Operant Conditioning Mrs. Hensley AP Psychology. Reinforcement Theory .
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Transcript of Operant Conditioning Mrs. Hensley AP Psychology. Reinforcement Theory .
Operant Conditioning
Mrs. Hensley
AP Psychology
Reinforcement Theory
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIEt6TrjJXw&feature=player_embedded
The Behaviorist Perspective
• Burrhus (B.F.) Skinner was very much influenced by Watson’s behaviorist ideas.
• Also realized that the psychology proposed by Watson had some serious shortcomings.
• In particular, a psychology based wholly on classical conditioning assumes that organisms are essentially passive – they just hang around waiting for stimuli to respond to.
• To Skinner it seemed obvious that people and animals actively engage with their environments.
• Skinner’s important insight was that an animal’s – or a person’s – behavior was determined by the consequences of its past behavior
Skinner’s Main Ideas
• Operant Condition: future behavior is determined by the consequences of past behavior
• Reinforcement: consequence that strengthens a behavior
• Punishment: consequence that weakens a behavior
• Shaping: used to teach complex behaviors (broken down into a series of simple behaviors) • Ex: used to teach tricks to animals
• Stimulus Control: learn that a certain behavior only brings reinforcement under certain conditions.
Reinforcers
Consequence What it involves Effect on behavior
Positive Reinforcement
Presenting something the organism likes
Strengthened
Negative Reinforcement
Removing something the organism doesn’t like
Strengthened
Punishment Presenting something the organism doesn’t like
Weakened
Operant Conditioning
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=I_ctJqjlrHA