Chapter 8 –
Learning: Operant
Conditioning
Objective: Differentiate between
reinforcement and punishment
through notes, discussion and
practice.
OPERANT CONDITIONING

Operant Conditioning – a type of learning
in which behavior is strengthened if
followed by a reinforcer or diminished if
followed by a punisher.


Reinforcement – Behavior Encouraged
Punishment – Behavior Discouraged
People to Know…

Edward Thorndike – one of the first
psychologists to research operant
conditioning


Law of Effect – if the consequences of behavior
are pleasant, the stimulus response will be
strengthened. If the consequences are
unpleasant, the stimulus response will be
weakened.
thorndike-puzzle box - YouTube
People to Know…

B.F. Skinner – best known
psychologist to study operant
conditioning (he coined this term)

Skinner box (operant chamber) contraption that delivers food to an
animal and contains a lever to press in
order to get the food. It also contains
an electric grid.
The Skinner Box
Skinner Box Video

Are we Conditioned or do we have Free
Will? – YouTube starting at 1:00 till end?
Shaping







Shaping – an operant conditioning procedure in which
reinforcers guide behavior closer and closer toward the
desired goal.
Ex. Rat basketball at Discovery Place
Ex. Sea World, Bird shows, the circus
Ex. Your Dogs or Cats.
BF Skinner Foundation - Pigeon Ping Pong Clip –
YouTube
pigeons - YouTube
Ex. Hot/Cold Game
Psychology - Learning-Classical & Operant
Conditioning-2.avi – YouTube (1:00)
Reinforcement



Reinforcement –
anything that makes a
behavior more likely to
occur
Think….
POSITIVE = ADDING
NEGATIVE = TAKING
AWAY
Positive Reinforcement

Positive Reinforcement – addition of
something pleasant





Ex. Rat is given food when it presses a lever
Ex. Money encourages you to come to work
Ex. Attention from a parent encourages the child
to continue crying
Ex. Receiving a good grade encourages you to
study
Positive Reinforcement - The Big Bang Theory –
YouTube. Q Sanding off the edges, tweak?
Negative Reinforcement

Negative Reinforcement – removal of something
unpleasant


Ex. While in a cage, a rat receives a mild shock on his
feet, the rat presses a lever and the shock stops. The rat
moves and receives the shock again, pressing the lever
once again; the rat removes the undesirable shock. –
Taking away the shock encourages the rat to press the
lever….
Ex. To avoid heavy traffic, you leave an hour earlier for
work (leaving work earlier is encouraged by removing
heavy traffic)
Negative Reinforcement (cont…)





Ex. You do the dishes and your parent stops
yelling
Ex. Aspirin takes away a headache – you are
encouraged to take medication by removing the
headache.
Ex. You are encouraged to do well at work by
getting a day off
Ex. You passed all of your exams during the year
so you do not have to take the final.
Positive and Negative Reinforcement YouTube
Types of reinforcers

Primary reinforcers – those innately
satisfying, satisfies a biological need


Ex. food, relief from shock
Conditioned / Secondary reinforcers
– those learned


Become reinforcers through association as
the secondary and primary reinforcers are
paired together.
The conditioned reinforcer is initially neutral


Ex. Money, praise, attention
We learn at a young age to associate money
with fulfilling our needs.
Punishment



Punishment – anything
that makes behavior less
likely
Think….
POSITIVE = ADDING
NEGATIVE = TAKING
AWAY
Positive Punishment

Positive Punishment (oftentimes just called
punishment) – the addition of something
unpleasant

Ex. Rat receives shock when it presses a bar. The rat
becomes less likely to press the bar having received the
shock.
Ex. Spanking a child keeps them from repeating a
behavior
Ex. Boss complains about your poor work performance

Ex. Run 4 additional laps b/c you were late to practice.


