Operant Conditioning

Learning the Consequences of Behavior

Instrumental Conditioning

The Law of Effect-Thorndike• Behaviors followed by favorable

consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed be unfavorable consequences become less likely.

• Instrumental Conditioning• A procedure in which an organism learns that

certain responses are instrumental in producing desired effects in the environment

Operant Conditioning Operant Conditioning

• A synonym for instrumental conditioning

• Comes from Skinner’s emphasis on how an organism learns to “operate on” its environment to produce an effect

Operant (behavior)• Is a behavioral response that has some effect

(consequence) on an organism’s environment Operant Chamber- Skinner Box

• A chamber containing a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer, with an attached devices to record the animal’s rate of response

Skinner and Skinner Box

Image- Courtesy of B.F. Skinner Foundation

Components of Operant Conditioning

• Reinforcers• A consequence that increases the probability that a

response will occur again (strengthens the behavior it follows

• Positive Reinforcers• Positive stimuli that act like rewards

• Negative Reinforcers• Removal of an unpleasant stimuli

• Escape conditioning• Occurs when an organism learns that a particular response

will terminate an aversive stimuli

• Avoidance Conditioning• Occurs when an organism responds to a signal in a way

that prevents an aversive stimuli

Punishment

Presents an aversive stimuli or removes a pleasant stimuli to decrease the frequency of a behavior

Disadvantages• It doesn’t eliminate behavior merely suppresses it

• Not effective unless it immediately follows the behavior

• Punishment becomes associated with the punisher-so the punisher is feared

• Organism being punished may learn to relate to others in an aggressive way

• Punishment makes clear what behaviors are incorrect, but doesn’t provide any demonstration of desired behaviors

Punishment

Can work if used wisely…• Punish the behavior not the person

• Punish immediately

• Use a severe enough punishment to eliminate the behavior

• Explain and reinforce more appropriate behaviors

Punishment or Negative Reinforcement?

Forming and Strengthening Operant Behavior

Shaping• An operant conditioning process in which successive

approximations of a behavior are reinforced until the desired behavior pattern emerges.

Secondary Reinforcement (Conditioned)• Primary reinforcers-an innately satisfying reinforcing

stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological need (food,water, pain relief)

• Conditioned or secondary reinforcer- a stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with a primary reinforcer. (MONEY)

Delay and size of reinforcement• Operant conditioning is strongest when the delay in

receiving a reinforcer is short and the reinforcer is large

Schedules of Reinforcement

Schedules of Reinforcement Continuous reinforcement schedule

• Every correct response receives a reward Partial or Intermittent reinforcement schedule

• Reinforcement is received only some of the time• Fixed Ratio Schedules (FR)

• Give a reward after a fixed number of responses

• Variable-Ratio Schedules (VR)• Give a reward after an average number of responses

• Fixed-Interval Schedules (FI)• Reward the first response displayed after a fixed time interval

• Variable-Interval Schedule (VI)• Reward the first response displayed after a varying time interval

• Schedules and Extinction• The partial reinforcement extinction effect

• Demonstrates that it is more difficult to extinguish an operant behavior learned under a partial rather than a continuous reinforcement schedule

Cognition and Operant Conditioning

Latent learning• Learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is

some reason to demonstrate it Cognitive map

• A mental representation of the layout of one’s environment. For example, after exploring a maze, rats act as if they have learned a cognitive map of it. (Tolman)

Overjustification effect• The effect of promising a reward for doing what one

already likes to do. The person may now see the reward, rather than the intrinsic interest, as the motivation for performing the task.

Other cognitive processes in learning

Learned Helplessness• Occurs when an organism believes that behaviors are

not related to consequences

• When people’s past experience leads them to believe that nothing they can do will change their lives, they tend to stop trying.

Insight• The sudden grasp of new relationships that are

necessary to solve a problem and that were not learned in the past.

• Kohler’s studies of chimpanzee problem-solving