Operant
conditioning
More on reinforcement and
beyond
extinction
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Occurs when reinforcement stops
following the response
If you repeat a previously
reinforced behavior but fail to
receive reinforcement, eventually
you will probably stop performing
the action
Stimulus
generalization
Somewhat similar to classical
conditioning
 If a certain response/behavior
received reinforcement in a
certain situation, you are likely to
make the same response in a
similar situation
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discrimination
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Some responses gain reinforcement,
others don’t
As you would expect, those that gain
reinforcement will be much more likely
to be repeated
We learn to chose or discriminate
between the two
Discriminative
stimuli
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Any stimulus that provides an
organism with a cue for making a
certain response in order to obtain
reinforcement
Stop signs
Warm smiles/ eye contact

Primary reinforcers
these stand alone and, all things being
equal, reinforce the behaviors that
precede them because of their importance
to the organism
For example: water, food, and comfort

Secondary reinforcers
These must first be paired with
unconditional reinforcers to prompt
increases in behaviors
The most obvious example is money,
which can help someone secure water,
food, etc.
Reinforcement
schedules

At the most basic level we have two
different types of reinforcement schedules:
1) Continuous, in which reinforcement
follows every correct response, and
2) Intermittent, in which only some
correct responses are followed by
reinforcement.
Intermittent
schedules

Fixed ratio – provide reinforcement after
only a fixed number of correct responses

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Marked by a steady response rate
If many responses are needed to secure
reinforcement, a pause follows
reinforcement
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Variable ratio – reinforcement
provided after a variable amount of
responses

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Marked by steady response rates
Playing slot machines, lotto, and
many other types of gambling

Fixed interval – reinforcement
delivered after a fixed amount of time

Lots of responses right before
reinforcement
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Variable interval – reinforcement
delivered after a varying amount of
time

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Responses are made at a slow and
steady rate
An astronomer looking for comets
The allure of
intermittent
reinforcement
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While behaviors continuously reinforced
quickly succumb to extinction,
Behaviors which are intermittently
reinforced are quite resistant to extinction
Lotto
That unpredictable boyfriend/girlfriend
Dollard & miller:
beyond skinner
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Remember, Skinner was starving
those poor pigeons and rats.
Wasn’t he ignoring something?
Dollard and Miller, in the 50’s,
thought so.
Dollard &
miller ii

A four step process:
1) Drive – propels the organism into
action,
2) Cue – the guiding stimuli
the “how and where” of the
response
3) Response – the actual behavior, and
4) Reinforcement – reduces the drive
For example:

A long trip on an interstate
1) Drive – eventually, you get hungry
2) Cue – road signs advise of food
ahead
3) Response – you get off the
highway and pull into the parking lot
4) Reinforcement – you eat,
satisfying your hunger
Observational
learning
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Classical conditioning and operant
conditioning don’t explain it all
Operant conditioning implies trial and
error
Some behaviors are too dangerous to
try and then see what happens
We learn from the experiences of
others
Bandura’s
contribution

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Albert Bandura realized that Skinner’s
framework was not sufficient
He guessed that we learn from
watching the behavior of others, not
just enduring the consequences of our
own
imitation
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Poor Bobo
If children watched an adult hammer
him they were likely to do the same
thing
Even repeating the exact words
If the adult spared the doll, all the
children did also
Vicarious
consequences
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However, if the children watched the
adult being disciplined for pounding
the hapless bag of air, they didn’t
rough him up
They had somehow vicariously
experienced the adult’s punishment
and the behavior never emerged
Vicarious
reinforcement
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Powerball winners
Are they hidden?
No, they are celebrated
We share in their triumph
We can’t wait for our chance
How about all those who lost big?
Encouraging
moral behavior
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“Catch them when they are being
good”?
If we wait for it to emerge, and then
reinforce it, we might wait a long time
Moral behavior rarely occurs
spontaneously
So, we teach it through …..
modeling
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We imitate those we view as:
1) Powerful,
2) Successful,
3) Similar to us, and
4) Warm/Kind.
Modeling ii
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We find an individual or character who
fits these criteria and then we show
them displaying the desired quality
It might make an impression