Download skinner theory of operent conditioning and shaping

LEARNING AND TEACHING
B.F.SKINNER THEORY OF
OPERENT CONDITIONING AND
SHAPING
Sasikala.M
B.Ed Ist year
English
Meaning of Operant Conditioning
Operant conditioning:
 a process that attempts to modify behavior
 through the use of positive and negative
reinforcement
 Through operant conditioning, an
individual makes an association between a
particular behavior and a consequence.
Meaning of Shaping
 Shaping:
 It is a conditioning paradigm used primarily
in the experimental analysis ofbehavior.
 The method used is differential
reinforcement of successive
approximations.
 It was introduced by B.F. Skinner with
pigeons and extended to dogs, dolphins,
humans and other species
Burrhus Frederic Skinner
 Father of Operant Conditioning
 Skinner believed that the best way to understand
behavior is to look at the causes of an action and its
consequences. He called this approach operant
conditioning.
 Skinner work was based on Thorndike’s (1905) Law
of Effect.
 Skinner introduced a new term into the Law of Effect
- Reinforcement.
 Behavior which is reinforced tends to be repeated
(i.e. strengthened); behavior which is not reinforced
tends to die out-or be extinguished (i.e. weakened).
Skinner box
 Skinner conducted his famous experiment by
placing a hungry rat in a box called after his
name ‘Skinner box’
 This box was containing a lever and a food
tray in a corner of the box. It was so arranged,
that the animal was free to move inside the
box, but the pressing of the lever would get
the animal a pallet of food in the tray as
reinforcement.
 Arrangement was also made to record the
number of pressings of the lever by a
mechanical device.
 It was found in the beginning that the rat
pressed the lever occasionally and used to get
food as reinforcement for each pressing.
 Gradually, as the animal learnt the pressing of
lever would give some food, it repeated the
responses very rapidly.
 This rapid increase in pressing the lever is the
indication of the animal conditioned to get
food.
 In day-to-day’s life also, much learning takes
place in animals as well as in human beings
by this method.
 The reinforcement will be the motivating
factor. It will make the organism to repeat its
action.
Operant conditioning video
The Three types of Responses or
Operant
 Neutral operants: responses from the
environment that neither increase nor decrease the
probability of a behavior being repeated.
 Reinforcers: Responses from the environment
that increase the probability of a behavior being
repeated. Reinforcers can be either positive or
negative.
 Punishers: Responses from the environment that
decrease the likelihood of a behavior being
repeated. Punishment weakens behavior.
Positive Reinforcement
 Positive reinforcers are favorable events or outcomes
that are given to the individual after the desired
behavior. This may come in the form of praise,
rewards, etc..
 Skinner showed how positive reinforcement worked
by placing a hungry rat in his Skinner box
Negative Reinforcement
 Negative reinforcers typically are characterized by
the removal of an undesired or unpleasant outcome
after the desired behavior. A response is strengthened
as something considered negative is removed
 Skinner showed how negative reinforcement worked
by placing a rat in his Skinner box and then
subjecting it to an unpleasant electric current.
 The goal in both of these cases of reinforcement is
for the behavior to increase
POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE
PUNISHMENT
 Punishment is defined as the opposite of
reinforcement since it is designed to weaken or
eliminate a response rather than increase it.
 Positive punishment is when unfavorable events or
outcomes are given in order to weaken the response
that follows
 Negative punishment is characterized by when an
favorable event or outcome is removed after a
undesired behavior occurs
 The goal in both of these cases of punishment is for a
behavior to decrease
Behavior Shaping
 According to Skinner (1951) Shaping is the notion of
behaviour shaping through successive approximation
 Shaping is a conditioning paradigm used primarily
in the experimental analysis of behaviour.
 Skinner proved this using a Bird in a Cage.
 Skinner says,” it is constructed by a continual
process of differential reinforcement from
undifferentiated behavior, just as the sculptor shapes
his figure from a lump of clay”