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OPERANT CONDITIONING English

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13 views2 pages

OPERANT CONDITIONING English

Uploaded by

aniketgupta7055
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© © All Rights Reserved
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OPERANT CONDITIONING

Operant or instrumental conditioning is a form of learning in which the consequences of behaviour lead to
changes in the probability that the behaviour will occur. Thondike (1874 - 1949) was the pioneer in
studying this kind of learning. His famous formulation of Law of Effect lies at the heart of the operant
conditioning. The Law of Effect states that:

“Behavior that brings about a satisfying effect (reinforcement) is apt to be performed again, whereas
behavior that brings about negative effect (punishment) is apt to be suppressed.”
(Morris & Maisto, 2001)

Types of Reinforcement and Punishment


Reinforcement is a consequence that increases the probability that a behaviour will occur. On the other
hand, punishment is a consequence that decreases the probability a behaviour will occur. Put it another
way, reinforcement will strengthen a behaviour while punishment will weaken a behaviour. There are 2
forms of reinforcement and punishment as shown in figure.

Take note that when something is added or presented, the process of learning is called positive and when
something is removed or taken away, the process of learning is called negative.

Forms of Reinforcement and Punishment


Form of Description Example
consequence
Positive Receiving something pleasant A student is praised for asking question.
reinforcement will increase behaviour Subsequently, the student asks more questions.
occurrences.
Negative Removing something A son who is tired of hearing his father’s nagging
reinforcement unpleasant will increase will does his homework. He does the homework to
behaviour occurrences. remove the nagging (Santrock, 2008).
Positive Receiving something If a teacher frowned when his student asked a
Punishment unpleasant will decrease question, the student would be less likely to ask
behaviour occurrences. question again.
Negative Removing something A misbehaving student is removed from the class.
Punishment pleasant will decrease
behaviour occurrences.

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Schedule of Reinforcement
Reinforces are more effective when they are given as soon as possible after a student performs the target
behaviour. In continuous reinforcement like this, a student learns very rapidly but when the reinforcement
stops, the behaviour decreases rapidly too. Therefore, the schedule of reinforcement was developed. The
schedule will determine when a behaviour will be reinforced. There are 4 types of schedule of
reinforcement, they are fixed - ratio schedule, variable - ratio schedule fixed, fixed - interval schedule, and
variable - internal schedule.

Fixed - ratio • A behavior is reinforced after a set number of responses have occurred.
schedule • For example: A student may be given a bar of Kit Kat chocolate for every
ten mathematical problems solved.
Variable - ratio • On a variable - ratio schedule, the number of responses needed to gain the
schedule fixed reinforcement is not constant.
• For example: Rewards could be given after 3, 5, 9, and 15 mathematical
problems solved.
• On a fixed - ratio schedule, a behavior is reinforced after a set number of
responses have occurred.
• For example: A student may be given a bar of Kit Kat chocolate for every
ten mathematical problems solved.
Fixed - interval • A behavior will be reinforced after a certain period of time. No matter how
schedule often it occurs, the behavior will not be reinforced until the time is up.
• For example: Students are given a quiz every Wednesday.
Variable - internal • Also based on time passing but the time period keep changing.
schedule • For example: Students are given pop quizzes.

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