Negative Punishment

Negative Punishment – the removal of
something pleasant




Ex. Remove the rat’s food when it presses a lever. The rat
is less likely to press the lever.
Ex. Teen is grounded for a week for making bad grades.
Fun has been removed and bad grades become less
likely.
Ex. Boss reduces expense account after poor
performance
Ex. You’re excluded from gym class because you were
late.
Reinforcement and Punishment
Review

Complete Reinforcement vs. Punishment
exercise
Reinforcement Timing

Timing of Reinforcement


If the reinforcement occurs directly after the
wanted behavior, conditioning is more likely to
occur. (especially with animals)
Humans CAN learn with delayed presentation of
reinforcement.

Paycheck, good grades, trophies –
all are delayed gratification
Parts of operant conditioning





Operant Conditioning contains the parts of:
Acquisition
Extinction
Spontaneous recovery
Generalization
Discrimination
Reinforcement Schedules

Continuous (all the time)
 Partial (sometimes)
 Fixed (constant)
 Variable (changing)
 Ratio (responses)
 Interval (time)
Reinforcement Schedules

Reinforcement schedules

Continuous reinforcement – reinforcing desired
behavior every time it occurs


With this schedule, extinction occurs quickly.
Partial Reinforcement – reinforcing response
only part of the time


Acquisition is slower
Greater resistance to extinction than continuous
reinforcement
Fixed Ratio Reinforcement

Fixed – Ratio Schedules – reinforcing
respondent only after a specified number of
responses


Produces a high rate of response
Ex. Rat receives a food pellet every 7 times he
presses the bar
Variable Ratio Reinforcement

Variable- Ratio Schedule – reinforcing
respondent after an unpredictable number
of responses


High rate of response, very resistant to extinction
Ex. Slot machines pay money in unpredictable
intervals
Fixed Interval Reinforcement

Fixed-Interval Schedule – reinforcing a
response after a specified amount of time
has elapsed


Responses tend to increase at time for next
reinforcer and then drop after reinforcement
Ex. Monthly paycheck – performance improves
close to paycheck time…
Variable Interval Reinforcement

Variable-Interval Schedule – reinforcing a
response after an unpredictable amount of
time has elapsed.



Relatively low response rate, but realistic since
we cannot always predict when reward will come.
Ex. Pop quizzes (reinforcing studying on a varied
schedule)…
Ex. “You’ve Got Mail” encourages you to check
your email.
Reinforcement schedules Review


B.F. Skinner - Operant Conditioning and
Free Will – YouTube
(begin at 1:00)
Token Economy


Used just like at carnivals. This experiment
took place at a middle school. Students
were given tokens for good behaviors and
have tokens taken away for bad behaviors.
Tokens are cashed in for prizes or extra
recess time etc.
Q What were the results?
Token Economy (continued)



Q. Do we use operant conditioning in
schools?
Schools- Criticism in schools. This may
undermine intrinsic motivation- led to
“open” and Montesourri schools where
students receive little or no grades/have
few rules NWSchool of Arts.
Pay for Performance..Teachers and
extrinsic motivation
Overjustification effect

– the effect of promising a reward for
doing what one already likes to do.


Person or Animal begins to have extrinsic
motivation rather than intrinsic motivation.
Ex. Do you go to work to contribute to society
or to get a paycheck?
Overjustification Effect



Ex. Do you study to learn or to get good
grades?
Ex. College Athletes vs. Professional Athletes
Ex. Study with Kindergartners and good
player badges.
RSA Animate - Drive: The surprising truth
about what motivates us - YouTube
CMS (now NC) / Pay for
Performance


Lose of intrinsic value
With increased testing teachers will teach
to the test, task will involve much less
creativity, mastery. Incentives will have
difficulty measuring creativity, are not
designed to measure higher level thinking
skills.
Instinctive Drift


There is a limit to what we can teach with
operant conditioning…
Animals will not perform behaviors that go
against their natural inclinations.

Ex. Rats will not walk backwards