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The Neoanalytic Perspective: Psychosocial Theories The Learning Perspective: Conditioning Theories Theories of Personality Chapters 11 &12 April 4, 2003 Class #10 Erik Erikson (1902-1994) Erikson was a follower of Sigmund Freud who broke with his teacher over the fundamental point of what motivates or drives human behavior… For Freud it was biology or more specifically the biological instincts of life and aggression For Erikson, who was not trained in biology and/or the medical sciences the most important force driving human behavior and the development of personality was social interaction Erikson’s Biography Erikson was born in 1902 near Frankfort, Germany to Danish parents There is a little mystery about his heritage: His biological father was an unnamed Danish man who abandoned Erik's mother before he was born His mother, Karla Abrahamsen, was a young Jewish woman who raised him alone for the first three years of his life She then married Dr. Theodor Homberger, who was Erik's pediatrician, and moved to Karlsruhe in southern Germany Erikson’s Biography During his childhood, and his early adulthood, he was Erik Homberger, and his parents kept the details of his birth a secret So here he was, a tall, blond, blue-eyed boy who was also Jewish At temple school, the kids teased him for being Nordic; at grammar school, they teased him for being Jewish Erikson’s Biography He studied art and a variety of languages during his school years, rather than science courses such as biology and chemistry He did not prefer the atmosphere that formal schooling produced, so instead of going to college he traveled around Europe, keeping a diary of his experiences After a year of doing this, he returned to Germany and enrolled in art school After several years, Erikson began to teach art and other subjects to children of Americans who had come to Vienna for Freudian training Erikson’s Biography He was then admitted into the Vienna Psychoanalytic Institute In 1933 he came to the U.S. and became Boston's first child analyst and obtained a position at the Harvard Medical School Later on, he also held positions at institutions including Yale, Berkeley, and the Menninger Foundation When he became an American citizen, he officially changed his name to Erik Erikson – No-one seems to know where he got the name Erikson then returned to California to the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Palo Alto and later the Mount Zion Hospital in San Francisco, where he was a clinician and psychiatric consultant Erikson’s Biography He then spent ten years working and teaching at a clinic in Massachussets, and ten years more back at Harvard After retiring in 1970, he wrote and did research with his wife Some of the information and pictures on Erikson taken from the following website: http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/erikson.htm l Developmental Theory Felt we developed in psychosocial stages… Emphasized developmental change throughout the human life span In Erikson’s theory, eight stages of development unfold as we go through the life span Each stage consists of a crisis that must be face According to Erikson, this crisis is not a catastrophe but a turning point of increased vulnerability and enhanced potential The more an individual resolves the crises successfully, the healthier development will be Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development Trust vs. Mistrust Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt Initiative vs. Guilt Industry vs. Inferiority Identity vs. Role Confusion Intimacy vs. Isolation Generativity vs. Stagnation Integrity vs. Despair Trust vs. Mistrust Experienced in the first year of life… A sense of trust requires a feeling of physical comfort and a minimal amount of fear and apprehension about the future Trust in infancy sets the stage for a lifelong expectation that the world will be a good and pleasant place to live Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt Occurs in late infancy and toddlerhood (1-3 years)… They start to assert their sense of independence, or autonomy They realize their will If infants are restrained too much or punished too harshly, they are likely to develop a sense of shame and doubt Initiative vs. Guilt Occurs during the preschool years… As preschool children encounter a widening social world, they are challenged more than when they were infants Active, purposeful behavior is needed to cope with these challenges Children are asked to assume responsibility for their bodies, their behavior, their toys, and their pets Developing a sense of responsibility increases initiative Uncomfortable guilt feelings may arise, though, if the child is irresponsible and is made to feel too anxious Erikson has a positive outlook on this stage… He believes that most guilt is