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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