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MODULE 21 PREVIEW
While in classical conditioning we learn to associate two stimuli, in operant conditioning we learn to
associate a response and its consequence. Skinner showed that rats and pigeons could be shaped through
reinforcement to display successively closer approximations of a desired behavior. Researchers have also
studied the effects of positive and negative reinforcers, primary and conditioned reinforcers, and
immediate and delayed reinforcers. Critics point to research on latent learning and overjustification to
support their claim that Skinner underestimated the importance of cognitive constraints. Although
Skinner’s emphasis on external control also stimulated much debate regarding human freedom and the
ethics of managing people, his operant principles are being applied in schools, businesses, and homes.
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES
1. To present the principles and processes involved in operant conditioning.
2. To update the basic principles of operant conditioning in order to account for cognitive processes and
biological constraints.
3. To demonstrate the applications of operant conditioning.
MODULE GUIDE
Skinner’s Experiments
1. Describe the process of operant conditioning, including the procedure of shaping, as demonstrated by
Skinner’s experiments.
Operant conditioning involves operant behavior that actively operates on the environment to produce
stimuli. Skinner’s work elaborated a simple fact of life that Edward Thorndike called the law of effect:
Rewarded behavior is likely to recur. In his experiments involving an operant chamber (Skinner box),
Skinner used shaping, a procedure in which rewards, such as food, guide an animal’s natural behavior
toward a desired behavior. By rewarding responses that are ever closer to the final desired behavior, and
ignoring all other responses, researchers can gradually shape complex behaviors.
Films: Learning and Behavior; B. F. Skinner and Behavior Change
PsychSim: Operant Conditioning
Transparency: 101 Ways to Increase Behavior
2. Identify the different types of reinforcers, and describe major schedules of partial reinforcement.
A reinforcer is any event that increases the frequency of a preceding response. Reinforcers can be
positive (presenting a pleasant stimulus after a response) or negative (reducing or removing an
unpleasant stimulus), primary (innately satisfying) or conditioned (learned), and immediate or delayed.
When the desired response is reinforced every time it occurs, continuous reinforcement is involved. More
common are partial (intermittent) reinforcement schedules. Fixed-ratio schedules reinforce behavior after
a set number of responses; variable-ratio schedules provide reinforcers after an unpredictable number of
responses. Fixed-interval schedules reinforce the first response after a fixed time interval and variableinterval schedules reinforce the first response after varying time intervals. Partial reinforcement produces
slower acquisition of the target behavior than does continuous reinforcement, but the learning is more
resistant to extinction.
Lectures: Examples of Negative Reinforcement; The Self-Injurious Behavior Inhibiting System
Exercises: Consideration of Future Consequences Scale; Partial Reinforcement Schedules
Transparency: 102 Intermittent Reinforcement Schedules
3. Discuss the effects of punishment on behavior.
Like reinforcement, punishment is most effective when strong, immediate, and consistent. However,
punishment is not simply the logical opposite of reinforcement, for it can have several undesirable side
effects, such as increased aggression and fear of the punisher. Even when punishment suppresses
unwanted behavior, it often does not guide one toward more desirable behavior.
Exercise: Negative Reinforcement Versus Punishment
Updating Skinner’s Understanding
4. Discuss the importance of cognitive processes and biological predispositions in operant
conditioning.
Many psychologists have criticized Skinner for underestimating the importance of cognitive and
biological constraints. For example, rats exploring a maze seem to develop a mental representation (a
cognitive map) of the maze even in the absence of reward. Their latent learning becomes evident only
when there is some incentive to demonstrate it.
PsychSim: Maze Learning
Video: Patient Like the Chipmunks
The cognitive perspective has also led to an important qualification concerning the power of rewards.
The overjustification effect indicates that people may come to see rewards, rather than intrinsic interest,
as the motivation for performing a task. By undermining intrinsic interest, rewards can carry hidden
costs.
As with classical conditioning, an animal’s natural predispositions constrain its capacity for operant
conditioning.
Lecture: The Overjustification Effect
Skinner’s Legacy
5. Explain why Skinner’s ideas were controversial, and describe some major applications of operant
conditioning.
Skinner has been criticized for repeatedly insisting that external influences, not internal thoughts and
feelings, shape behavior and for urging the use of operant principles to control people’s behavior. Critics
argue that he dehumanized people by neglecting their personal freedom and by seeking to control their
actions. Skinner countered: People’s behavior is already controlled by external reinforcers, so why not
administer those consequences for human betterment?
Operant principles have been applied in a variety of settings. For example, in schools, online testing
systems and interactive student software embody the operant ideal of individualized shaping and
immediate reinforcement. In businesses, positive reinforcement for jobs well done has boosted employee
productivity. In the home, people’s use of energy has been decreased by altering the consequences and
providing feedback.
Lectures: Beyond Freedom and Dignity; Transforming Couch Potatoes With Operant Conditioning; Superstitious Behavior;
Walden Two, Los Horcones, and the Twin Oaks Communities (and Their Web Sites)
Projects: Conditioning the Instructor’s Behavior; Modifying an Existing Behavior
Transparency: 87 Comparison of Classical and Operant Conditioning
Films/Videos: The Power of Positive Reinforcement; A World of Differences—B. F. Skinner and the Good Life; Token
Economy:Behaviorism Applied; Behavioral Treatment of Autistic Children