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Guide To "From Skinners To Rogers: Contrasting Approaches To Education"
Chapter 4
The Process of Learning:
Skinner’s Scientific Analysis of
Behavior
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Guide To "From Skinners To Rogers: Contrasting Approaches To Education"
The Process of Learning: Skinner’s Scientific Analysis of Behavior
In fourth chapter of “From Skinner to Rogers; Contrasting Approaches to
Education” the authors Frank Milhollan and Bill E. Forisha discuss in detail all the
aspects of conditioning and operant conditioning. Here is the comprehensive summary of
the concepts:
Two classes of behavior:
‘Reflex’ or ‘involuntary’ or ‘respondent behavior’ or ‘elicited’ [Spontaneous]
Voluntary’ or ‘operant behavior’ or ‘emitted’ [we wait for them to occur]
Pavlovian or Classical Conditioning:
 A new stimulus is paired with the one that already elicits the response
[conditioned stimulus]
 Skinner believes this kind of conditioning play little part in most human
behavior, but through operant conditioning, we learn most behaviors.
[Infant – crib
touches an objects
trial & error /accidental
tinkling sound
association
repeats behavior in
touches voluntarily to ring the sound:
operant conditioning]
Classical Conditioning:

Stimulus precedes response SR

Stimulus involve/ satisfy primary needs

Uncontrolled response (involuntary)

Little gap/ no delay between S & R. Immediate and uncontrolled response.
Operant Conditioning:
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
Stimulus follows response .RS.

Not uncontrolled response—A doorknob—we do not turn it when we see every
time but when we wait to turn it open the door.

The operant response of lifting your fork is not simply elicited by sight of food,
but depends on hunger, food preferences; others have been served or not etc.

Long delays in reinforcement is normal; Planting orchard or garden, building a
team, college or university education, learning professions i.e. doctors, teachers
etc.
Crying of a child, can be either reflex respondent or operant behavior—
respondent when stimuli ‘loss of child support’ or ‘loud noise’, but operant when
followed by food’ or care or etc & it is changed or maintained according to their response
while in ‘respondent conditioning’ it is not true.
Superstitious Behavior:
The power of a single reinforcement is well illustrated in Superstitious behavior.
 If there is only an accidental connection between the response and the
appearance of a reinforcer, the behavior is called ‘superstitious’. ……. A pigeon
was given a small amount of food every fifteen seconds regardless of what it is
doing. If reinforcement follow when it is only standing still—conditioning will
take place if again the reinforcement [food] follow that position of pigeon; then
‘operant behavior’ will be strengthened. If not other behavior will be
strengthened. Eventually ‘operant’ becomes stable. Skinner noticed pigeon
continuously moved round or stood still exhibiting superstitious behavior, while
reinforcement was based on fixed interval 15 Sec. Schedule
Our superstitions:
Watch the basketball player’s actions as he prepares for a free throw.
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Guide To "From Skinners To Rogers: Contrasting Approaches To Education"
Many of us wear a certain shirt or pair of Shoes because they ‘brought us luck’.
We carry charms or place statues on the dash board of the car for fortune / Safety.
‘Taweez’ ‘Dhaga’, ‘Naqsh’ ‘Ayat’, making black spot with lamp black on face of
child etc are no doubt superstitious behaviors for getting rid of evil forces and for
being safeguarded in our (Sindh) culture
Positive & Negative Reinforcers:
 Layman reinforcement sees as ‘reward’ but what about ‘a frown’ from a teacher
when it works and the student does well.
 ‘Food’ may be reinforcer at one time when a person needs it otherwise not.
 ‘Reinforcer’ is that consequence [stimulus] which tends to increase the frequency
of a behavior or strengthens it otherwise not.
Positive Reinforcer:
 A candy, pat on the back , smile, praise etc if it increases the frequency of an
exhibited behavior [Presenting favorable consequences]
Negative Reinforcement

It is withdrawal of favorable consequence (Removing negative consequences.)

Our behavior of doing things which save us from disturbance is strengthened
(Aspirin—headache). Our behavior of taking aspirin increases to get rid of
headache.

