Download Operant Conditioning

Psychology
Mr.
Hoffman
How Do We Learn
New Behaviors by
Operant Conditioning?
In operant conditioning, the
consequences of behavior,
such as rewards and
punishments, influence the
chance that our behavior will
occur again
Operant and Classical
Conditioning Compared


Classical conditioning involves the
association of two stimuli (UCS + CS)
before the response or behavior
Operant conditioning involves a reinforcing
(reward) or punishing stimulus after a
response or behavior
How Do We Learn
New Behaviors by
Operant Conditioning?

Trial-and-error learning –
Learner gradually discovers the correct
response by attempting many behaviors and
noting which ones produce the desired
consequences
Operant Conditioning
 Learning
in which an organism’s
behavior is followed by a reward or
punishment
 Organism learns to perform
behavior in order to gain a reward
or avoid a punishment
Skinner’s Radical Behaviorism

B.F. Skinner believed that the most
powerful influences on behavior are its
consequences
Elements of Operant
Conditioning

Reinforcer
A
stimulus or event that follows a behavior
and makes that behavior more likely to
occur again

Punisher
A
stimulus or event that follows a behavior
and makes that behavior less likely to
occur again
IMPORTANT!
“Reinforce” means to
increase the probability of
that response happening
again
IMPORTANT!
 “Positive”
(+) Add
 “Negative”
(-) Remove
The Power of Reinforcement
Positive reinforcers –
Stimulus presented after a response that
increases the probability of that response
happening again
 Negative reinforcers –
Removal of an unpleasant stimulus,
contingent on a particular behavior

Types of Reinforcement

Positive reinforcer
(+)
Adds something
rewarding following
a behavior, making
that behavior more
likely to occur again
 Giving a dog a treat
for fetching a ball is
an example


Negative reinforcer
(-)
Removes something
unpleasant from the
environment
following a
behavior, making
that behavior more
likely to occur again
 Torturing a prisoner
for information

The Power of Reinforcement

Primary reinforcers –
Reinforcers, such as food and sex, that have
an innate basis because of their biological
value to an organism
The Power of Reinforcement
• Secondary reinforcers –
Stimuli, such as money or tokens, that
acquire their reinforcing power by their
learned association with primary reinforcers
(also called conditioned reinforcers)
Contingencies of Reinforcement


Continuous reinforcement –
Reinforcement schedule in which all
correct responses are reinforced
Partial reinforcement –
Reinforcement schedule in which some, but
not all, correct responses are reinforced
(also called intermittent reinforcement)
Contingencies of Reinforcement

Extinction –
In operant conditioning, a process by which
a response that has been learned is
weakened by the absence or removal of
reinforcement
How does this differ from extinction in
classical conditioning?
Schedules of Reinforcement


Ratio schedules –
Provide reward after a certain number of
responses
Interval schedules –
Provide reward after a certain time interval
Fixed Ratio (FR)
Variable Ratio (VR)
Fixed Interval (FI)
Variable Interval (VI)
Schedules of Reinforcement
Fixed Ratio (FR)
Variable Ratio
(VR)
Fixed Interval
(FI)
Variable Interval
(VI)
Rewards appear after
a certain set number
of responses
e.g. factory workers
getting paid after
every 10 cases of
product are completed
Schedules of Reinforcement
Fixed Ratio (FR)
Variable Ratio
(VR)
Fixed Interval
(FI)
Variable Interval
(VI)
Rewards appear after
a certain number of
responses, but that
number varies from
trial to trial
e.g. slot machine payoffs
Schedules of Reinforcement
Fixed Ratio (FR)
Variable Ratio
(VR)
Fixed Interval
(FI)
Variable Interval
(VI)
Rewards appear after
a certain fixed amount
of time, regardless of
number of responses
e.g. weekly or monthly
paychecks
Schedules of Reinforcement
Fixed Ratio (FR)
Variable Ratio
(VR)
Fixed Interval
(FI)
Variable Interval
(VI)
Rewards appear after
a certain amount of
time, but that amount
varies from trial to
trial
e.g. random visits
from the boss who
delivers praise
Schedules of Reinforcement

Interval schedules
 Reinforcement depends on the passing of
time
 Fixed-interval schedule
 Reinforcement
follows the first behavior after
a fixed amount of time has passed
 An example would be receiving a paycheck
every two weeks
 Variable-interval
 Reinforcement
schedule
follows the first behavior after
a variable amount of time has passed
 An example would be pop quizzes
Schedules of Reinforcement

Ratio schedules
Reinforcement depends on the number of
responses made
 Fixed-ratio schedule

Reinforcement follows a fixed number of behaviors
 For example, being paid on a piecework basis


Variable-ratio schedule
Reinforcement follows a variable number of
behaviors
 An example would be playing slot machines

Response Patterns to Schedules of
Reinforcement
The Problem of Punishment
 Punishment
–
An aversive stimulus which
diminishes the strength of the
response it follows
 How does this differ from negative
reinforcement?
Punishment
Goal of punishment is to decrease the
occurrence of a behavior
 Effective punishment

 Should
occur as soon as possible after the
behavior
 Should be sufficient, i.e., strong enough
 Should be certain, occurring every time
the behavior does
 Should be consistent
Punishment vs. Negative
Reinforcement
Negative
Reinforcement
Loud Noise
Response
Consequence
Press Lever
Loud Noise
Removed
Press Lever
Loud Noise
Applied
Punishment
No Noise
The Problem of Punishment
 Positive
punishment –
The application of an aversive
stimulus after a response
• Omission training (negative
punishment) –
The removal of an appetitive
stimulus after a response
Punishment




