Operant Conditioning Operant Classical Conditioning 1 Classical conditioning

Operant Conditioning

Operant & Classical Conditioning 1. Classical conditioning forms associations between stimuli (CS and US). 2. Operant conditioning, on the other hand, forms an association between behaviors and the resulting events.

Operant & Classical Conditioning 2. Classical conditioning involves respondent behavior that occurs as an automatic response to a certain stimulus. 3. Operant conditioning involves operant behavior, a behavior that operates on the environment, producing rewarding or punishing stimuli.

Skinner’s Experiments Skinner’s experiments extend Thorndike’s thinking, especially his law of effect. This law states that rewarded behavior is likely to occur again. Yale University Library

Thorndike's Puzzle Box: Introduction z Operant conditioning is a type of associative learning in which animals associate behaviors with consequences and change their behaviors to alter consequences. z Edward Thorndike conducted studies to demonstrate the law of effect: When an animal's behavior is rewarded, it is likely to repeat the behavior. z These findings were later expanded upon by B. F. Skinner.

A reenactment shows Edward Thorndike conducting his puzzle box experiments with cats. A hungry cat, placed in the puzzle box and motivated by food just outside the box, learns by trial and error how to escape from the box. The cat escapes faster in each subsequent trial.

Thorndike's Puzzle Box: Questions 1. How does the cat find the way to escape from the box the first time it is placed inside? 2. Thorndike was most struck by the gradual nature of the cat's learning in these trials. What did this finding indicate about the learning process? 3. Based on his puzzle box studies, what general conclusion did Thorndike reach about learning? 4. Discuss some examples of "real-life" trial-and-error learning. 5. Distinguish between operant and classical conditioning.

Operant Conditioning z. B. F. Skinner (1904 -1990) yelaborated Thorndike’s Law of Effect ydeveloped behavioral technology

B. F. Skinner Interview: Introduction z B. F. Skinner was modern behaviorism’s most important and controversial figure. He developed the principals of operant conditioning and believed that external influences, not internal thoughts and feelings, create behavior. z Through the principles of operant conditioning, beings learn to produce behaviors that are followed by reinforcing stimuli and to suppress behaviors that are followed by punishing stimuli. z Skinner placed animals in an operant chamber (also called a Skinner box) to shape them to display desired behavior. z Skinner explored the effects of reinforcement on learning, including the effects of primary and secondary reinforcers, immediate and delayed reinforcers and various reinforcement schedules.

This archival footage from Skinner’s lab shows pigeons in a Skinner box demonstrating the power of shaping and operant conditioning. B. F. Skinner discusses the effect of schedules of reinforcement on learning in pigeons and humans and the role of free will in human affairs.

B. F. Skinner Interview: Questions 1. Summarize the principles of operant conditioning, explaining the role of shaping and reinforcement. 2. How could parents and teachers use principles of operant conditioning to improve children's behavior or their academic achievement? 3. What are some of the possible objections to Skinner’s views of human nature?

Using Thorndike's law of effect as a starting point, Skinner developed the Operant chamber, or the Skinner box, to study operant conditioning. Walter Dawn/ Photo Researchers, Inc. From The Essentials of Conditioning and Learning, 3 rd Edition by Michael P. Domjan, 2005. Used with permission by Thomson Learning, Wadsworth Division Operant Chamber

Operant Chamber The operant chamber, or Skinner box, comes with a bar or key that an animal manipulates to obtain a reinforcer like food or water. The bar or key is connected to devices that record the animal’s response.

Shaping is the operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior towards the desired target behavior through successive approximations. Fred Bavendam/ Peter Arnold, Inc. Khamis Ramadhan/ Panapress/ Getty Images A rat shaped to sniff mines. A manatee shaped to discriminate objects of different shapes, colors and sizes.

Types of Reinforcers Any event that strengthens the behavior it follows. A heat lamp positively reinforces a meerkat’s behavior in the cold. Reuters/ Corbis

Primary & Secondary Reinforcers 1. Primary Reinforcer: An innately reinforcing stimulus like food or drink. 2. Conditioned Reinforcer: A learned reinforcer that gets its reinforcing power through association with the primary reinforcer.

Operant Conditioning Matrix Adding a Stimulus Something is desired Take stimulus away Punishment + Reinforcement Increases Behavior Decreases Behavior - Reinforcement Something is Punishment Decreases Behavior Increases Behavior not desired

Examples of Negative Reinforcement z Classical Video Clip z If he gives into the child’s demands: y y What is the aversive stimulus? child crying Behavior reinforced? Child’s tantrums

Negative Reinforcement z A response is strengthened when it leads to the removal of an “aversive” stimulus. y. Loud noises, cold, pain, nagging. . . z We are more likely to repeat behaviors that lead to their removal. y. A parent’s behavior in picking up a crying baby to comfort it is negatively reinforced when the baby stops crying. The aversive stimuli has been removed.