More examples:
We take of shoe to remove a stone.
We jump from hot sidewalk to the grass when barefooted.
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Guide To "From Skinners To Rogers: Contrasting Approaches To Education"
It is also called ‘escape’ behavior.
Aversive (unfavorable) stimulus is also relative to individual & to situations.
Extinction:
In the absence of reinforcement, the learned response (CR) gradually becomes less
frequent and eventually will extinguish.
The failure of a response to be reinforced leads not only to extinction but also to a
(emotional expression) reaction commonly called frustration.
Greater the history of intensity (frequency) of reinforcement harder will be the
extinction and vice versa.
Examples: We watch less frequently when TV shows become worse. Student’s
hand rising becomes less frequent when uncalled by the teacher.
Schedules of Reinforcement
Continuous schedule of reinforcement (Reinforcing each response, not economical)
Intermittent ( partial) Reinforcement
Two types of Intermittent Reinforcement: i) Ratio Schedule ii) Interval Schedule, or
combination of the two
Ratio Schedule of Reinforcement:
It is based on number of responses emitted. It can be of two sub-types: Fixed &
Variable Schedules
Fixed Ratio Schedule of Reinforcement: (Reinforcement on fixed no of responses)
 If it is FR10—it means each tenth response is reinforced.
Variable Ratio Schedule of Reinforcement:
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Guide To "From Skinners To Rogers: Contrasting Approaches To Education"
 The number of responses required for reinforcement varies about some mean or
average of the total responses needed. (5-30)
 Example: VR10 (if total responses required are 30) may mean that reinforcement
may occur at 8th, 17th, 30th or 5th, 10th, 30th or 11th, 19th, 25th etc.
Interval Schedule of Reinforcement:
Reinforcement depends on passage of time.
Overall rate of response is low.
Two Sub-Types: Fixed and Variable Interval Schedule of Reinforcement
Fixed Interval Schedule of Reinforcement:
 Reinforcement occurs after passage of fixed time.
 FI-15 Seconds means each reinforcement occurs after passage of 15 seconds
 Monthly tests, mid-term tests, weekly quizzes etc, & monthly salary etc are
examples.
Variable Interval Schedule of Reinforcement:
 The time of reinforcement required for varies about some mean or average of the
total available time.
 VI 10 minutes means that for thirty minutes of total time reinforcement may
occur at 8th, 15th, and 27th minute; or 5th, 15th, 30th minute etc.
Interval Schedules:
o For long time conditioning
o Highly resists to extinction.
o Overall rate of response rate is low.
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Guide To "From Skinners To Rogers: Contrasting Approaches To Education"
Ratio Schedules:
o For greater rate of response
o Example: addiction to gambling; factory workers get payment on the amount of
work done.
Fixed Interval Schedules: (Monthly tests, term papers etc.)
o No reason to work rapidly—low rate of response in the beginning and higher
rate of response at the end (Cramming), therefore unannounced exams or ‘pop
quizzes’ are also necessary in educational learning process because they work as
Variable Interval Schedule & consistent response (study) maintained.
Primary & Secondary Reinforcers:
Primary Reinforcers:
 Those which satisfy primary (basic) or physiological needs i.e. food (hunger),
water (thirst), sexual contact (sex)
 They are concerned with the well-being of organism: Shelter, favorable
temperature or weather conditions etc.
 They have biological significance.
 They play major role in learning of ‘escape’ & ‘avoidance’ learning.
Secondary Reinforcers:
 Those which satisfy secondary or ‘psychological’ or social needs i.e. others
approval or disapproval, praise, smile, love, belonging etc.
 We rarely see Primary Reinforcers in conditioning in humans as mostly humans
respond on or to social reinforcers.
Generalized Reinforcers:
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
A conditioned reinforcer becomes generalized when it has been paired with
more than one primary reinforcer.

Food, money, attention, approval, affection, etc are generalized reinforcers. We
can get other primary & secondary reinforcers from a generalized reinforce. For
example we can get material and social benefits if other is attended, approved, or
loved.

Affection is the most powerful generalized reinforcer which is used to modify
the behavior of others.
Escape Conditioning:
 Getting rid of an existing aversive situation (punishment). The response
terminates ongoing aversive conditions.
Avoidance conditioning:
 We postpone the onset of aversive stimulus (consequence). Aversive conditions
not occur.
 Much of our day-to-day behavior is avoidance. We pay taxes, we diet, we obey
traffic rules, we spray our gardens with poisons, we study for exams more to
avoid negative consequences, perhaps than to produce positive ones.
 Due to nature of avoidance conditioning, negative consequences do not occur
therefore avoidance behavior is less strongly reinforced. Eventually we fail to
emit it (avoidance). We run through a red light or drive too fast and receive
fine.

