Operant conditioning is a method of

learning that occurs through rewards and

punishments for behavior. Through operant

conditioning, an association is made

between a behavior and a consequence

for that behavior.

Operant conditioning was coined by

behaviorist Burrhus Frederic Skinner, whobelieved that the organism, while going aboutit's everyday activities, is in the process of“operating” on the environment. In thecourse of its activities, the organismencounters a special kind of stimulus, called areinforcing stimulus, or simply a reinforcer. Thisspecial stimulus has the effect of increasingthe behavior occurring just before thereinforcer.

at first the mousewould have justwonderedaround in searchfor food andwould haveaccidentallypressed down onthe lever whilstexploring. Itwould thenpresent him withfood, and themouse wouldassociate thepressing of thelever with thepresentation offood.

Then it'll know whenever it's hungry to press that

lever because of that conditioning it went

through.

Skinner used the term operant torefer to any "active behavior that operates

upon the environment to generate

consequences"

Reinforcement

› A kind of stimulus that aims to increase the

strength in behavior due to its consequence

Punishment Any event that causes a decrease in the

behavior

children completing homework to earn

a reward from a parent or teacher

employees finishing projects to receive

praise or promotions

a child who lost recess privileges

because he talk out of turn in class

Examples of positive reinforcement:

After executing the learning plan, the

principal said “Great job”.

A student answered all the items correctly

in the unit test. The teacher said “ you are

exempted in the periodic test”.

Positive Reinforcements

are favorable events that are presented after the behavior

(Reward Learning)

Negative Reinforcement

a response or behavior is strengthened by stopping, removing or avoiding a negative outcome or aversive stimulus (escape-avoidance learning)

A. Natural reinforces are those that occur

directly as a result of the behavior. For

example, a girl studies hard, pays attention

in class and does her homework. As a

result, she gets excellent grades.

B. Token reinforces are points or tokens that

are awarded for performing certain

actions. These tokens can then be

exchanged for something of value.

C. Social reinforces

involve expressing

approval of a

behavior, such as a

teacher, parent or

employer saying or

writing "Good job"

or "Excellent work."

D. Tangible reinforcers

involve the

presentation of an

actual, physical reward

such as candy, treats,

toys, money and other

desired objects.

When it occurs immediately after the

behavior

When the reinforcement is presented

enthusiastically and frequently

Examples:

› You leave your house early to avoid being

late

› You clean up your mess in the kitchen to

avoid in a fight with your roommate

A schedule of reinforcement is a rule

stating when and how often a behavior

will be reinforced.

› This is applicable when you are

purposely trying to train and

reinforce an action

it is most effective when reinforcers are

presented immediately following a

behavior

1. Continuous Reinforcement

the desired behavior is reinforced

every single time it occurs. Generally, this

schedule is best used during the initial

stages of learning in order to create a

strong association between the behavior

and the response.

2. Partial Reinforcementthe response is reinforced only part of

the time.

Schedules of partial reinforcement:

1. Fixed-ratio schedules

are those where a response is

reinforced only after a specified number of

responses.

2. Variable- ratio schedules occur when aresponse is reinforced after an unpredictablenumber of responses.

3. Fixed-interval schedules are those where thefirst response is rewarded only after a specifiedamount of time has elapsed.

4. Variable-interval schedules occur when aresponse is rewarded after an unpredictableamount of time has passed

Punishment is a kind of stimulus that

aims to decrease the strength in behaviour

due to its consequence.

Positive punishment

involves presenting an unfavorable

outcome or event following an

undesirable behavior (punishment by

application)

Example:

wearing favorite dress to class but

reprimanded by the teacher for violating

the school’s dress code

Negative punishment is

more effective if:

It immediately follows a

response.

It is applied consistently.

Increases Decreases

Stimulus ispresented

Stimulus isremoved

POSITIVE

REINFORCEMENT

Co

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qu

en

ce

s

Strength of Behavior

POSITIVE

PUNISHMENT

NEGATIVE

PUNISHMENT

NEGATIVE

REINFORCEMENT