5 More Terms


Definition: learning
process of
responding to
rewards and
punishments in a
way that changes the
frequency of a
behavior
B.F. Skinner—
American
psychologist

Reinforcement: increases the
frequency of a behavior
◦ Positive & Negative

Punishment: decreases the frequency
of a behavior
◦ Type I & Type II

Types of Reinforcers:
◦ Primary Reinforcer — satisfies a biological
need
 Examples?
◦ Secondary Reinforcer — any object that
has acquired a positive value
 Examples?

Positive Reinforcement 
adding something positive
to increase behavior
◦ Ex 1) teaching a dog a trick
◦ Ex 2) ?
Behavior
Adding Positive
Stimulus
Behavior Increases
Told to “shake”, a dog
lifts his paw
Give dog a treat
Dog lifts paw when told
to “shake” in the future

Negative Reinforcement 
removing something
unpleasant to increase
behavior
◦ Ex 1) making excuse on a
boring date
◦ Ex 2) ?
Behavior
Subtracting Negative
Stimulus
Behavior Increases
In middle of a boring
date, you say you have
a headache
Date ends early
You use the same
tactic for future dates
 Continuous
Schedule —
reinforced every time
◦ Ex: Giving a toddler a sticker when
potty training
 Partial
Schedule — reinforced
randomly
◦ Ex: Playing the slot machine
Explain with neighbor

Type 1—adding something
unpleasant to decrease
behavior
◦ Ex 1) burning hand on stove
◦ Ex 2) ?
Behavior
Adding Negative
Stimulus
Behavior Decreases
You touch a burner on
the stove
Your hand is burned
No longer touch hot
stoves

Type 2: subtracting something
positive to decrease behavior
◦ Ex 1) ice cream falls on ground
◦ Ex 2) ?
Behavior
Subtracting a Positive
Stimulus
Behavior Decreases
Careless with an ice
cream cone
Ice cream falls on the
ground
Not as careless with
your next cone
 What
could some potential
drawbacks of punishment be?
Explain with partner

Positive Reinforcement:

Negative Reinforcement:

Type I Punishment:

Type II Punishment:
 When
considering both
forms of conditioning…
◦What do you understand
best?
◦What are you still having a
hard time understanding?
 What
is classical and
what is operant
conditioning?
Examples
Experiments
 Were
they classically
conditioned?
 Apply the terms to this
experiment (i.e., UCS, UCR,
NS, CS, CR)
 What
were some of the
reactions the volunteers had?
 Which principles of operant
conditioning were used?
 Which method was the most
effective?
1. The teacher takes away homework to
increase attention during class.
2. You find Halloween to be a scary time of
year. One year, someone scared you with a
mask and ever since you become afraid when
you see masks at any time of the year.
3. Richard received a detention to make it less
likely he would arrive late to class in the future.
4. Sally won $5 on a scratch off lottery ticket,
so she continued to buy scratch off lottery
tickets the rest of that week.
5. The teacher claps and tells the students to be
quiet. After a few times of doing this, all the
teacher has to do to get the students to quiet
down is clap.
6. A child talks too much, so family members stop
responding. This causes the child to stop speaking
so much.
7. Rachel got stung by a bee walking on her front
porch. After this occasion, she avoided her front
porch.
8. You offer a $100 reward for whoever finds your
dog. Because you offered the reward people began
to search and your dog was found within a few
days.
9. You don’t want to do your homework, so
you tell your teacher you do not understand
how to do it. The next few assignments you try
the same tactic.
10. Austin comes home after curfew, so his
parents take away his car privileges for a week
to prevent him from being late.
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