OPERANT
CONDITIONING
DIFFERENT FROM CLASSICAL



CLASSICAL: Experimenter presents UCS
and CS and then observes the behavior
OPERANT: Participant / Animal must
behave in a certain way to get a reward or
avoid a punishment
Def. – Learning in which reinforcement is
contingent upon the subject’s behavior.
B.F. SKINNER

Psychologist most
closely associated
with operant
conditioning
SKINNER BOX
Thorndike’s Puzzle Box
Figure 8.8 Cat in a puzzle box
Myers: Psychology, Eighth Edition
Copyright © 2007 by Worth Publishers
REINFORCEMENT


REWARD / PUNISHMENT
POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT:



Get a reward or receive something you like for doing
the desired behavior
Social approval, money, food
NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT:


Something unpleasant is taken away for doing desired
behavior
Homework, chores, sales tax on tax free weekend
REINFORCEMENT cont.

PRIMARY
REINFORCEMENT:


satisfies a biological
need such as hunger,
thirst, or sleep, etc.
SECONDARY
REINFORCEMENT:

one that has been
paired with a primary
re-inforcer through
classical conditioning.
SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT


CONTINUOUS
RATIO:



reinforcement is given after a certain
NUMBER of responses.
FIXED RATIO: reinforcement is given after
the same number of responses each time
VARIABLE RATIO: reinforcement after
varying number of responses.
SCHEDULES cont.

INTERVAL:



reinforcement is given after a certain amount
of TIME.
FIXED INTERVAL: reinforcement is given
after the same amount of time each time.
VARIABLE INTERVAL: amount of time
changes between reinforcements
EXAMPLES

Typist gets paid $2 per page


Slot machines


Fixed ratio
Variable ratio
Giving a quiz every Friday

Fixed interval
Which type of rft. is best for. . .?


. . . introducing a new behavior?
. . . maintaining a behavior for a long
period of time?
Homework from the teacher’s
perspective

Behavior desired from the student?


Reinforcement being offered?





Complete homework assignments
grades
Positive or negative?
Primary or secondary?
Overworked / underpaid teacher doesn’t want to have to
grade EVERY assignment
Which schedule of reinforcement would be most
beneficial for the teacher to use?

Variable ratio
SHAPING


Technique used to teach animals / people
a more complicated task
The subject is rewarded for each response
that is closer to the final desired behavior

Successive approximations
CHAINING


Learning simple skills, that when
combined together enable the subject to
perform more complex tasks.
Examples:

Reading, writing, math, sports, etc.
POKER CHIMPS




Shaping was used to get chimps to perform
tasks for food
Classical conditioning was then used to teach
the chimps to associate poker chips with food.
Soon the chimps were performing tasks to get
poker chips to exchange for food in the chip-omat
Generalization and discrimination
AVERSIVE CONTROL


Using an unpleasant stimulus to influence
behavior.
NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT:

when an unpleasant stimulus is removed after a
certain behavior.


ESCAPE CONDITIONING: A person’s behavior causes an
unpleasant event to stop
AVOIDANCE CONDITIONING: Training of an organism to
withdraw from an unpleasant stimulus before it starts.
PUNISHMENT

An unpleasant
consequence occurs
and decreases the
frequency of the
behavior that
produced it
AVERSIVE CONTROL
NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT:
Behavior is
REPEATED/INCREASE
S
PUNISHMENT:
Behavior DECREASES
DISADVANTAGES OF PUNISHMENT




Unwanted side effects: rage, fear,
aggression (spanked children may become
more aggressive)
Subjects learn to avoid the punisher
Punishment may suppress rather than
eliminate such behaviors
Alone it does not teach what is acceptable
behavior
EXAMPLES

Which schedule of reinforcement is being used?

Factory workers?


Getting paid by the bail for hauling hay?


Fixed interval
Fixed ratio
Pop quizzes?

Variable interval