Chapter 8
Notes/Activities for Operant Conditioning
Warm Up- With a partner come up with answers to the following questions. Be sure to use vocab terms and
your own words
1. What is operant conditioning and how does it differ from classical conditioning?
2. What is the difference between respondent behavior and operant behavior?
3. Describe Thorndike’s Law of Effect. How is the Law of Effect related to Operant Conditioning?
4. Who was B.F. Skinner and how did the Skinner box help shape behaviors?
5. What is shaping? How could you teach a cat to use a litter box using shaping?
Notes- Operant conditioning
Basic Operant Conditioning Terms
1. ReinforcementEx2. PunishmentEx3. NegativeEx4. PositiveEx-
Types of Operant conditioning
5. Positive ReinforcementEx6. Negative ReinforcementEx7. Positive PunishmentEx8. Negative PunishmentEx9. Extinction instead of Punishment??????
Ex-
2 basic types of reinforcement
10. Primary ReinforcerEx11. Secondary (conditioned) Reinforcer-
ExAll reinforcement schedules are either continuous or partial
12. Continuous reinforcementEx13. Partial reinforcementEx-
Basic reinforcement schedule terms
14. FixedEx15. VariableEx16. RatioEx17. IntervalEx-
Reinforcement schedules
18. Fixed ratioEx19. Variable RatioEx20. Fixed IntervalEx21. Variable IntervalEx-
Other Terms
22. Aversive ConditioningEx23. Token EconomyEx24. Premack PrincipleEx-
Discussion Questions
1. Define the following terms and tell how they either use cognition or biology to influence conditioning
(learning)?
a. Latent Learningb. Cognitive Mapc. Overjustificationd. Intrinsic motivatione. Extrinsic motivationf.
Premack principle-
2. How does punishment affect behavior? Describe some drawbacks to the use of physical punishment.
3. List 3 real world applications of operant conditioning
4. What is Skinner’s legacy? What are some criticisms of Skinner?
5.
Fill out the following chart, comparing operant conditioning and classical conditioning
Classical
Acquisition
Extinction
Spontaneous recovery
Generalization
Discrimination
Cognitive constraints
Biological constraints
Operant