quickly compensated for by a sense of accomplishment Industry vs. Inferiority From about age 5 to puberty… Children develop a sense of industry and curiosity and are eager to learn Or they feel inferior and lose interest in the tasks before them Identity vs. Role Confusion Adolescents come to see themselves as unique and integrated persons with an ideology Or they become confused about what they want out of life Intimacy vs. Isolation Individuals experience this during the early adulthood years… At this time, individuals face the developmental task of forming intimate relationships with others Erikson describes intimacy as finding oneself yet losing oneself in another If the young adult forms healthy friendships and an intimate relationship with another individual, intimacy will be achieved; if not, isolation will result Generativity vs. Stagnation Individuals experience this during middle adulthood… A chief concern is to assist the younger generation in developing and leading useful lives… •This is what Erikson means by generativity The feeling of having done nothing to help the next generation is stagnation Ego Integrity vs. Despair Individuals experience this during late adulthood In the later year of life, we look back and evaluate what we have done with our lives Through many different routes, the older person may have developed a positive outlook in most of all of the previous stages of development If so, the retrospective glances will reveal a picture of a life well spent, and the person will feel a sense of satisfaction-integrity will be achieved If the older adult resolved many of the earlier stages negatively, the retrospective glances likely will yield doubt or gloom- the despair Erikson talks about Parenting Styles Authoritarian Permissive Relatively strict, punitive, and unsympathetic Give their children complete freedom Authoritative Reason with their children Firm but understanding Falls between the two extremes Ainsworth et al. (1978) The "strange situation" is a laboratory procedure used to assess infant attachment style The procedure consists of eight episodes The “Strange Situation" 1. Parent and infant are introduced to the experimental room 2. Parent and infant are alone. Parent does not participate while infant explores 3. Stranger enters, converses with parent, then approaches infant. Parent leaves inconspicuously 4. First separation episode: Stranger's behavior is geared to that of infant 5. First reunion episode: Parent greets and comforts infant, then leaves again 6. Second separation episode: Infant is alone The “Strange Situation" 7. Continuation of second separation episode: Stranger enters and gears behavior to that of infant 8. Second reunion episode: Parent enters, greets infant, and picks up infant; stranger leaves inconspicuously The infant's behavior upon the parent's return is the basis for classifying the infant into one of several attachment categories (see next slides)… Secure Attachment Most infants in the Strange Situation display a secure attachment to the mother In the unfamiliar room, they use the mother as the “home base” – leaving her to explore and play but returning periodically for comfort or contact When the mother returns after the brief separation, the infants are happy to see her These mother-child pairs are usually have harmonious relations at home as well Anxious Insecure Attachment Some infants display this in one of the following forms: Avioidant • They avoid or ignore the mother when she approaches or when she returns after the brief separation Ambivalent • They are upset when the mother leaves, but when she returns they act angry and reject her efforts at contact and don’t like to be picked up Disorganized • Their behavior is inconsistent, disturbed, and disturbing – when the mother returns they begin to cry again or sometimes they reach towards the mother but look away as they do so Implications… Compared with insecurely attached children, those who are securely attached tend to be more socially and emotionally competent, more cooperative, enthusiastic, playful, report being less lonely, and generally are more successful Is there such a thing as a midlife crisis? At least for men there seems to be? Many developmental theorists now feel that men continue to change, psychologically, during their adult life In a sense, men experience two adulthoods The first extends from the end of puberty until the forties Then many men experience "the midlife crisis" or the "Corvette syndrome" or a psychological "male menopause“ This can become a very difficult period of transition for men and women which, if successfully resolved, leads into a man's second adulthood Conditioning Theories Chapter 12 Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior due to experience We learn primarily by identifying relationships between events and noting