Operant Conditioning Operant BehaviorInstrumental Learning Lets Get ready

Operant Conditioning Operant Behavior/Instrumental Learning “Let’s Get ready to Crush some people!!!!!” BF Skinner

It is voluntary! You learn the consequences that follow your behaviors (good or bad)!

Shaping Rewarding successive behaviors to encourage more complex behaviors. Mice Trained to play Basketball How to teach Mice to play Basketball

Types of Reinforcement/Punishment Must FOLLOW a behavior! Increase the frequency of a behavior (Reinforcement) Adding something desirable (Positive Reinforcement) Removing something undesirable (Negative Reinforcement) Decrease the frequency of a behavior (Punishment) Adding something undesirable (Positive Punishment) Removing something desirable (Negative Punishment) *Immediate Reinforcement/Punishment is much stronger than delayed Reinforcement/Punishment (Getting paid $ 30 now for working a football game v. getting paid $30 a month later)

Types of Reinforcers Primary Reinforcers Conditioned/Secondary Reinforcers Natural/biological reinforcers (food, water, rest) Things that we have to learn to value ($, Applause, TV time, etc) Token Economies Premack Principle An activity that happens frequently on it’s own (ex. Playing video games, watching TV) can be used to reinforce a behavior that occurs less frequently (ex. Cleaning your room). The opposite of this would not work. Within an institution, you receive tokens as positive reinforcers for certain behaviors. You can then redeem these tokens for various rewards.

Positive Reinforcement increases the likelihood of a behavior by following the behavior with a desired or favorable stimulus or event Behavior Increased Participation Being brought flowers Eating vegetables Doing Chores Helping others Being on-time Smoking a cigarette Consequence Praise student responses Kiss Giving dessert Receiving your allowance Receiving orange crush cards Getting candy Release of dopamine in brain

Negative Reinforcement increases the likelihood of a behavior by following the behavior by removing an undesirable stimulus or event Behavior Increased Participation Doing well on PSAT Disclosure of information Clean your room Studying for an exam Taking Tylenol Using an umbrella Smoking a cigarette Flushing the toilet Consequence Remove quiz from Friday No Finals or Homeroom Stop the torture Mom stops nagging you Make stress go away Makes your headache go away Stop getting wet Makes the craving for nicotine go away Removes the nasty smell

Positive Punishment Decreases the likelihood of a behavior by presenting (adding) an undesirable action or response following a behavior. Behavior Consequence Reduce excessive talking Reduce participation Reduce texting & driving Reduce inappropriate comments Reduce cell phones going off in class Reduce speeding Reduce drinking Reduce late payments Give detentions Ridicule a response Get into an accident Embarrassing reprimand Teacher answers & embarrasses you Getting a ticket Get sick & vommit Extra fee

Negative Punishment Decreases the likelihood of a behavior by removing (Subtracting) a desirable action or event following a behavior. Behavior Reduce excessive talking Reduce coming home late Reduce Cell Phone usage Reduce drunk driving Reduce rude comments Reduce outbursts Consequence Take away recess Groundings Take it away Suspension of drivers license Giving someone the “cold shoulder” Taking away video games

Reinforcement Schedules Response happens every time after behavior (Continuous) Response only happens some of the time (Partial/Intermittent) Response is predictable (Fixed) Response happens after the behavior occurs a specific amount of times (Fixed Ratio) Response happens after a set amount of time (Fixed Interval) Response is Unpredictable (Variable) Response happens after the behavior occurs an unpredictable amount of times (Variable Ratio) Response happens after an unpredictable amount of time. (Variable Interval) *Partial Reinforcement more resistant to extinction. *Variable schedules more resistant to extinction than fixed schedules. (Just 1 more time!!!!)

Fixed Ratio Response happens after the behavior occurs a specific amount of times Examples Push lever 5 times Get a food pellet Buy 4 coffees Get one free (Frequent Customer Cards) Sell 3 Items Get a bonus (Selling on Commission) Read 5 books Get a free pizza Pick 1 bucket of beans Receive $10. Clean 3 rooms Get a 15 Minute break Mow 1 yard Get paid $25 (Being paid per units of work) Every 2 meetings you get paid $400

Fixed Interval Response happens after a set amount of time Examples Pressing a lever Food pellet released every 10 minutes Pressing Morphine Button Released every 15 minutes Studying Final given every Semester Job requirements Annual job review Caden crying at night We won’t go in until at least 3 AM Reading Textbook Teacher gives a quiz every Tuesday Drug Use Having drug tests on the 1 st Mon. of each month Being paid by the hour for work Checking the clock (to leave) Bell rings every 50 minutes Checking the oven (When you know the bake time)

Variable Ratio Response happens after the behavior occurs an unpredictable amount of times Examples Pressing a lever Unknown how many presses will lead to pellet being released Buying scratch off lottery tickets Unknown how many you need to buy to win Using slot machines Unknown how many times you need to put in to win Calling for donations Unknown how many calls you need to make to get $ Dancing with people Unknown how many you have to ask to get “yes” Swinging a baseball bat Unknown how many swings to hit baseball

Variable Interval Response happens after an unpredictable amount of time. Examples Pressing a lever You don’t know when the pellet will be released Studying You don’t know when a Pop Quiz will happen Preparing to leave class Teacher rarely goes full 50 minutes Click “got mail” button You don’t know when next e-mail will arrive Calling a friend (who never has phone on) You don’t know when they’ll answer Fishing You can go very short periods or long periods between catching fish Drug Use Random drug tests by an employer Listening to radio station (waiting for certain song) Don’t know when it will be played *Ratio schedules promote higher rates of responding than Fixed Schedules.

Variable Schedules promote higher rates of responding than Fixed Schedules. _______________________

The Office Conditioning

In response to declining reading scores in local schools, John wrote an editorial suggesting that schools need to increase interest in reading books by providing students with incentives. Based on research showing a relation between use of incentives and student reading, he recommended providing a free pizza coupon for every ten books a student reads. Explain how the overjustification effect can be used to refute John’s argument. Explain how schedules of reinforcement can be used to strengthen John’s plan. Answers