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Chapter 15. Skinner’s Operant Analysis
1. Biographical information
2. Theoretical concepts and principles
3. Therapeutic implications
4. Educational implications.
1. Biographical Sketches
-B.F. Skinner was born in Pennsylvania in 1904.
-He described his home life as warm and stable.
-As a boy, he was always building and creating things (i.e., slingshot, kites, scooters, seesaws,
etc).
-Majored English at Hamilton College in NY State.
-Pursued a career as a writer but gave up being a writer because he realized that he would not be
successful as a writer and had nothing important to talk about.
-Interested in human behavior and entered Harvard to study psychology.
-After he got his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931 (27), he taught psychology in many Universities
such as University of Minnesota, Indiana University, and Harvard University.
-He has written many books such as Schedules of reinforcement, About Behaviorism, Verbal
Behavior, Walden II, etc.
-He was never physically punished by his parents except once by his mother.
-He said an appropriate word and then his mother washed his mouth with soup and water.
-What would Carl Rogers say to his mom?
Things that interfere with self-actualization
Unconditional positive regard
-What would Maslow say about this?
Parenting styles (authoritarian, permissive, authoritative)
-Drawbacks of physical punishment
-Simple suppression (may reappear when punishment is avoidable or no longer present),
-May increase aggressiveness (learn from punishers),
-May increase fear and generalized avoidance behavior (i.e., punished for
masturbationavoid making love when appropriate),
-Do not show/guide positive behaviors (No, but try this is better).
2. Theoretical concepts and principles
Scientific Behaviorism
-We must study behaviors:
We have many problems (i.e., air pollution, diseases, birth control).
We have applied our biological and physical knowledge to solve these problems.
Instead, we must study our behaviors (i.e., birth controlnot taking it)
Changing behaviors will solve the problem.
Functional analysis (cause-effect analysis)
We must study environmental factors leading to behaviors
We must give up studying inner, private, and subjective events (i.e., love, mind, spirit)
Instead, we must study antecedent events that actually produce our behavior.
For example, “ate because hungry”  “ate because good price, 6 hours since last meal,
etc.”
Free Will vs. Determinism:
-Free Will: We are free and spontaneous. We are responsible for what we did.
-Determinism: Our behaviors are determined by Environmental control.
For example, you bought a computer not because you simply want it but because your old one is
broken down, good price, etc.
Personality development
-Personality is a collection of behavior patterns (response patterns in a certain situation).
-Personality develops out of idiosyncratic learning experiences.
-The study of personality involves the discovery of the unique set of relationships between the
behavior of the organism and its reinforcing or punishing consequences.
-Personality develops out of learning experiences.
Operant Conditioning: Learning association between a response and its consequences
-Voluntary Response (pushing vending machine)  Getting candy (consequence).
-Repeat the association between Response and its and Consequence
-Learned to push bending machine to get candy.
-Things need to know in the Operant conditioning.
(1) Reinforcements: Increase the likelihood of a response
+SR: Increase a target behavior by adding positive stimulus (money)
-SR: Increase a target behavior by removing painful/aversive stimulus (i.e., headache)
(2) Punishment: Decrease the likelihood of a response
Positive punishment: Reduce a target behavior by getting aversive consequences.
Negative punishment: reduce a target behavior by losing positive consequences (time-out,
grounding, response cost)
(3) Operant extinction: No more learned response due to no more consequences.
(4) Reinforcement Schedule:
(a) Fixed Ratio: Reinforce a response only after a specified number of responses (i.e., pay on a
piecework, frequent fliers program)
(b) Variable ratio: Reinforce a response after unpredictable number of responses (i.e., fishing,
gambling, door to door salesperson)
(c) Fixed interval: Reinforce a response only after a specified time has elapsed (weekly
paycheck, checking cookies in the oven).
(d) Variable Interval: Reinforce a response at unpredictable intervals (i.e., unpredictable pop
quiz).
(5) Self-control processes (Not by environment but by self)
(a) Self control (i.e., turn off a stereo to study effectively)
(b) Physical restraints (i.e., close mouth by hands to stop laughing at friend’s mistake)
(c) Physical aids (i.e., drink coffee to wake up)
(d) Changing stimulus conditions (i.e., remove ash trays at home, avoid smokers)
(e) Manipulating emotional conditions (i.e., meditation to control stress. Try to be in a good
mood before a stressful meeting)
(f) Performing alternative responses (i.e., bereavementbeing busy to get rid of depressive
mood. Punching a bag to refrain self from doing behaviors that lead to punishment)
(g) Positive self-reinforcement (i.e., good gradeshopping, going to see a movie, taking a
nap)
(h) Self-punishment (i.e., bad gradegive away a valuable concert ticket)
Therapeutic Implications:
1. Behavior Modification
-Changing undesirable behaviors applying learning principles.
(Ex) aggressive behaviors, stuttering, smoking, etc.
2. Discrimination training
Writing journals about situations where a target (problem) behavior occurs
Dissociating oneself from these situations in order to decrease the target behavior.
(Ex) Eat more in school cafeteriaeat in your office.
3. Time-Out from reinforcement
Disruptive, inappropriate behaviors in day care programs
Redirection procedure: “Don’t take toys from other children and come here and listen to a
story.”
Telling a story may reinforce the disruptive behavior
Thus give Time-Out: Isolating the child from pleasant activities
But while in time-out, they may lose opportunities to observe socially proper behaviors.
Contingent Observation procedure is effective: Time-out nearby the group.
4. Response-cost procedure
Inappropriate behaviorsLose points earned.
5. Token economy
-Earn tokens for performing socially appropriate tasks.
(Ex) Food bank
6. Aversive techniques:
-When positive reinforcement techniques have tried and failed.
-Disadvantages of physical punishments
(Ex) Head-banging
7. Shaping
-Teaching a new behavior by reinforcing responses that successively approximate it.
(Ex) Mutism
Educational Implications:
-Education is about arranging the consequences of behaviors by which students learn.
-Aversive control is not effective!
Punishments:
(a) School children may work to avoid ridicules from classmates, criticism from teachers,
principal’s office, and spanking.
(b) To void punishment, they may be tardy, defiant, cursing, dropping out of school,
daydreaming classes, physically assaulting, etc.
(c) Permissiveness: Refuse to control (not leaving control to the person but to other parts of
the social and nonsocial environments).
-Teaching machine/Computer-assisted education: Learning materials that are programmed to
make sure each student to understand a point before he or she proceeds.
-Cost-efficient
-Individual progress
-Individualized contingencies
-Immediate reinforcement to each positive response.
-Remember that Rogers was against the following assumptions.
(a) Students can’t be trusted to pursue their own educational goals.
(b) Creative people develop from passive learners (i.e., professor vs. students).
(c) Evaluation is education (i.e., Prevents students from conducting the independent learning
necessary to a creative life).
-Students should set their own standards within a context of minimal evaluation by authority
figures, but 1994 federal law demands that school officials set higher standards and test students
frequently to ensure that they eventually attain required standards.