AP PSYCHOLOGY UNIT VI
Part Two: Operant Conditioning:
Reward and Punishment
Operant Conditioning
We learn to
associate a
response
and its
consequence
(what comes
after)
Classical vs. Operant Conditioning
Classical Conditioning
Behavior is determined
by what PRECEDES it.
Operant Conditioning
Behavior is determined
by anticipation of what
FOLLOWS it.
Involuntary
Voluntary
Dog salivates after a
tone.
Dog sits in anticipation
of getting a treat.
Operant vs Classical Conditioning
SOUTH TEACH:
Explain (3) differences between
Classical Conditioning
and Operant Conditioning
30 seconds…
Operant Conditioning
 Operant Conditioning
 type of learning in which behavior is
strengthened if followed by
reinforcement or diminished if followed
by punishment
 Law of Effect
 Thorndike’s principle that behaviors
followed by favorable consequences
become more likely, and behaviors
followed by unfavorable consequences
become less likely
Operant Conditioning
B.F. Skinner (1904-
1990)
 elaborated
Thorndike’s Law of
Effect
 developed behavioral
technology
 Skinner box
Operant Chamber
 Skinner Box
 chamber with a bar
or key that an
animal manipulates
to obtain a food or
water reinforcer
 contains devices to
record responses
SKINNER BOX
http://youtu.be/I_ctJqjlrHA
• BF Skinner – “radical behavioralist”
• Wanted to demonstrate that uniquely human
behaviors were the product of conditioning.
• Starved 8 pigeons. Then rewarded them with
food every 15 s, no matter what they did.
• Results:
• 6 of 8 bird developed superstitions
• Turning counter-clockwise in a circle
• Thrusting head toward a specific corner of cage
• “tossing” an imaginary ball with its head
• Head bobbing with accompanying steps (2 birds)
• “fake” pecking
Operant Conditioning
Reinforcer
 any event that strengthens the behavior
it follows
Shaping
 operant conditioning procedure in which
reinforcers guide behavior toward closer
approximations of a desired goal
 http://youtu.be/BVbGSVhKGwA
REINFORCEMENT
Principles of Reinforcement
 We are rewarded (reinforced) by something we need or
something we want related to what we need
 1. Primary Reinforcer
 innately reinforcing stimulus
 i.e., satisfies a biological need
 2. Conditioned/ Secondary Reinforcer
 stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with
primary reinforcer
With your partners or trio, create examples of:
1) Primary reinforcer
2) Secondary reinforcer
And relate each to a behavior
Schedules of Reinforcement
How often should we reward behaviors? The frequency of
reinforcement are called the schedules.
Continuous Reinforcement
 reinforcing the desired response every time it
occurs
Partial (Intermittent) Reinforcement
 reinforcing a response only part of the time
 results in slower acquisition
 greater resistance to extinction **gambling**
Reinforcement Schedules
• Fixed ratio – set number ($1 every 3 hands)
• Variable Ratio – unpredictable number of
responses ($1/? of times)
• Fixed interval – set amount of time ($1/per hour
of play)
• Variable interval – unpredictable amount of time
($1/ ? amount of time)
Schedules of Reinforcement
Fixed Ratio (FR)
 reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses
 faster you respond the more rewards you get
 different ratios
 very high rate of responding
 like piecework pay
 With
your table, come up with one school-based example.
Schedules of Reinforcement
 Variable Ratio (VR)
 reinforces a response after an unpredictable
number of responses
 average ratios
 like gambling, fishing
 very hard to extinguish because of
unpredictability
 With
your table, come up with one school-based example.
Schedules of Reinforcement
Fixed Interval (FI)
 reinforces a response only after a specified
time has elapsed
 response occurs more frequently as the
anticipated time for reward draws near
 With
your table, come up with one school-based example.
Schedules of Reinforcement
Variable Interval (VI)
 reinforces a response at unpredictable time
intervals
 produces slow steady responding
 Like random employee bonuses
 With
your table, come up with one school-based
example.
OPERANT CONDITIONING
REINFORCEMENT:
INCREASES BEHAVIOR
PUNISHMENT:
DECREASES BEHAVIOR
With your partners or trio, create an examples of
a school-related reinforcer and school-related punishment
and connect them to behaviors
Punishment
Punishment
 aversive event that
decreases the behavior
that it follows
 powerful controller of unwanted behavior
With your table, share three examples of
punishment that a boyfriend or girlfriend might use
to decrease unwanted behavior in his/her partner
Choose one example shared by another table and
identify whether it was positive or negative punishment
Problems with Punishment
•
•
•
it models aggression as
a way to solve
problems
breeds anger in the
recipient
doesn’t provide an
alternative behavior.
Therefore, the behavior
only goes away when
the punisher is around.
AP PSYCHOLOGY UNIT VI
Learning: Part III-
Observational Learning
(and other learning that can exist
without reward or punishment…)
Observational Learning
 Observational Learning
 learning by observing
others
 Modeling
 process of observing and
imitating a specific
behavior
• Albert Bandura –
Bobo doll experiment
• http://youtu.be/8ZXOp
5PopIA
Three different groups of children watched different endings
Modeling
• Prosocial Behavior–
positive and
constructive
behavior
• Antisocial Behavior–
negative,
unproductive or
destructive behavior
With your table, come up with
an example of each that has
been modeled for you this week
Observational Learning
Mirror Neurons
 frontal lobe neurons that fire when
performing certain actions or when
observing another doing so
 may enable imitation, language
learning, and empathy
Cognition and Operant Conditioning
 Cognitive Map
 mental representation of the layout of one’s
environment
*after exploring a maze, rats act as if they
have learned a cognitive map of it
• When/how might this be useful?
 Latent Learning
 learning that occurs, but is not apparent until
there is an incentive to demonstrate it
 * Example?
Cognition and Operant
Conditioning
Overjustification Effect
the effect of promising a reward for
doing what one already likes to do
 the person may now see the reward,
rather than intrinsic interest, as the
motivation for performing the task
 Where
might we see this happen in the workplace?
Cognition and Operant Conditioning
Intrinsic Motivation
 Desire to perform a behavior for its
own sake and to be effective
Extrinsic Motivation
 Desire to perform a behavior due to
promised rewards or threats of
punishments
Critique of Behavioralism
•
•
Deemphasizes the
role of internal
thoughts and
feelings in
behavior; Presents
humans as lacking
free will
Ignores biological
predispositions:
Experiments with
humans and
animals both
indicate that
biological
predispositions
influence
conditioning.
a. Animal training
b. Human societies
built on
behavioralist
principles.