss claims, debt-relief programs, and cure-all products.

What Is a Transfusion?

A blood transfusion (say: trans-FEW-zyun) is a way of giving one person's blood to someone else who needs it. When you need blood, you really need it because your body won't work right without enough healthy blood. Your heart pumps blood through blood vessels that reach every organ and tissue in the body. One of the blood's most important jobs is to deliver oxygen to each cell in the body. And without oxygen, the body can't stay alive.

Blood transfusions are possible because volunteers donate their blood. That makes it available at hospitals. It may sound creepy to donate blood, but it's safe and no big deal for a healthy person to donate a small amount — usually 1 pint (473 milliliters). Your mom or dad might have done this. Kids don't usually donate blood, but it's a good thing to do when you're older.

Healthy, donated blood is very valuable stuff. They even call the place that collects it the blood bank. Get it? A bank is a safe place for money and other valuables.

What Is a Gene?

How to use Everyday and Every day

The word ‘EVERYDAY’ is a lexical item of interesting grammatical and orthographic properties. Grammar in this context refers to the Lexical Category (Part of Speech) of the word, and Orthography is about its spelling. Indeed, its grammatical classification and function in usage depend on its spelling. As an adjective, ‘EVERYDAY’ is spelt as one word – compounding, but as an adverb, the compound word is split into two words: ‘EVERY’ and ‘DAY.’ For better understanding, let us see illustrative sentences as follows:

Illustrative Sentences

·         Chantiwuni prays EVERY DAY. [Adverb]. In this construction, ‘EVERY DAY’ modifies the verb ‘prays.’ It is, therefore, an adverb.

·         Chantiwuni observes EVERYDAY prayers. [Adjective]. In this sentence, ‘EVERYDAY’ modifies the noun ‘prayers’. Therefore, it is an adjective.

·         Yelsuma writes poems about Dagbon Tradition EVERY DAY. [Adverb]. Here, ‘EVERY DAY’ modifies the verb ‘writes’. So, it is an adverb.

·         Writing of poems about Dagbon Tradition is an EVERYDAY activity of Yelsuma. [Adjective]. In this context, ‘EVERYDAY’ modifies the noun ‘activity’. For that reason, it is an adjective.

It is instructive to note that the modifiers – adverbs and adjectives – are just intensifiers. This implies that if they are removed, the sentences are still meaningful. Let us restate the sentences without the modifiers.

·         Chantiwuni prays.

·         Chantiwuni observes prayers.

·         Yelsuma writes poems about Dagbon Tradition.

·         Writing of poems about Dagbon Tradition is an activity of Yelsuma.

Synonyms

To maximize our understanding, we need to state some synonyms of ‘EVERYDAY’ as an adjective and as an adverb.

ADJECTIVE: daily, day-to-day, quotidian, commonplace, ordinary, regular, and conventional.

ADVERB: daily, day by day, day in day out, regularly, steadily, conventionally, and ordinarily.

Conclusion

Fellow learner, you may be surprised about or confused by the seemingly hidden grammatical and orthographic symbiotic information about ‘EVERYDAY’. Please, consult Oxford Dictionary of English (2015) for confirmation. With all humility in certainty, your favorite Literary Discourse would be vindicated.

Balancing of Chemical Equation

The Man Who Hated Semicolons

The Man Who Hated Semicolons

Ten years ago, the author Kurt Vonnegut stirred things up with four sentences he wrote in his final book, A Man Without a Country: “Here is a lesson in creative writing. First rule: Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you’ve been to college.”

One must consider the source here. Vonnegut was a world-renowned novelist who had earned the right to make outrageous statements. He was not condemning all semicolons; he was condemning all pretentiousness.

As Vonnegut well knew, semicolons have at least one legitimate role: to separate items in a series when one or more of the items contain commas. Look at this mess of a sentence: The conference has people who have come from Italy, Texas, Moscow, Idaho, Venice, California, and other places as well. How could a reader know that only three specific locations are mentioned? The simple fix is three semicolons: The conference has people who have come from Italy, Texas; Moscow, Idaho; Venice, California; and other places as well. (Yes, Italy is a town in Texas.)

What Vonnegut disdained was the discretionary semicolon, used by writers to combine complete sentences when a period feels too final, as in this example: I looked at her; she smiled; we danced until dawn. Here the semicolons blend three terse statements into one sentence, which, in the writer’s opinion, more faithfully evokes the flow of events on that enchanted evening. (Vonnegut would have preferred three short sentences.) Note that there are no conjunctions in the sentence. If the last clause were and we danced until dawn, commas would suffice, and most editors would banish the semicolons.

