Module 18 slides Summer 2012
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Transcript of Module 18 slides Summer 2012
Operant Conditioning
Module 18
Skinner’s Experiments
Skinner’s experiments extend Thorndike’s thinking, especially his law of effect. This law states that rewarded
behavior is likely to occur again.
Yale U
niversity Library
Operant Chamber
Using Thorndike's law of effect as a starting point, Skinner developed the
Operant chamber, or the Skinner box, to study operant conditioning.
Walter D
awn/ Photo R
esearchers, Inc.
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Operant Chamber
The operant chamber, or
Skinner box, comes with a bar or key
that an animal manipulates to
obtain a reinforcer like food or water. The bar or key is
connected to devices that record
the animal’s response.
Shaping
Shaping is the operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior towards the desired target
behavior through successive approximations.
Types of Reinforcers
Reinforcement: Any event that strengthens the behavior it follows. A
heat lamp positively reinforces a meerkat’s behavior in the cold.
Reuters/ C
orbis
1. Primary Reinforcer: An innately reinforcing stimulus like food or drink.
2. Conditioned Reinforcer: A learned reinforcer that gets its reinforcing power through association with the primary reinforcer.
Primary & Secondary Reinforcers
1. Immediate Reinforcer: A reinforcer that occurs instantly after a behavior. A rat gets a food pellet for a bar press.
2. Delayed Reinforcer: A reinforcer that is delayed in time for a certain behavior. A paycheck that comes at the end of a week.
Immediate & Delayed Reinforcers
We may be inclined to engage in small immediate reinforcers (watching TV) rather than large
delayed reinforcers (getting an A in a course) which require consistent study.
Reinforcement Schedules
1. Continuous Reinforcement: Reinforces the desired response each time it occurs.
2. Partial Reinforcement: Reinforces a response only part of the time. Though this results in slower acquisition in the beginning, it shows greater resistance to extinction later on.
Ratio Schedules
1. Fixed-ratio schedule: Reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses. e.g., piecework pay.
2. Variable-ratio schedule: Reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses. This is hard to extinguish because of the unpredictability. (e.g., behaviors like gambling, fishing.)
Interval Schedules
1. Fixed-interval schedule: Reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed. (e.g., preparing for an exam only when the exam draws close.)
2. Variable-interval schedule: Reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals, which produces slow, steady responses. (e.g., pop quiz.)
Punishment
An aversive event that decreases the behavior it follows.
Punishment
1. Results in unwanted fears.2. Conveys no information to the organism.3. Justifies pain to others.4. Causes unwanted behaviors to reappear
in its absence.5. Causes aggression towards the agent.6. Causes one unwanted behavior to appear
in place of another.
Although there may be some justification for occasional punishment (Larzelaere &
Baumrind, 2002), it usually leads to negative effects.
Positive Reinforcement
• Behavior or response increases when followed by the addition of a reinforcing stimulus– Examples:
• Dog treats• Teacher’s praise• Good grades = money
Negative Reinforcement
• Behavior or response increases when followed by the removal, avoidance or escape of an unpleasant stimulus– Examples:
• Taking an aspirin• Crying = toy• Alarm clock
More examples – Negative Reinforcement
1. Taking aspirin to relieve a headache.
2. Hurrying home in the winter to get out of the cold.
3. Giving in to an argument or to a dog’s begging.
4. Fanning oneself to escape the heat.
5. Leaving a movie theater if the movie is bad.
6. Smoking in order to relieve anxiety.
7. Following prison rules in order to be released from
confinement.
8. Feigning a stomachache in order to avoid school.
9. Putting on a car safety belt to stop an irritating
buzz.
10. Turning down the volume of a very loud radio.
11. Putting up an umbrella to escape the rain.
12. Saying “uncle” to stop being beaten.
Positive Punishment
• Behavior or response decreases when followed by the addition or application of an aversive stimulus– Examples:
• Spanking• Bad behavior = more chores• Yelling at spouse
Negative Punishment
• Behavior or response decreases when followed by the removal of a reinforcing stimulus– Examples:
• Dude I’m grounded• Time-out• Driving drunk = loss of license
Reinforcement and Punishment
Behavior Stimulus
Increases
Decreases
Addition Positive Reinforcement
Positive Punishment
Removed Negative Reinforcement
Negative Punishment
Identify the Type of Conditioning
Tim is learning to play the trombone. His teacher notices that Tim likes baseball so she begins to give him a baseball card every time he successfully learns to play a new piece of music. How is Tim being conditioned?
Positive Reinforcement
Identify the Type of Conditioning
Anna ate something that upset her stomach. Anika suggested that she take a special mixture of peppermint tea and saltine crackers. Anna took the cure and felt much better. The next time Anna felt sick to her stomach, she fixed herself peppermint tea and crackers. How has Anna been conditioned?
Negative Reinforcement
Identify the Type of Conditioning
Fredrick refuses to take out the trash, so his mother refuses to allow him to watch his favorite TV show in the evening. How has Fredrick been conditioned?
Negative Punishment
Identify the Type of Conditioning
Jen was in a hurry to meet her friends for dinner. Jen is going 85 in a 65 and gets pulled over by a police officer. The officer gives her a ticket. How is Jen being conditioned?
Positive Punishment
Operant Conditioning Worksheet
Intrinsic Motivation
Intrinsic Motivation: The desire to perform a behavior for its own sake.
Extrinsic Motivation: The desire to perform a behavior due to promised rewards or threats of punishments.
Skinner’s Legacy
Skinner argued that behaviors were shaped by external influences instead of
inner thoughts and feelings. Critics argued that Skinner dehumanized people by
neglecting their free will.
Falk/ Photo Researchers, Inc.
Applications of Operant Conditioning
Skinner introduced the concept of teaching machines that shape learning in small steps and provide reinforcements
for correct rewards.
In School
LWA
-JDL
/ Corbis
Applications of Operant Conditioning
Reinforcers affect productivity. Many companies now allow employees to share
profits and participate in company ownership.
At work
Applications of Operant Conditioning
At Home
In children, reinforcing good behavior increases the occurrence of these
behaviors. Ignoring unwanted behavior decreases their occurrence.