Similarly ‘empty threats’ by parents & teachers soon loose their effectiveness---because child sees that negative reinforcers (punishment) do not follow----and
thus ‘obeying responses’ extinguish.
Stimulus Generalization:
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 When similar stimuli also are effective and produce the same ‘response’.
 A round red spot one Sq inch
a yellow spot of same size
 When stimuli share common properties. i. e (size) is common in above exp.
Stimulus Discrimination:
 If there was generalization always, it would be confusing; therefore we also learn
not to generalize.
 We respond to a certain stimuli not to the other. It does so because we reinforce
only that response.
 Examples: we pick up easily the correct Bus-Number while waiting at the stop.
 We behave differently in presence of close friend than we do in the presence of
teacher or minister.
 ‘Abstraction’ is type of discrimination learning—a response comes under control
of a single ‘element’ of a stimulus that is common to many stimuli.
 Child says ‘Red’—in the presence of red ball & gets reinforcement, but when
‘Red’ says in presence of ‘Blue’ or other color-ball, he gets no reinforcement,
thus discrimination develops (or abstraction occurs).
Response Generalization:

Conditioned behavior is likely to occur in other situations. (transfer of
learning)

Aim of education is also to ensure transfer of classroom-learning to one’s
social life situations (generalization & application)

Bicycle riding appears to facilitate a motorcycle riding.
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
There must be some commonalities between classroom learning & social
situations. (curriculum must incorporate social demands)
Response Differentiation:
 To skinner the present probability of response is more important than how it
was first acquired.
 When reinforcement is contingent on the properties of the response it is called
Response Differentiation.
 Using this process, it is possible to ‘produce’ extraordinary behavior. The
extreme responses when reinforced, the constitution of class of behaviors will
change in that direction. The experimenter has to anticipate the response and
reinforce it immediately (he or she must know his subjects very well)
 However, most of behaviors are shaped towards the mean (average) rather than
the extreme ones by our parents, teachers, and peers. If we waited for perfect
articulation of a word before reinforcing a child, he might never acquire adequate
language skills. (coach—perfect team etc)
Punishment:
 In extinction behavior gradually become less frequent & extinguish, but in
punishment it rapidly extinguishes (suppresses). But it has the disadvantage for
both—the punished and the punishing agency.
 In punishment we either withdraw a positive reinforcer or present negative
reinforcer (aversive stimulus)
 The sequence is opposite in ‘punishment’ than in ‘reinforcement’.
 Punishment temporarily suppresses a behavior, when discontinued eventually
responses reappear.
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Guide To "From Skinners To Rogers: Contrasting Approaches To Education"
 Withdrawal of opportunity to obtain reinforcement (time out)—‘go to your
room’ ‘sit in the corner’ etc are examples of negative punishment.
 Presentation of aversive stimulus (consequence) is positive punishment—
scolding, slapping, putting bad-look, frowning, etc. are examples of Positive
Punishment.
Three effects of punishment:
o Suppression of behavior (behavior reappears later)
o Production of anxiety, guilt, or shame (to both parties: resulting higher
heart rate, B.P., respiration, & muscle-tension—far-reaching negative
effects)
o Production of ‘avoidance behavior’ [which ultimately result in
reappearance of punished behavior—because negative consequences are
not presented (but avoided), therefore the avoidance is extinguished
(extinction)]
Chaining/ Shaping:

Gradual learning through reinforcement. Breaking down a task to very
smaller responses to be learnt in sequence through reinforcement.

When one response produces or alters the variables which control other
response is called chaining.

Most behaviors occur in chains:
o Learning ‘counting’, or ‘language’ through letters of alphabet, walking,
dancing, graduating, learning carpentry, teaching, or doctor etc.
Imitation:

Imitation develops as the result of discriminative reinforcement.
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Guide To "From Skinners To Rogers: Contrasting Approaches To Education"

We learn behaviors through imitation & forget its origins and accept them as
inherent part of our behavior.

Language, vocalization, culture etc are more or less product of imitative
learning.

We encourage imitation: ‘watch what I do’, ‘I’ll show you’.

Vigotsky’s constructivism’s steps involve imitation:
o I do, you see, (Observation, adult-performance)
o I do, you help, (Adult-child interaction, and Scaffolding)
o You do, I help, (Assisted modeling, and Scaffolding)
o You do, I see. (Independent modeling)
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