regularity of patterns in our world Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) Was a research physiologist, not a psychologist At age 33, earns MD degree Spends next 20 years studying the digestive system Russia’s first Nobel Prize winner in 1904 Very impressive stuff but not what he’s remembered for… Rather its his novel work done over the final 30 years of his life that earns him his place in scientific history Sometimes its just better to be lucky… Pavlov serendipitously discovers the conditioning response He’s working on digestive system and is measuring the amount of saliva his dogs were producing when food was presented to them… But then “psychic secretions” start messing up his experiments Ivan Pavlov First, considered them as an annoyance but then realized he had stumbled onto something of even greater importance… Devotes rest of life until his death at age 86 exclusively to the study of learning Classical Conditioning Important Terms Acquisition Initial learning of the stimulus-response relationship Neutral stimulus (NS) In classical conditioning, the NS does not initially elicit the response that is being studied Unconditioned stimulus (UCS) In classical conditioning, this is the stimulus that elicits the unconditioned response (UR) without conditioning Classical Conditioning Important Terms Conditioned stimulus (CS) In classical conditioning, this is the stimulus which comes to elicit a new response by virtue of pairings with the unconditioned stimulus Unconditioned response (UCR) In classical conditioning, the automatic (involuntary), unlearned reaction to a stimulus Conditioned response (CR) A learned response elicited as a result of pairings between that NS and an UCS Classical Conditioning Behaviors that are classically conditioned are those which involve the learning of involuntary (reflexive) responses -- responses over which the learner has no control and to which he or she responds reflexively or "automatically“ Examples include a dog salivating at the sound of the dinner bell, a horse flinching or shying away at a blowing piece of paper, someone becoming nauseous at sight of "creamylooking" food when mayonnaise once made them ill, etc. Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning Experiments UCS ------------------------------------------- UCR (food) (salivation) NS -------------------------------------------- NO RESPONSE (tone) (no salivation) NS + UCS ----------------------------------- UCR (tone) (food) (salivation) This is repeated several times… CS --------------------------------------------- CR (tone) (salivation) Classical Conditioning: Extinction The decline or disappearance of the CR in the absence of the UCS Classical Conditioning Extinction UCS ---------------------------------------------- UCR NS ----------------------------------------------- NO RESPONSE NS + UCS ---------------------------------------- UCR *Repeated several times CS ------------------------------------------------- CR Extinction process is initiated: CS CS CS CS ---------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------- CR CR CR CR Eventually we get……….. NS -------------------------------------------- NO RESPONSE (tone) (no salivation) Classical Conditioning: Reconditioning Quick relearning of conditioned response after the extinction trials Classical Conditioning Reconditioning UCS ---------------------------------------------------- UCR NS ----------------------------------------------------- NO RESPONSE NS + UCS --------------------------------------------- UCR * Repeated several times CS ---------------------------------------------- CR CS ---------------------------------------------- CR CS ---------------------------------------------- CR CS ---------------------------------------------- CR NS --------------------------------------------- NO RESPONSE Reconditioning process is initiated: NS + UCS -------------------------------------- UCR CS ---------------------------------------------- CR Classical Conditioning: Spontaneous Recovery An extinguished CR will temporarily reappear if after a time delay the CS is presented again even without the UCS This is a reappearance of a CR after extinction despite no further CS-UCS pairings Classical Conditioning: Stimulus Generalization After a CR is acquired, stimuli that are similar but not identical to the CS also will elicit the response – but to a lesser degree The greater the similarity between a new stimulus and the CS the stronger the CR will be Classical Conditioning Generalization UCS -------------------------------------------- UCR (food) (salivation) NS + UCS ------------------------------------ UCR (low tone) (food) (salivation) * Repeated several times NS + UCS ------------------------------------- UCR (medium tone) (food) (salivation) *Repeated several times NS + UCS -------------------------------------- UCR (high tone) (food) (salivation) * Repeated several times Classical Conditioning Generalization CS -------------------------------------------- CR (high tone) (salivation) CS -------------------------------------------- CR (low tone) (salivation) CS -------------------------------------------- CR (medium tone) (salivation) Classical Conditioning: Stimulus Discrimination Organisms learn to differentiate among similar stimuli In Pavlov's early experiments he could get dogs to discriminate between the pitches of certain tones Classical Conditioning: Discrimination UCS ------------------------------------------------------ UCR (food) (salivation) NS ---------------------------------------------- NO RESPONSE (low tone) (no salivation) NS ---------------------------------------------- NO RESPONSE (medium tone) (no salivation) NS ---------------------------------------------- NO RESPONSE (high tone) (no salivation) NS + UCS ----------------------------------------------- UCR (high tone) (food) (salivation) * Repeated several times Classical Conditioning Discrimination CS ------------------------------------------------------ CR (high tone) (salivation) NS --------------------------------------------- NO RESPONSE (low tone) (no salivation) NS --------------------------------------------- NO RESPONSE (medium tone) (no salivation) CS --------------------------------------------------------- CR (high tone) (salivation) Classical Conditioning: Second-order conditioning Phase 1: UCS (Food) NS NS + UCS (Tone/Food) * Repeated several times CS (Tone) Phase 2: UCS/CS (Light/Tone) * Repeated several times Phase 3: UCS (Light) UCR (salivation) NO RESPONSE UCR (salivation) CR (salivation) CR (salivation) What do you think happens? Second-order conditioning Here’s a summary of previous slide: Phase 1 Tone Food (salivation) Phase 2 Light Tone (salivation) ____Phase 3 Light (?????) Here, a CS that has previously been conditioned is now used to condition another CS Kamin (1968) Experiment 1: Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3______ Light ---- Shock Light/Tone ----Shock Tone---??? Light---??? Note: Both phase 1 and Phase 2 are repeated several times. Kamin (1968) Experiment 2: Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Eliminated Light/Tone ----Shock Tone---??? Light---??? Classical Conditioning Drug Tolerance Example Drug Tolerance Drugs have less of an effect when taken repeatedly (less of a high) Drug users crave more of the drug despite its lessening effects It appears that certain drugs trigger our body to call upon its defenses against the effects of the drug Siegel (1977, 1983) Demonstrated that classical conditioning principles might be in effect during druginjecting episodes… Possible reason for overdoses??? Siegel (1977, 1983) UCS ---------------------------------------------- UCR (drug) (anti-drug defenses) NS ----------------------------------------------- NO RESPONSE (injection ritual) (no defenses) NS + UCS -------------------------------------- UCR (injection ritual) + (drug) (anti-drug defenses) * Repeated several times CS ----------------------------------------------- CR (injection ritual) (anti-drug defenses) Siegel (1977, 1983) Familiar setting-------------------- anti-drug defenses (usual time, place, etc) (body reacts) New setting ---------------------------- no defenses (place, time are different) (body doesn't react) The same dosage now becomes an overdose – they get too high as their bodies have been fooled by the new procedure Atkinson, Krank, and McCully (1982) In this experiment laboratory rats were preconditioned to a tolerance of large doses of heroin… Trial 1……….Room 1…………….Saline………Rats okay Trial 1……….Room 1…………….Drug………..Rats get high Trials 2-19 are identical to Trial 1… Trial 20…….Room 2…………….Saline………Rats okay Trial 20…… Room 2…………….Drug………..Rats are dead Atkinson, Krank, and McCully (1982) Results: Over 50% increase in death rate in new room Rats show "room-specific" tolerance May explain overdoses in humans???? Practical implications as far as detoxification is concerned??? John Watson: “The Father of Behavioralism” (1878-1958) Born into a poor family in Greenville, South Carolina, his mother was very religious John's father, with whom he was closer, did not follow the same rules of living as his mother He drank, had extra-marital affairs, and left in 1891 The absence of his father took it's toll on John and he rebelled against his mother and teachers and turned to violence Watson’s Biography John was able to turn his life around with the help of his teacher, Gordon Moore, at Furman University With Moore's help, John was able to succeed and moved on to the University of Chicago It was there that he became interested in the field of comparative psychology and studying animals He wrote his dissertation about the relation between behavior