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n chapter 2 we examine behavioral learning theories and applications that derive mostly from
Skinner's work. He agreed with Watson's idea that psychology should only be concerned with
objective data on behavior. Skinner's ideas center on the idea of reinforcement.
QUESTION : How does skinner's idea of reinforcement differ from Pavlov's idea about classical
conditioning?
(Hint: For example, when a bell rings, which types of subsequent behaviors are classically
conditioned and which are operantly conditioned? )
Skinner's ideas are pretty controversial to many. There is plenty to criticize as well as praise in
behaviorism. Let's think about the positive and negative aspects of his theory and applications.
Here are two positives. Skinner believed in the elimination of the use of punishment and the
power of positive consequences at home and in school.
QUESTION: What are some other positives regarding Skinner's ideas that you know of?
Here are two negatives suggested by critics: 1 -- Paying kids (reinforcement) or even giving
them points or pizza for reading is bribery – it sends the wrong message and makes supports the
idea that they need to get something more for any learning effort. 2 -- Teaching machines or
computer-based instruction "dehumanizes" the learning process.
QUESTION: What are some other negatives regarding Skinner's ideas that you can think of?
There are some important distinctions among behavioral applications such as positive
reinforcement, negative reinforcement, presentation punishment, and removal punishment.
POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT is the most easily understood in that it involves giving someone
something satisfying to get them to engage in a desired behavior again. Reinforcement can
include money, candy, food, praise, or attention. The most frequent problem with this principle,
in general, is that people often use inappropriate reinforcers that, by definition, are not actually
reinforcers, such as giving someone praise when they do not like receiving praise in public. Too
much reliance on material reinforcers can also set up an undesired expectation for reinforcement.
It can also undermine pre-existing motivation.
QUESTION: In what type of situations could positive reinforcement "undermine" pre-existing
motivation to behave in a desirable way?
PRESENATION PUNISHMENT is what we typically think of as punishment, such as scolding,
spanking, detention or anything aversive to get someone to stop an undesired behavior. Again, a
common problem with presentation punishment is that some punishments are actually
reinforcing to people, and generally, as Skinner pointed out, punishment is much less effective
than reinforcement, particularly in the long run.
QUESTION: What is a situation where punishment may be the best alternative?
NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT is one principle that people often confused. It deals with
getting rid of, or avoiding something aversive in order to increase a desired behavior. For
instance, doing homework to get rid of guilty feelings, the possibility of failure, or someone
nagging you. As a teacher, allowing students out of spelling practice if they get and A on their
spelling test. A caution: In school, teachers should be careful about supporting the idea that
certain tasks are aversive, such as homework or other types of studying. That is, letting them get
out of doing homework supports the idea that homework is undesirable, rather than a potentially
stimulating or useful experience. If homework is not a potentially stimulating or useful
experience, ask yourself why that is.
QUESTION: What are some other examples of Negative Reinforcement?
REMOVAL PUNISHMENT, aka REINFORCEMENT REMOVAL is often confused with
Presentation Punishment or Negative Reinforcement. It deals with losing something desirable as
a consequence of an undesirable behavior. So, like Presentation punishment, it is used to help get
rid of undesired behaviors. Traffic tickets are an example. A traffic ticket, a fine, losing points,
or losing tokens are all types of removal punishment called response cost. Time-out is also a
removal punishment. Removal punishments and negative reinforcements are usually considered
to be better first steps than punishment because the child, for example, typically has more
control, and is less likely to experience learned helplessness.
QUESTION: Why is time-out so often ineffective for many teachers?
One reason, among other possibilities, is that well intentioned people are calling their approach
"time out" only because they think they are using time out, when in fact they are not--they are
often using reinforcement without realizing it, thus giving time-out a bad name.
In order to initiate new behaviors we have Shaping, Chaining, Fading procedures.
SHAPING involves rewarding behaviors that are not quite complete but "almost there"., such as
rewarding some sort of progress, or getting a piece of the ball with the bat, for instance. The idea
is that one may not want to wait for the perfect behavior to exist before rewarding.
QUESTION: What are some other examples of shaping?
CHAINING involves learning complex behaviors by linking together a long sequence of actions.
This requires first doing a task analysis to break down each little task in the complex behavior, to
allow the learner to focus on each little task as you link or chain them together. This is often
effective with students who have cognitive disabilities for doing things like getting dressed.
Animals are often trained in this way, also. Still, it can be useful with anybody for learning that
involves many parts.
QUESTION: What are some other examples of chaining?
FADING is the gradual elimination of assistance such as when you teach kids to write by having
them trace dashed versions of the letters, then fading them away as they get better. Or it can be
used with something like rope climbing.
QUESTION: How could you teach rope-climbing, for example, using fading?
Fixed Interval, Fixed Ratio, Variable Interval, Variable Ratio are four schedules of
reinforcement. Fixed can mean predictable or consistently, while Variable can mean
unpredictable or intermittently. Variable schedules of reinforcement usually lead to more
consistent responding by people and animals.
QUESTION: Why do variable schedules of reinforcement lead to more consistent responding
and what is an example with children?
Other Applications of behaviorism that you are probably familiar with include:
Classroom Management, catch-em-being-good, rules-ignore-praise, Instructional Objectives, and
Self-Paced Instruction.
Summary of thinking questions to consider from Chapter 2:
QUESTION : How does skinner's idea of reinforcement differ from Pavlov's idea about classical
conditioning?
QUESTION: What are some other positives regarding Skinner's ideas that you know of?
QUESTION: What are some other negatives regarding Skinner's ideas that you can think of?
QUESTION: In what type of situations could positive reinforcement "undermine" pre-existing
motivation to behave in a desirable way?
QUESTION: What is a situation where punishment may be the best alternative?
QUESTION: What are some other examples of Negative Reinforcement?
QUESTION: Why is time-out so often ineffective for many teachers?
QUESTION: What are some other examples of shaping?
QUESTION: What are some other examples of chaining?
QUESTION: How could you teach rope-climbing, for example, using fading?
QUESTION: Why do variable schedules of reinforcement lead to more consistent responding
and what is an example with children?