Fledgling writers especially should be wary of semicolons where commas will do. One wonders what the Vonnegut of 2005 would have said about the following sentence, written by a twenty-seven-year-old novelist: “Kroner’s belief [was] that nothing of value changed; that what was once true is always true; that truths were few and simple; and that a man needed no knowledge beyond these truths to deal wisely and justly with any problem whatsoever.”

The young author would defend his semicolons, claiming they give more weight to each clause than a comma could. But many editors would want commas there. The sentence, by the way, is from Kurt Vonnegut’s first published novel, Player Piano (1950). 

Gerunds and Infinitives Part 1

1. A gerund is a noun made from a verb by adding "-ing." The gerund form of the verb "read" is "reading." You can use a gerund as the subject, the complement, or the object of a sentence.

Examples:

• Reading helps you learn English. subject of sentence
• Her favorite hobby is reading. complement of sentence
• I enjoy reading. object of sentence

Gerunds can be made negative by adding "not."

Examples:

• He enjoys not working.
• The best thing for your health is not smoking.

2. Infinitives are the "to" form of the verb. The infinitive form of "learn" is "to learn." You can also use an infinitive as the subject, the complement, or the object of a sentence.

Examples:

• To learn is important. subject of sentence
• The most important thing is to learn. complement of sentence
• He wants to learn. object of sentence

Infinitives can be made negative by adding "not."

Examples:

• I decided not to go.
• The most important thing is not to give up.

3. Both gerunds and infinitives can be used as the subject or the complement of a sentence. However, as subjects or complements, gerunds usually sound more like normal, spoken English, whereas infinitives sound more abstract. In the following sentences, gerunds sound more natural and would be more common in everyday English. Infinitives emphasize the possibility or potential for something and sound more philosophical. If this sounds confusing, just remember that 90% of the time, you will use a gerund as the subject or complement of a sentence.

Examples:

• Learning is important. normal subject
• To learn is important. abstract subject - less common
• The most important thing is learning. normal complement
• The most important thing is to learn. abstract complement - less common

4. As the object of a sentence, it is more difficult to choose between a gerund or an infinitive. In such situations, gerunds and infinitives are not normally interchangeable. Usually, the main verb in the sentence determines whether you use a gerund or an infinitive.

Examples:

• He enjoys swimming. "Enjoy" requires a gerund.
• He wants to swim. "Want" requires an infinitive.

5. Some verbs are followed by gerunds as objects. List of Verbs Followed by Gerunds

Examples:

• She suggested going to a movie.
• Mary keeps talking about her problems.

6. Some verbs are followed by infinitives. List of Verbs Followed by Infinitives

Examples:

• She wants to go to a movie.
• Mary needs to talk about her problems.

Present Conditionals

Present Real Conditional

FORM

[If / When ... Simple Present ..., ... Simple Present ...]

[... Simple Present ... if / when ... Simple Present ...]

USE

The Present Real Conditional is used to talk about what you normally do in real-life situations.

Examples:

• If I go to a friend's house for dinner, I usually take a bottle of wine or some flowers.
• When I have a day off from work, I often go to the beach.
• If the weather is nice, she walks to work.
• Jerry helps me with my homework when he has time.
• I read if there is nothing on TV.
• A: What do you do when it rains?
  B: I stay at home.
• A: Where do you stay if you go to Sydney?
  B: I stay with my friends near the harbor.

IMPORTANT If / When

Both "if" and "when" are used in the Present Real Conditional. Using "if" suggests that something happens less frequently. Using "when" suggests that something happens regularly.

Examples:

• When I have a day off from work, I usually go to the beach.
  I regularly have days off from work.
• If I have a day off from work, I usually go to the beach.
  I rarely have days off from work.

Present Conditionals

Present Real Conditional

FORM

[If / When ... Simple Present ..., ... Simple Present ...]

[... Simple Present ... if / when ... Simple Present ...]

USE

The Present Real Conditional is used to talk about what you normally do in real-life situations.

Examples:

• If I go to a friend's house for dinner, I usually take a bottle of wine or some flowers.
• When I have a day off from work, I often go to the beach.
• If the weather is nice, she walks to work.
• Jerry helps me with my homework when he has time.
• I read if there is nothing on TV.
• A: What do you do when it rains?
  B: I stay at home.
• A: Where do you stay if you go to Sydney?
  B: I stay with my friends near the harbor.

IMPORTANT If / When

Both "if" and "when" are used in the Present Real Conditional. Using "if" suggests that something happens less frequently. Using "when" suggests that something happens regularly.

Examples:

• When I have a day off from work, I usually go to the beach.
  I regularly have days off from work.
• If I have a day off from work, I usually go to the beach.
  I rarely have days off from work.