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Operant Conditioning Burrhus Frederic Skinner (1904-90) developed the behaviourist approach called radical behaviourism. This states that psychologists should only use scientific methods to investigate animal and human behaviour. Operant Conditioning: All behaviour is learned from consequences of behaviour. The consequences of behaviour are seen as either rewarding or punishing. Behaviours that receive a reward are more likely to be repeated on similar occasions in the future. Behaviours that receive punishment are less likely to be repeated in the future and maybe extinguished entirely. Skinner conducted most of his experiments on animals such as Rats or Pigeons. He used a device called the Skinner Box. In this box a hungry rat has to learn to press a lever to obtain the reward of food. Since pressing a lever is not a normal part of a rat’s behaviour it has to learn this operation. Only if the rat presses the lever does it get the reward of food. If the rat is reinforced every time it presses the lever (continuous reinforcement), the behaviour of lever-pressing is learned, or becomes ‘stamped in’. Process of Operant Conditioning Rat approaches the lever in the Skinner box. Psychologist rewards the rat by dispensing a pellet of food. Rat presses lever and a pellet of food (reward) is automatically dispensed Rat continues to press the lever to get food (reward). Rat has learnt a new behaviour Stimulus of hunger and response of pressing the lever is rewarded with the food Note that the rat is first rewarded for approaching the lever. This is because the normal behaviour of a rat does not involve pressing levers. Pressing the lever has to be learned as a new behaviour. Differences in Operant Conditioning In Positive Reinforcement a particular behavior is strengthened by the consequence of experiencing a positive condition. For example: A hungry rat presses a bar in its cage and receives food. The food is a positive condition for the hungry rat. The rat presses the bar again, and again receives food. The rat's behavior of pressing the bar is strengthened by the consequence of receiving food. In Negative Reinforcement a particular behavior is strengthened by the consequence of stopping or avoiding a negative condition. For example: A rat is placed in a cage and immediately receives a mild electrical shock on its feet. The shock is a negative condition for the rat. The rat presses a bar and the shock stops. The rat receives another shock, presses the bar again, and again the shock stops. The rat's behavior of pressing the bar is strengthened by the consequence of stopping the shock. In Punishment a particular behavior is weakened by the consequence of experiencing a negative condition. For example: A rat presses a bar in its cage and receives a mild electrical shock on its feet. The shock is a negative condition for the rat. The rat presses the bar again and again receives a shock. The rat's behavior of pressing the bar is weakened by the consequence of receiving a shock. In Extinction a particular behavior is weakened by the consequence of not experiencing a positive condition or stopping a negative condition. For example: A rat presses a bar in its cage and nothing happens. Neither a positive nor a negative condition exists for the rat. The rat presses the bar again and again nothing happens. The rat's behavior of pressing the bar is weakened by the consequence of not experiencing anything positive or stopping anything negative.