in the white rat and the growth of the nervous system In 1903 he received his doctorate and later became an associate professor of psychology at Johns Hopkins University Watson’s Biography In 1913 at Columbia University, Watson delivered a lecture entitled "Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It” Before this speech the field of psychology was in disagreement over the ideas of the nature of consciousness and the methods of studying it Many questions were raised and few answers had been given until Watson spoke He claimed that the problem was the use of archaic methods and inappropriate subject matter He cut consciousness and introspection out of the picture Instead, he proposed the idea of an objective psychology of behavior called "behaviorism" He saw psychology as the study of people's actions with the ability to predict and control those actions This new idea became known as the behaviorists theory Watson’s Biography Eventually John married Mary Ikes whom he met at the University of Chicago Together they had two children, Mary and John Like his father, he had affairs with a number of women and the couple eventually divorced Later, he married one of his graduate students, Rosalie Rayner They had two more children, James and William Watson focused much of his study of behaviorism on his children Watson’s Biography Although Watson's academic star burned brightly, it was destined to be short-lived He was forced to resign his chair at John Hopkins University because of a sex scandal involving his assistant, Rayner He continued to publish books on psychology-Behaviorism (1924) and The Psychological Care of Infant and Child (1928)--but by the 1930s his main career interest had shifted to the advertising business, and he ended his scholarly pursuits Watson’s Biography After Rosalie's death, his already poor relationships with his children grew worse and he became a recluse He lived on a farm in Connecticut until his death in 1958 A conditioned phobia… Watson and Raynor (1920) Behavioralists John Watson and grad assistant Raynor taught an 11-month old infant to become afraid of a gentle white laboratory rat At the beginning of the study, “Little Albert” was unafraid of the white rat and played freely with the animal While he was playing with the rat, the experimenters frightened the child by making a loud noise behind him The baby was startled and began to cry “Little Albert” Thereafter, he avoided the rat and would cry whenever it was brought close to him In Pavlovian terms, a bond had been established between the sight of the rat (CS) and the arousal of Albert's autonomic nervous system (CR) Once this S-R bond was fixed, fear could also be elicited by showing Albert any furry object Note: Several slides on Watson’s biography and pictures prepared by http://fates.cns.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/his tory/watson.htm Classical Conditioning Explanation for PTSD… This behavioral viewpoint helps to explain why people posttraumatic stress… This mental disorder involves a variety of anxiety-related symptoms that start after a particularly traumatic event and then continue for a long time Behavioral Explanation Classically conditioned fear response is taking place (see below): UCR (fear, terror, etc) NS + UCS (setting) + (trauma) * Only takes one pairing UCR (fear, terror, etc) UCS (traumatic event) CS (setting) * Since it only takes one pairing it doesn’t fit classical conditioning perfectly. CR (fear, terror, etc) Systematic Desensitization Wolpe (1958) Attempted to counter-condition people suffering from phobias In counter-conditioning the stimulus is paired with a new response which is incompatible with the old one Wolpe basically utilizes an anxiety hierarchy to gradually but systematically desensitize the patient over several therapy sessions Systematic Desensitization of a Spider Phobia Show a picture of a spider to the patient Toy spider that looks fake HR goes up – but talk to them – get them to relax – eventually they are okay A real dead spider HR goes up – but talk to them – get them to relax – eventually they are okay Toy spider that looks real HR goes up – but talk to them – get them to relax – eventually they are okay HR goes up – but talk to them – get them to relax – eventually they are okay A live spider HR goes up – but talk to them – get them to relax – eventually they are okay Systematic Desensitization The hypothesis here is that a relaxed state cannot co-exist with a state of fear. Its one or the other…cannot be simultaneously anxious and relaxed Therefore, if you can repeatedly relax someone (see spider example) when they are faced with anxiety-producing stimuli – you will gradually eliminate their anxiety The trick is to proceed gradually Criticism of Systematic Desensitization Wolpe’s critics say there is no attempt to achieve insight