Operant Conditioning
Learning the
Consequences of Behavior
Instrumental Conditioning
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The Law of Effect-Thorndike
• Behaviors followed by favorable
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consequences become more likely, and that
behaviors followed be unfavorable
consequences become less likely.
Instrumental Conditioning
• A procedure in which an organism learns that
certain responses are instrumental in producing
desired effects in the environment
Operant Conditioning
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Operant Conditioning
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A synonym for instrumental conditioning
Comes from Skinner’s emphasis on how an organism
learns to “operate on” its environment to produce an
effect
Operant (behavior)
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Is a behavioral response that has some effect
(consequence) on an organism’s environment
Operant Chamber- Skinner Box
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A chamber containing a bar or key that an animal can
manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer, with an
attached devices to record the animal’s rate of
response
Skinner and Skinner Box
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Image- Courtesy of B.F. Skinner
Foundation
Components of Operant
Conditioning
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Reinforcers
• A consequence that increases the probability that a
response will occur again (strengthens the behavior it
follows
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Positive Reinforcers
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Negative Reinforcers
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Escape conditioning
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• Positive stimuli that act like rewards
• Removal of an unpleasant stimuli
• Occurs when an organism learns that a particular
response will terminate an aversive stimuli
Avoidance Conditioning
• Occurs when an organism responds to a signal in a way
that prevents an aversive stimuli
Punishment
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Presents an aversive stimuli or removes a
pleasant stimuli to decrease the frequency of a
behavior
Disadvantages
• It doesn’t eliminate behavior merely suppresses it
• Not effective unless it immediately follows the behavior
• Punishment becomes associated with the punisher-so
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the punisher is feared
Organism being punished may learn to relate to others
in an aggressive way
Punishment makes clear what behaviors are incorrect,
but doesn’t provide any demonstration of desired
behaviors
Punishment
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Can work if used wisely…
• Punish the behavior not the person
• Punish immediately
• Use a severe enough punishment to eliminate
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the behavior
Explain and reinforce more appropriate
behaviors
Punishment or Negative
Reinforcement?
Forming and Strengthening
Operant Behavior
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Shaping
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Secondary Reinforcement (Conditioned)
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An operant conditioning process in which successive
approximations of a behavior are reinforced until the
desired behavior pattern emerges.
Primary reinforcers-an innately satisfying reinforcing
stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological need
(food,water, pain relief)
Conditioned or secondary reinforcer- a stimulus that
gains its reinforcing power through its association with
a primary reinforcer. (MONEY)
Delay and size of reinforcement
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Operant conditioning is strongest when the delay in
receiving a reinforcer is short and the reinforcer is large
Schedules of Reinforcement
Schedules of Reinforcement
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Continuous reinforcement schedule
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Every correct response receives a reward
Partial or Intermittent reinforcement schedule
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Reinforcement is received only some of the time
• Fixed Ratio Schedules (FR)
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Give a reward after a fixed number of responses
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Give a reward after an average number of responses
• Variable-Ratio Schedules (VR)
• Fixed-Interval Schedules (FI)
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Reward the first response displayed after a fixed time
interval
• Variable-Interval Schedule (VI)
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Reward the first response displayed after a varying time
interval
Schedules and Extinction
• The partial reinforcement extinction effect
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Demonstrates that it is more difficult to extinguish an
operant behavior learned under a partial rather than a
Cognition and Operant
Conditioning
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Latent learning
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Learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is
some reason to demonstrate it
Cognitive map
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A mental representation of the layout of one’s
environment. For example, after exploring a maze, rats
act as if they have learned a cognitive map of it.
(Tolman)
Overjustification effect
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The effect of promising a reward for doing what one
already likes to do. The person may now see the
reward, rather than the intrinsic interest, as the
motivation for performing the task.
Other cognitive processes in
learning
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Learned Helplessness
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Occurs when an organism believes that behaviors are
not related to consequences
When people’s past experience leads them to believe
that nothing they can do will change their lives, they
tend to stop trying.
Insight
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The sudden grasp of new relationships that are
necessary to solve a problem and that were not
learned in the past.
Kohler’s studies of chimpanzee problem-solving