B.

F SKINNER OPERANT
Burrhus Frederic Skinner
CONDITIONING
(March 20, 1904 – August 18, 1990)
- Referred to as instrumental conditioning.
- American psychologists, behaviorists, A method of learning that uses rewards
author, inventor, and social philosopher. and punishment to modify behavior.
- Father of Behaviorism Through operant conditioning, behavior
- Most influential psychologists in 20th that is rewarded is likely to be repeated,
century and behavior that is punished will rarely
- Known for behavior analysis, operant occur.
conditioning, radical behaviorism, and For example, when you are rewarded at work with a
verbal behavior. performance bonus for exceptional work, you will be
inclined to continue performing at a higher level in hopes of
receiving another bonus in the future. Because this
behavior was followed by a positive outcome, the behavior
B. F. SKINNER'S will likely be repeated.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO PSYCHOLOGY

Skinner's most notable discoveries or

contributions to the field of psychology include:
OPERANT BEHAVIOR
 The operant conditioning process
In operant behavior, stimuli can be appetitive or
(Skinner's theory of learning)
aversive. Appetitive stimuli are the ones that you
 The notion of schedules of reinforcement
voluntarily approach while aversive stimuli are
 Introduction of response rates as a
those you try to avoid or escape. Responses to
dependent variable in research
such stimuli can either be positive or negative
 The creation of the cumulative recorder to
reinforcement. In this case positive and negative
track response rates
do not mean good or bad. Instead, positive
reinforcement means introducing stimulus to
increase the probability of recurrence of
Why operant conditioning is important in education? behavior, while negative reinforcement involves
By understanding the positive and negative effects of removing stimulus to encourage good behavior.
reinforcement, educators can harness the principles
of operant conditioning to foster an environment that THE OPERANT CONDITIONING THEORY
supports growth, learning, and the development of
Operant conditioning was first described by
desirable behaviors.
behaviorist B.F. Skinner. His theory was based on
two assumptions. First, the cause of human
behavior is something in a person’s environment.
Second, the consequences of a behavior
determine the possibility of it being repeated.
Behavior that is followed by a pleasant
consequence is likely to be repeated and
behavior followed by an unpleasant consequence
is less likely to be repeated.
 TYPES OF BEHAVIOR

Although Skinner was the pioneer of the operant Respondent behaviors are those that occur
conditioning theory, his ideas were based on automatically and reflexively, such as pulling your
Thorndike’s law of effect. Skinner also believed hand back from a hot stove or jerking your leg
that we do have a mind. Therefore, it was more when the doctor taps on your knee. You don't
productive to study observable behavior rather have to learn these behaviors. They simply occur
than internal mental events. automatically and involuntarily.

Operant behaviors, on the other hand, are those

under our conscious control. Some may occur
Skinner was also an exemplary inventor. Among his
spontaneously and others purposely, but it is the
gadgets was the Skinner Box, which uses subjects like
consequences of these actions that then
rats and pigeons to record animal behavior in a
compressed time frame.
influence whether or not they occur again in the
future. Our actions on the environment and the
consequences of that action make up an
Skinner used the term operant to refer to any "active
important part of the learning process.
behavior that operates upon the environment to
generate consequences." Skinner's theory explained
how we acquire the range of learned behaviors we
exhibit every day.
COMPONENTS OF OPERANT CONDITIONING

REINFORCEMENT IN OPERANT CONDITIONING

THROUGH HIS EXPERIMENTS, SKINNER Reinforcement is any event that strengthens or

IDENTIFIED THREE TYPES OF RESPONSES THAT increases the behavior it follows. There are two
FOLLOWED BEHAVIOR: kinds of reinforcers. In both of these cases of
reinforcement, the behavior increases.

Positive reinforcers are favorable events or

Neutral responses. They are responses from the
outcomes that are presented after the behavior.
environment that produce no stimulus other than
In positive reinforcement situations, a response
focusing attention. They neither increase nor
or behavior is strengthened by the addition of
decrease the probability of a behavior being
praise or a direct reward. If you do a good job at
repeated.
work and your manager gives you a bonus, that
Reinforcers. They are responses from the bonus is a positive reinforcer.
environment that increase the likelihood of a
Negative reinforcers involve the removal of an
behavior being repeated. They can either be
unfavorable events or outcomes after the display
positive or negative.
of a behavior. In these situations, a response is
Punishers. These are negative operant that make strengthened by the removal of something
the likelihood of a behavior decrease. considered unpleasant. For example, if your child
Punishment weakens behavior. starts to scream in the middle of a restaurant, but
stops once you hand them a treat, your action led
to the removal of the unpleasant condition,
negatively reinforcing your behavior (not your
child's).

PUNISHMENT IN OPERANT CONDITIONING

Punishment is the presentation of an have occurred. This typically leads to a
adverse event or outcome that causes a fairly steady response rate.
decrease in the behavior it follows. There are
two kinds of punishment. In both of these
3. Fixed-interval schedules are another form
cases, the behavior decreases.
of partial reinforcement. Reinforcement
occurs only after a certain interval of time
Positive punishment, sometimes referred to as has elapsed. Response rates remain fairly
punishment by application, presents an steady and start to increase as the
unfavorable event or outcome in order to weaken reinforcement time draws near, but slow
the response it follows. Spanking for misbehavior immediately after the reinforcement has
is an example of punishment by application. been delivered.

Negative punishment, also known as punishment

4. Variable-ratio schedules are also a type of
by removal, occurs when a favorable event or
partial reinforcement that involve
outcome is removed after a behavior occurs.
reinforcing behavior after a varied number
Taking away a child's video game following
of responses. This leads to both a high
misbehavior is an example of negative
response rate and slow extinction rates.
punishment.

5. Variable-interval schedules are the final

OPERANT CONDITIONING
form of partial reinforcement Skinner
REINFORCEMENT SCHEDULES described. This schedule involves
delivering reinforcement after a variable
Reinforcement is not necessarily a
amount of time has elapsed. This also
straightforward process, and there are a number
tends to lead to a fast response rate and
of factors that can influence how quickly and how
slow extinction rate.
well new things are learned. Skinner found that
when and how often behaviors were reinforced
played a role in the speed and strength of
acquisition. In other words, the timing and EXAMPLE OF OPERANT CONDITIONING
frequency of reinforcement influenced how new  After performing in a community theater
behaviors were learned and how old behaviors play, you receive applause from the
were modified. audience. This acts as a positive
reinforcer, inspiring you to try out for
Skinner identified several different schedules of
more performance roles.
reinforcement that impact the operant
conditioning process:
 You train your dog to fetch by offering him
1. Continuous reinforcement involves praise and a pat on the head whenever he
delivering a reinforcement every time a performs the behavior correctly. This is
response occurs. Learning tends to occur another positive reinforcer.
relatively quickly, yet the response rate is
quite low. Extinction also occurs very
quickly once reinforcement is halted.  A professor tells students that if they have
2. Fixed-ratio schedules are a type of partial perfect attendance all semester, then they
reinforcement. Responses are reinforced do not have to take the final
only after a specific number of responses comprehensive exam. By removing an
 unpleasant stimulus (the final test),
students are negatively reinforced to
attend class regularly.

 If you fail to hand in a project on time,

your boss becomes angry and berates
your performance in front of your co-
workers. This acts as a positive punisher,
making it less likely that you will finish
projects late in the future.

 A teen girl does not clean up her room as

she was asked, so her parents take away
her phone for the rest of the day. This is
an example of a negative punishment in
which a positive stimulus is taken away.

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