into the underlying cause of the fear Wolpe says “so what” He’s not really concerned about what caused it as long as its alleviated Only concern is that the maladaptive behavior is cured and that patients feel better about themselves and begin acting in ways that will bring them greater life satisfaction Instrumental Conditioning Thorndike (1905) Described the learning that was governed by his "law of effect" as instrumental conditioning because responses are strengthened when they are instrumental in producing rewards Law of Effect • Responses that are rewarded are more likely to be repeated and responses that are produce discomfort are less likely to be repeated Thorndike's Puzzle Box In his classic experiment, a cat was locked in the box and enticed to escape by using food that was placed out of the reach from the box The box included ropes, levers, and latches that the cat could use to escape Trial and error behavior would lead to ultimate success (usually within three minutes) Thorndike felt we learned things through trial and error – awareness Operant Conditioning Operant Conditioning A type of learning in which voluntary (controllable and non-reflexive) behavior is strengthened if it is reinforced and weakened if it is punished (or not reinforced) Skinner (1938) The organism learns a response by operating on the environment… Notes: The terms instrumental conditioning and operant conditioning describe essentially the same learning process and are often used interchangeably Basically, Skinner extended and formalized many of Thorndike's ideas Operant Conditioning Response comes first and is voluntary unlike classical where stimulus comes first and response is involuntary Classical: S R Operant: SRS that becomes RS B.F. Skinner (1904-1990) B. F. Skinner was born in Susquehanna, a small railroad town in the hills of Pennsylvania After attending Hamilton college, Skinner decided to become a writer (majored in English) Moving back home he wrote little – called it his "dark year" Moved to New York City for a few months working as a bookstore clerk There he happened upon books by Pavlov and Watson He found them impressive and exciting and wanted to learn more Skinner’s Background In 1928, at the age of 24 Skinner enrolled in the Psychology Department of Harvard University Invented “Skinner Box” while at Harvard In 1936, he got his first job teaching and doing research at the University of Minnesota – then left for Indiana University in 1945 before returning to Harvard to teach in 1947 The Skinner Box Soundproof chamber with a bar or key that could be manipulated to release a food or water reward Specifically, the conditioning chamber was a stable plexi-glass box with a response lever, reinforcement delivery tube, and various means for stimulus presentation In Skinner's early experiments, a rat was placed in the conditioning chamber and when it pressed the response lever, it received a pellet of food In the Lab… Shaping: Reinforcing successive approximations Responses that come successively closer to the desired response were reinforced… Skinner referred to this as his “Behavioral Technology” Taught pigeons “unpigeon-like” behaviors Walking in Figure 8, playing ping-pong, and keeping a “guided missile” on course by pecking at a moving target displayed on a screen…but most proud of getting them to hoist an American flag and then to salute it Terrible Rumors… In 1943, while in Minnesota Skinner invented a new baby crib for his daughter… Proud of his new invention, an enclosed and heated crib with a Plexiglas window, he sent an article to the popular magazine the Lady's Home Journal… Changing Skinner's title to grab attention, the article came out as "Baby in a Box" The "baby tender", as Skinner called his crib, was used only as a bed for the new baby but rumors surfaced accusing him of using his second daughter, Deborah, for experimentation… To the end of his life Skinner was plagued by rumors about his second daughter, hearing even that she had committed suicide Skinner claimed that he was an affectionate father and never experimented on either of his children…yet to this day there are some who believe that the girl hardly ever left the crib during her first two years of life By the way, Deborah is a successful artist and lives in London with her husband Dedicated researcher… In 1989 he was diagnosed with leukemia, but kept as active as his increasing weakness allowed At the American Psychological Association convention, eight days before he died, he gave a talk before a crowded auditorium He finished the article from which the talk was taken on August 18, 1990, the day he died Operant Conditioning Important terms Primary Reinforcers Secondary Reinforcers Positive Reinforcement Punishment Negative Reinforcement Reinforcers Primary Reinforcers Innately rewarding; no learning necessary Stimulus