Download Operant Conditioning

PSY 200/203
Virginia Union University
Response Increased
Stimulus
Presented
Stimulus
Removed

Positive
Reinforcement
Negative
Reinforcement
Response Decreased
Positive
Punishment
Negative
Punishment
Apply your understanding of the four categories of
Reinforcement & Punishment to creating 4 unique scenarios
that all center on one of the common themes listed below
1. School
2. Money
3. Car

Your father gives you a credit card at the end
of your first year in college because you did
so well. As a result, your grades continue to
get better in your second year.

Your father gives you a credit card at the end
of your first year in college because you did
so well. As a result, your grades continue to
get better in your second year.

Positive Reinforcement!

Your car has a red, flashing light that blinks
annoyingly if you start the car without
buckling the seat belt. You become less likely
to start the car without buckling the seat belt.

Your car has a red, flashing light that blinks
annoyingly if you start the car without
buckling the seat belt. You become less likely
to start the car without buckling the seat belt.

Positive Punishment

A professor has a policy of exempting
students from the final exam if they maintain
perfect attendance during the quarter. His
students’ attendance increases dramatically.

A professor has a policy of exempting
students from the final exam if they maintain
perfect attendance during the quarter. His
students’ attendance increases dramatically.

Negative Reinforcement

The child has his crayons taken away for
fighting with his sister.

The child has his crayons taken away for
fighting with his sister.

Negative Punishment

Partial Reinforcement Schedules
 Fixed-ratio (FR) Schedule
▪ Reinforcement occurs after a fixed number of responses
▪ Schedule produces a high, steady rate of responding with
only a brief pause after the delivery of the reinforcer
▪ Examples:
▪ Rat on a 10-to-1 fixed ratio schedule receives 1 food pellet per 10 bar
presses
▪ Frequent buyer punch cards
▪ Other Examples?

Partial Reinforcement Schedules
 Variable-ratio (VR) Schedule
▪ Reinforcement occurs after an average number of responses,
which varies from trial to trial
▪ Schedule creates a high, steady rate of responding
▪ Examples:
▪ Rat on a variable ratio 20 schedule might have to press the bar 25X on
the 1st trial & 15X on the 2nd trial – the ratio works out to a
predetermined average
▪ Gambling
▪ Other Examples?

Partial Reinforcement Schedules
 Fixed-interval (FI) schedule
▪ Reinforcement delivered after a preset time interval has
elapsed
▪ Schedule causes high amounts of responding near the end of
the interval, but much slower responding following the
delivery of the reinforcer
▪ Examples:
▪ Rat on a 2 minute FI schedule would receive food pellets 2 minutes
after the first bar press, independent of the number of additional bar
presses
▪ Paychecks
▪ Other Examples?

Partial Reinforcement Schedules
 Variable-interval (VI) schedule
▪ Reinforcement occurs for the first response emitted after an
average amount of time has elapsed, but the interval varies from
trial to trial
▪ Produces slow, steady rate of responding
▪ Examples:
▪ Rat on a VI-30 second schedule might be reinforced for the 1st bar press
after 10 seconds for the 1st trial, after 50 seconds for the 2nd trial, and
after 30 seconds for the 3rd trial – time elapsed works out to a
predetermined average amount of time
▪ Whining kids
▪ Other Examples?
NS
NS
=
No Response
UCR
UCS
=
+
CS
CR
=

Step 1: Classical Conditioning
 Dogs classically conditioned to fear the sound of a tone
 Dogs in harnesses during classical conditioning, unable to
escape

Step 2: Operant Conditioning
 Dogs placed in a shuttlebox divided in half with a low
barrier that, one side of the box is electrified, dog can
escape shock by jumping over barrier
 Dogs from step 1 did not try to jump over barrier, why?

Martin Seligman & Learned Helplessness
 Dogs had learned that the shocks were inescapable, learned they were
helpless, didn’t try to escape
 Learned Helplessness
▪ Phenomenon in which exposure to inescapable and uncontrollable aversive
events produces passive behavior
 Other examples of learned helplessness
▪ Political process: People are becoming discouraged with the political
process and not turning out to vote because nothing gets done.
▪ Weight loss programs: There are so many weight loss programs that are
ineffective that they discourage people.
▪ Studying for class: Students with poor study skills or are using ineffective
strategies start to give up on their classes and resign themselves to poor
grades.

Human learning can also occur indirectly, by
watching what others do and imitating them

Observational learning
 Learning that takes place through observing the actions of
others

Albert Bandura
 Bandura credited with observational learning
▪ Believed that observation learning was the result of cognitive
processes that are actively judgmental and constructive

Bobo Doll Study
 4 year olds separated into groups and shown 3 different versions of a
video
▪ Version 1: adult playing aggressively with Bobo Doll reinforced with snacks
& candy after
▪ Version 2: adult playing aggressively with Bobo doll punished with scolding
& spanking after
▪ Version 3: adult playing aggressively with Bobo doll receives no
consequences
 Child’s play behavior reflected the version of the video they viewed
 Children then reinforced for imitating what they saw
 Suggests that reinforcement is not essential for learning to occur, but
the expectation of reinforcement affects the performance of what has
been learned

Bandura’s 4 cognitive processes that determine whether
imitation will occur
1. Attention
You must be paying attention to the other person’s
actions
2. Remember
You must remember the other person’s behavior
3. Reproduce
You must be capable of reproducing what you’ve
observed
4. Motivation
You must be motivated to imitate the behavior