Positive Reinforcement z. A response is strengthened by the introduction of a stimulus after the response occurs. y. Food, money, and social approval z. You are more likely to continue working at a job if you receive steady paychecks.

+ vs. z. Both + and – reinforcers strengthen behavior y+ R: behaviors are strengthened when they are followed by the introduction of a stimulus y- R: behaviors are strengthened when they lead to a removal of a stimulus.

Two-Way Street z. Negative Reinforcement can be a 2 -way street z. Crying is an aversive stimulus. y. When parents attend to a crying baby, that behavior is being negatively reinforced. y. Baby’s crying is positively reinforced by the parents’ responses.

- Reinforcement is not always good! z - R may have undesirable effects in some situations: Consider a child who throws a tantrum in a toy store when the parent refuses the child’s request for a toy. y. Child has learned that throwing tantrums gets her what she wants. x. When a tantrum does get results, the child is positively reinforced for throwing tantrums, while the parent is negatively reinforced for complying with the child’s demands because the tantrum stops.

Examples of NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT z z z Taking aspirin to relieve a headache. Hurrying home in the winter to get out of the cold. Giving in to an argument or to a dog’s begging. Fanning oneself to escape the heat. Leaving a movie theater if the movie is bad. Smoking in order to relieve anxiety. Following prison rules in order to be released form confinement. Feigning a stomachache in order to avoid school. Putting on a car safety belt to stop an irritating buzz. Turning down the volume of a very loud radio. Putting up an umbrella to escape the rain. Saying “uncle” to stop being beaten.

Positive Reinforcers

Negative Reinforcers

Train a Pigeon zhttp: //www. uwm. edu/~johnchay/oc. htm

Punishment Although there may be some justification for occasional punishment (Larzelaere & Baumrind, 2002), it usually leads to negative effects. 1. 2. 3. 4. Results in unwanted fears. Conveys no information to the organism. Justifies pain to others. Causes unwanted behaviors to reappear in its absence. 5. Causes aggression towards the agent. 6. Causes one unwanted behavior to appear in place of another.

Punishment An aversive event that decreases the behavior it follows.

Immediate & Delayed Reinforcers 1. Immediate Reinforcer: A reinforcer that occurs instantly after a behavior. A rat gets a food pellet for a bar press. 2. Delayed Reinforcer: A reinforcer that is delayed in time for a certain behavior. A paycheck that comes at the end of a week. We may be inclined to engage in small immediate reinforcers (watching TV) rather than large delayed reinforcers (getting an A in a course) which require consistent study.

Reinforcement Schedules 1. Continuous Reinforcement: Reinforces the desired response each time it occurs. 2. Partial Reinforcement: Reinforces a response only part of the time. Though this results in slower acquisition in the beginning, it shows greater resistance to extinction later on.

Ratio Schedules 1. Fixed-ratio schedule: Reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses. e. g. , piecework pay. 2. Variable-ratio schedule: Reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses. 1. This is hard to extinguish because of the unpredictability. (e. g. , behaviors like gambling, fishing. )

Interval Schedules 1. Fixed-interval schedule: Reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed. (e. g. , preparing for an exam only when the exam draws close. ) 2. Variable-interval schedule: Reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals, which produces slow, steady responses. (e. g. , pop quiz. )

Schedules of Reinforcement

Operant Conditioning Reinforcements z An inexperienced Casino owner decides to program the slot machines on a fixed interval schedule rather than a variable schedule. How might this work, and how do you think the reinforcement schedule would affect “lever pressing” by the casino’s guests? z Behavior that is reinforced on a partial reinforcement schedule is more difficult to extinguish compared to behavior reinforced on a continuous schedule. Why is this so?

Variable Ratio: z How would you reinforce this positively? y. After an unspecific number of times my wife makes the bed in the morning, I will give her a card. y. After an unspecific number of times my kids pushes their chair at the dinner table, following dinner, I will give them candy. y. After an unspecific number of times that my dog brings in the newspaper, I will give him a doggie treat. y. After visiting an unspecific number of houses, a girl scout makes a cookie sale. y. Slot machines at a casino. . never know how many pulls it will take before a pay off.

Variable Ratio: z How would you reinforce this negatively? y After an unspecific number of times my wife has dinner organized, I will feed the dogs (she hates doing this so this is a gift). y After an unspecific number of girl scout cookie sales (an unspecific number of houses visited), the girl scout can go home and does not have to walk around outside anymore. y After an unspecific number of times my wife makes me dinner, I will clean the bathroom (something she hates) y After an unspecific number of times you are all in your desks right before or at the bell, I will take away one future homework (please!)

