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Unit 6-3 - Operant Conditioning

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45 views13 pages

Unit 6-3 - Operant Conditioning

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meliodaskamate
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Unit 6-3 Operant

Conditioning

Mental Note:
Do not eat porcupines.
The Origins of Operant Conditioning
Law of Effect
principle that behaviors followed by favorable
consequences become more likely, and
behaviors followed by unfavorable
consequences become less likely
Rewarded behaviors happen more often, and
punished behaviors happen less often.

Edward Thorndike: Operant Conditioning


Grandfather of operant
conditioning and inventor type of learning in which behavior is
of the Snuggie strengthened if followed by reinforcement or
diminished if followed by punishment
The Origins of Operant Conditioning
Here’s what some of Thorndike’s early research
looked like:
What’s the difference between operant
conditioning and classical conditioning?
Think about it as an issue of control
Classical Conditioning
CC OC a response occurs
automatically due to an
SR RS association between a pair of
stimuli
Involuntary Voluntary
Operant Conditioning
a person voluntarily
determines their behavior
based on previous
consequences for said
behavior
The Origins of Operant Conditioning

B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)


elaborated on Thorndike’s
Law of Effect
developed behavioral
technology for studying
operant conditioning
principles

B. F. Skinner: Father of
operant conditioning and
pigeon enthusiast
The Origins of Operant Conditioning
Skinner’s primary technological contribution was the
operant chamber, also known as the Skinner Box.
chamber with a bar or key that an animal manipulates to
obtain reinforcements (like food/water) or punishments (like
electric shocks)

contains devices to
record responses
In regard to the following terminology, think of
“positive” and “negative” as addition and
subtraction, not good and bad.
Reinforcement
any event that strengthens the behavior it follows

Positive reinforcement - a reward that strengthens a behavior (gaining


a pleasant consequence)
money for doing chores
Negative reinforcement - the removal of something unpleasant (loss
of an unpleasant consequence)
Punishment
hitting the snooze bar
aversive event that weakens the behavior that it follows
avoiding Justin Bieber

Positive punishment - the addition of something unpleasant (gaining


an unpleasant consequence)
getting a speeding ticket
Negative punishment - the withdrawal of something desirable (loss of
How often do consequences occur?
Schedules of Reinforcement
Continuous Reinforcement
reinforcing the desired response each time it
occurs
results in faster acquisition
less resistance to extinction
Partial Reinforcement
reinforcing a response only part of the time
results in slower acquisition
greater resistance to extinction
Schedules of Partial Reinforcement

Fixed Ratio
reinforces a response after a
specified number of responses
faster you respond, the more
rewards you get
$$$ Example – being paid for every ten
burgers you make
Schedules of Partial Reinforcement

Variable Ratio
reinforces a response after an
unpredictable number of
responses
very hard to extinguish
because of unpredictability
Example – slot machines
Schedules of Partial Reinforcement
Fixed Interval
reinforces a response after a
specified time has elapsed
response occurs more frequently
as the anticipated time for reward
draws near
Example – the morphine drip
button that patients use at a
hospital
Schedules of Partial Reinforcement

Variable Interval
reinforces a response at
unpredictable time intervals
produces slow steady
responding
Example – pop quizzes
Schedules of Partial Reinforcement
Generally, the rate of acquisition matches the rate of extinction.
Behaviors learned quickly fade quickly. Those that are acquired more
slowly resist extinction for longer.

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