that naturally strengthens any response that precedes it without the need for any learning on the part of the organism Food, water, etc. Secondary Reinforcers A consequence that is learned by pairing with a primary reinforcer For people, money, good grades, and words of praise, etc. are often linked to basic rewards We need money to buy food, etc. Positive Reinforcement Behavior is strengthened when something pleasant or desirable occurs following the behavior. With the use of positive reinforcement chances that the behavior will occur in the future is increased For example: The dolphin gets a fish for doing a trick. The worker gets a paycheck for working. The dog gets attention from his people when he barks. The child gets ice cream for begging incessantly. The toddler gets picked up and comforted for screaming Punishment Any stimulus presented immediately after a behavior in order to decrease the future probability of that behavior For example: If your kid runs into the middle of the street and you flip out and “express to him how bad he is” this (at least in psychological terms) is only considered to be punishment if it does in fact lead to a decrease in that child’s behavior of running into the street Negative Reinforcement One of the most misunderstood terms in psychology… Definitely a problem with semantics here The word reinforcement means that a response is strengthened The word negative seems to imply that the response is somehow weakened • This is not the case here! • So how literally can a response be negatively reinforced??? • Often, this term is misapplied to term punishment Negative Reinforcement Positive Reinforcement is a reward Punishment is something that weakens a response That’s easy enough Again, this is pretty basic In an attempt to increase the likelihood of a behavior occurring in the future, an operant response is followed by the removal of an aversive stimulus. This is negative reinforcement… Negative Reinforcement So we are learning to do something to turn off a bad stimulus Example: We put on boots to prevent sitting in class with wet socks on Increasing a behavior to stop a bad thing from occurring Doing something to remove the reinforcer Schedules of Reinforcement Continuous Reinforcement Reinforcement delivered every time a particular response occurs Intermittent Reinforcement Reinforcement is administered only some of the time Intermittent Schedules of Reinforcement Fixed-Ratio Reinforcement provided after a fixed number of responses •Food every tenth bar press Variable-Ratio Reinforcement after a a variable number of responses (works on a average) •Unpredictable number of responses are required (slot machines) Intermittent Schedules of Reinforcement Fixed-Interval Schedules Provides reinforcement for the first response that occurs after some fixed time has passed since the last reward Number of responses doesn’t matter only time • Example: Food is given to rats every 20 min. Variable-Interval Schedule Reinforce the first responses after a certain amount of time has past Again number of responses doesn’t matter But this time the amount of time changes • Might be the first response after ten minutes then the next time it is the first response after 20 minutes, and then the next time it is the first response after 30 min… Applications of Operant Conditioning: In the Workplace Pedalino & Gamboa (1974) To help reduce the frequency of employee tardiness, these researchers implemented a game-like system for all employees that arrived on time When an employee arrived on time, they were allowed to draw a card Over the course of a 5-day workweek, the employee would have a full hand for poker At the end of the week, the best hand won $20 This simple method reduced employee tardiness significantly and demonstrated the effectiveness of operant conditioning on humans Applications of Operant Conditioning: Childrearing "Stop that!" You say this several times, each louder and meaner. Your kid continues to scream and roll around on the floor looking like a rabid beast… Finally, you say, "No candy until you cut that out!" OK, the kid stops, and you give him candy You reinforced stopping the tantrum, right? Criticisms Of The Use Of Reinforcement Criticism #1: Behavior should not have to rely on persuasion… • It is manipulative and controlling • Appropriate behavior should be the norm • Skinner says we are always controlled by rewards but often are unaware of these… • Parents, peers, schools, employers, etc. all use rewards to control our behavior So, if its manipulative then everyone is to blame? Criticisms Of The Use Of Reinforcement Criticism #2: Reinforcement undermines Intrinsic Motivation… • Messes up our inner desire to do something • Now we need to do it for a tangible reward • Example: Child cleaning his/her room… • Why do they do it? • Be careful of overjustification…