Not as effective as reinforcement
Does not teach proper behavior, only
suppresses undesirable behavior
Causes upset that can impede learning
May give impression that inflicting pain is
acceptable
Four Kinds of Consequences
STIMULUS
+
Present
Remove
Positive or
appetitive
Negative or
aversive
Positive
Reinforcement
Punishment
Bonus for working
hard
leads to more hard
work
Negative
Reinforcement
Aspirin curing
headache causes
more aspirin use
Getting speeding ticket
leads to less speeding
Omission
Training
Missing dinner leads to
less staying out late
The Use and Abuse of Punishment


Power usually disappears when threat of
punishment is removed
Punishment




Often triggers aggression
May inhibit learning new and better
responses
Is often applied unequally
When does punishment work?
Alternatives to Punishment


Extinction
Reinforcing preferred activities


Premack principle
Prompting and shaping
How Does
Cognitive Psychology
Explain Learning?
According to cognitive
psychology, some forms of
learning must be explained
as changes in mental
processes, rather than as
changes in behavior alone
How Does
Cognitive Psychology
Explain Learning?


Insight learning –
Problem solving occurs by means of a
sudden reorganization of perceptions
Cognitive maps –
A mental representation of physical space
Observational Learning: Bandura’s
Challenge to Behaviorism

Observational learning –
Form of cognitive learning in which new
responses are acquired after watching
others’ behavior and the consequences of
their behavior
Brain Mechanisms and Learning

Long-term potentiation –
Biological process involving physical
changes that strengthen the synapses in
groups of nerve cells; believed to be the
neural basis of learning
Operant Conditioning is Selective


Operant conditioning techniques work best
with behaviors that would typically occur in
a specific situation
Superstitious behavior
Tendency to repeat behaviors that are followed
closely by a reinforcer, even if they are not
related
 For example, a particular pair of socks might
become “lucky” if something good happened
when you wore them

Learned Helplessness


Failure to try to avoid
an unpleasant stimulus
because in the past it
was unavoidable
Possible model for
depression in humans
Behavioral Change Using
Biofeedback


Biofeedback is an operant technique that
teaches people to gain voluntary control over
bodily processes like heart rate and blood
pressure
When used to control brain activity it is
called neurofeedback

Response Acquisition
Classical
conditioning
 Naturally
occurring
responses are
attached to
conditioned
stimulus by pairing
that stimulus with
the unconditioned
stimulus
 Spacing of trials

Operant conditioning
 Learning
process in
which desired
responses are
followed by
reinforcers
 Shaping, reinforcing
successive
approximations to a
target behavior, can
speed up
Extinction and Spontaneous
Classical Recovery
Operant


conditioning


US and CS are no
longer paired,
eliminating the
CR
Spontaneous
recovery occurs
when the CR
temporarily
returns without
additional
training
conditioning


Extinction occurs
when reinforcement
is stopped,
eliminating the
conditioned
behavior
Spontaneous
recovery occurs
when behavior
temporarily returns
without additional
training

Generalization and
Discrimination
Classical
Operant

conditioning

Stimulus
generalization


Organism learns
to respond to
other similar
stimuli
Stimulus
discrimination

Organism learns
to respond only
to specific
stimuli
conditioning

Response
generalization


Stimulus
generates similar
responses
Response
discrimination

Only specific
responses are
reinforced in the
presence of
specific stimuli
New Learning Based on Original
Learning
 Higher-Order Conditioning in
Classical Conditioning
 New
conditioning based on earlier
conditioning
 Earlier CS is used as a US for further
training
 Desensitization is based on this
principle
New Learning Based on Original
Learning

Secondary reinforcers in operant
conditioning

Primary reinforcer
Intrinsically rewarding
 Food, water, sex


Secondary reinforcer
Acquire rewarding properties by being associated
with primary reinforcers
 Provide ability to obtain primary reinforcer
 Example would be money

Contingencies in Classical
Conditioning


Research has shown that a CS must provide
information about the US in order for
conditioning to occur
This predictive relationship between the CS
and US is referred to as a contingency
Contingencies in Operant
Conditioning


Behaviors that are reinforced intermittently
are more resistant to extinction
Most behavior is reinforced with some type
of intermittent schedule
Cognitive Learning


Learning that depends on mental activity
that is not directly observable
Involves such processes as attention,
expectation, thinking, and memory
Latent Learning and Cognitive Maps

Latent learning is learning that takes place
before the subject realizes it and is not
immediately reflected in behavior

A cognitive map is latent learning stored as
a mental image
Insight and Learning Sets

Insight is when learning seems to occur in a
sudden “flash” as elements of a situation
come together

Learning sets refer to increasing
effectiveness at problem solving through
experience, i.e., organisms “learn how to
learn”

Learning by
Observing
Social learning theory focuses on what we
learn from observing other people
 Observational or vicarious learning occurs
when we see the consequences of other
people’s behavior
 Vicarious reinforcement or vicarious
punishment affects the willingness of
people to perform behaviors they learned
by watching others
Cognitive Learning in
Nonhumans
 Nonhumans
are capable of
classical and operant conditioning
 Nonhumans are also capable of
latent learning
 Research has also demonstrated
that animals are capable of
observational learning