Fixed Ratio: z. How would you reinforce this positively? y. For every 10 successful telephone sales, a telemarketer gets a bonus (an extra $25. 00 cash added onto their regular salary). y. Every five times my dog sits at the command "sit, " I scratch his belly. y. Every ten times a student gets an "A" on a test or quiz, I give them a $5 Blockbuster gift card (not).

Fixed Ratio: z How would you reinforce this negatively? y For every six times Jackson cleans his dinner plate, I don't serve him vegetables the next evening (he hates vegetables). y After I clean the table, five times, my wife promises not to drag me to the mall the next time she needs to shop. y Every time my wife folds my clothes, I'll take one of her chores.

Variable Interval: z How would you reinforce this positively? y Every month OR SO, I give my wife an extra $10 on her allowance for being "good. " y Every once in a while, I'll bring my class frosty desserts from Wendy's if they, overall, are well-behaved and get their work done. y After an unspecific amount of time, I'll give my dog a treat if she does not have an accident in the house.

Variable Interval: z How would you reinforce this negatively? y After an unspecific amount of time, I will remove a pop-quiz from my teaching planner if my students seem to be wellbehaved and the work is done. y After an unspecific amount of time, I take my mom out of the house so that my dad can sit and watch his sporting events on TV in silence and free from distraction. y Every so often, I'll clean my childrens' room. . . . to make up for all their other efforts (like, cleaning their plates, doing their homework, getting decent grades, being nice to one another, etc. ).

Fixed Interval: z How would you reinforce this positively? y Every two weeks, full-time employees get their paychecks. y Every month, I get a "beer-of-the-month-club" delivery. . same day, same time. y Every ten minutes my wife cleans the house, I give her a kiss .

Fixed Interval: z How would you reinforce this negatively? y. For every hour an employee works during the weekend, they earn an extra hour off during the week. y. For every weekend course my wife takes, her boss gives her off the next Monday. y. For every full class period that students are on-task and focused, I take away their lowest quiz score

Can you think of examples of positive and negative reinforcers that have influenced your behavior?

z The parents of a 13 yr old boy would like him to help out more around the house, including doing his share of the dishes. After a meal at which it is his turn to do the dishes, he refuses, pleading that he has other things to do that are more important. Frustrated with his refusal, his parents start yelling at him and continue until he complies with their request. But as he washes the dishes, his mother notices that he is doing a very poor job, so she relieves him of his duty and finishes the job herself. y y What type of reinforcement did the parents use to gain the boy’s compliance? What behavior of the parents did the boy reinforce by complying with their request? What behavior did the mother inadvertently strengthen by relieving the boy of his chores? Based on your reading of the text, how would you suggest this family change these reinforcement patterns? z Negative Reinforcement -- Parents have learned that to get him to do a job, they have to yell at him. z Yelling at him to get his chores done. z Doing a poor on tasks will get you out of situations you don’t like.

Extending Skinner’s Understanding Skinner believed in inner thought processes and biological underpinnings, but many psychologists criticize him for discounting them.

Cognition & Operant Conditioning Evidence of cognitive processes during operant learning comes from rats during a maze exploration in which they navigate the maze without an obvious reward. Rats seem to develop cognitive maps, or mental representations, of the layout of the maze (environment).

Latent Learning Such cognitive maps are based on latent learning, which becomes apparent when an incentive is given (Tolman & Honzik, 1930).

Motivation Intrinsic Motivation: The desire to perform a behavior for its own sake. Extrinsic Motivation: The desire to perform a behavior due to promised rewards or threats of punishments.

Biological Predisposition Marian Breland Bailey Photo: Bob Bailey Biological constraints predispose organisms to learn associations that are naturally adaptive. Breland (1961) showed that animals drift towards their biologically predisposed instinctive behaviors.

Skinner’s Legacy Skinner argued that behaviors were shaped by external influences instead of inner thoughts and feelings. Critics argued that Skinner dehumanized people by neglecting their free will. Falk/ Photo Researchers, Inc .

Applications of Operant Conditioning Skinner introduced the concept of teaching machines that shape learning in small steps and provide reinforcements for correct rewards. LWA-JDL/ Corbis In School

Applications of Operant Conditioning Reinforcement principles can enhance athletic performance. In Sports

Applications of Operant Conditioning Reinforcers affect productivity. Many companies now allow employees to share profits and participate in company ownership. At work

Applications of Operant Conditioning In children, reinforcing good behavior increases the occurrence of these behaviors. Ignoring unwanted behavior decreases their occurrence.

Operant vs. Classical Conditioning