Download Chapter 6: Learning (Operant Conditioning)

OPERANT CONDITIONING:
Learning the Consequences of Behavior
OPERANT CONDITIONING the process through which an organism learns to respond to
the environment in a way that produces positive consequences and avoids negative ones.
Edward Thorndike’s PUZZLE BOX
using a cat in a box with several strings and levers, Thorndike devised a “puzzle box” in
which the animal had to perform tasks ranging from simple to complex to escape from the
box and receive a reward.
The cat had to correctly figure out what behaviors would allow it to get out of the box and
receive the food on the other side.
Thorndike believed the behaviors that didn’t result in escape and reward would be
stamped out (weakened) and those that DID have a positive result would be stamped in
(strengthened) and remembered forever and utilized in future similar situations.
This is the basis of the theory known as the law of effect which states behaviors resulting
in rewards are strengthened while behaviors that do no result in rewards are weakened.
Thorndike described this kind of learning as instrumental conditioning because responses
are strengthened when they are instrumental (essential or influential) in producing
rewards.
A Puzzle Box
OPERANT CONDITIONING:
Learning the Consequences of Behavior
OPERANT CONDITIONING the process through which an organism learns to respond to
the environment in a way that produces positive consequences and avoids negative ones.
B. F. Skinner’s SKINNER BOX
Skinner expounded upon Thorndike’s theory by emphasizing that an organism learns a
response by trying actions that operate on the environment (operant conditioning)
An operant is a response or a behavior that affects the world; it is a response that
“operates” on the environment.
Skinner devised the “Skinner box” to analyze how behavior is changed by its
consequences.
In the Skinner box, learning was measured in terms of whether an animal successfully
completed a trial (got out of the box).
The Skinner box measured learning in terms of how often an animal responded during a
specified period of time.
A Skinner Box
OPERANT CONDITIONING:
Learning the Consequences of Behavior
According to Skinner, how a subject interacts with it’s environment is based primarily on the
reinforcement or punishment the subject received.
PUNISHMENT a stimulus that, when made contingent on a behavior, decreases the strength of
the exhibited behavior
acts as a deterrent to behavior
e.g., ______________________________
REINFORCER a stimulus that, when made contingent on a behavior, increases the strength of the
exhibited behavior, increases the strength of the exhibited behavior
necessary for the continuation of a behavior
primary reinforcers any reinforcing stimuli that satisfies a biological need (food, water, sex,
warmth, etc.)
secondary (conditioned) reinforcers any previously neutral stimuli that have gained
reinforcement value after being associated with another reinforcer (grades, money, praise, etc.)
OPERANT CONDITIONING:
Learning the Consequences of Behavior
Skinner believed ALL behavior could be explained in one of four ways: positive reinforcement,
negative reinforcement, positive punishment, and negative punishment.
“Skinner Squares”
The Big Bang Theory
Appetitive (Desirable Stimulus)
Aversive (Undesirable Stimulus)
Positive Reinforcement
Positive Punishment
presenting a liked stimulus, behavior INCREASES
EXAMPLES:
money for good grades
pay raise for good job performance
praise and recognition for good behaviors
Negative Punishment (Omission)
removing a liked stimulus, behavior DECREASES
EXAMPLES:
grounded for breaking curfew
“timeout” for bad behavior
losing recess time for not having homework
presenting a disliked stimulus, behavior DECREASES
EXAMPLES:
spanking for misbehavior
washing mouth out with soap for using foul language
scolding and criticism for poor behaviors
Negative Reinforcement
removing a disliked stimulus, behavior INCREASES
EXAMPLES:
fewer chores for doing well on a test
early parole for good behavior in prison
semester test exemption for perfect attendance
OPERANT CONDITIONING:
Escape and Avoidance Conditioning
ESCAPE CONDITIONING occurs as an organism learns to respond to stop an aversive stimulus.
e.g., To “terminate” intense cold, person may turn up the heat in his home.
e.g., ______________________________
AVOIDANCE CONDITIONING occurs when an organism responds to a signal in a way that avoids
exposure to an aversive stimulus that has not yet arrived.
e.g., To avoid the intense cold of winter, a person may fly to a warmer environment when the
leaves have fallen from the trees but before it turns cold.
e.g., ______________________________
Avoidance conditioning is one of the most important influences on everyday behavior.
Why? ______________________________
Avoidance is a very difficult habit to break, partly because avoidance responses are often
reinforced by fear reduction. Avoidance also prevents learning of alternative behaviors.
e.g., People who avoid escalators never find out they are safe.
e.g., ______________________________
OPERANT CONDITIONING:
Discriminative Stimuli and Stimuli Control
STIMULUS DISCRIMINATION occurs when an organism learns to make a particular
response in the presence of one stimulus but not another.
When this occurs, the response is under stimulus control.
e.g., Although you are repeatedly rewarded for telling jokes during lunch, you are not
likely to do so at a funeral.
e.g., ______________________________
STIMULUS GENERALIZATION occurs in operant conditioning when organisms perform a
response in the presence of a stimulus that is similar (but not identical) to the one that
previously signaled the availability of reinforcement.
e.g., You might hold the door open for different people (of different ages, gender,
ethnicity) as you enter the building the same time they do.
e.g., ______________________________
Stimulus discrimination and stimulus generalization work together in operant conditioning.
We sometimes differentiate our behaviors based on the particular circumstance
(discrimination), but we also categorize some behaviors because the rewards for those
behaviors are similar (generalization).
OPERANT CONDITIONING:
Forming Operant Behavior
SHAPING
Forming operant behavior may require multiple trials during which
SHAPING is important.
SHAPING involves creating a new behavior based on a sequence of
rewarding behaviors that come closer and closer to the ultimate
behavioral goal (successive approximations)
e.g., teaching a child to make his bed competently
1. reward for pulling up covers
2. then reward for pulling up covers smoothly
3. then reward for pulling up covers and bedspread
4. finally reward for pulling up covers and bedspread without
wrinkles
OPERANT CONDITIONING:
Forming Operant Behavior
SECONDARY REINFORCEMENT
PRIMARY REINFORCERS (food, water) are innately rewarding.
SECONDARY REINFORCERS are rewards people or animals learn to
like.
A secondary reinforcer (also known as a conditioned reinforcer is a
previously neutral stimulus that when paired with a stimulus that is
already reinforcing will take on reinforcing properties.
Secondary reinforcers can greatly enhance the power of operant
conditioning BUT vary in effectiveness from person to person and from
culture to culture.
e.g., Money alone has no innate value but having it allows a person to
buy food and other comfort items.
OPERANT CONDITIONING:
Forming Operant Behavior
DELAY AND SIZE OF REINFORCEMENT
The timing of reinforcement is important.
In general, the the effect of a reinforcer is stronger when it comes
soon after a response occurs.
The size of the reinforcement is also important.
In general, operant conditioning creates more vigorous, or intense,
behavior when the reinforcer is large than when it is small.