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Operant Conditioning

Operant conditioning, developed by B.F. Skinner, focuses on changing behavior through reinforcement, which can be positive or negative. Skinner's experiments, often conducted in a 'Skinner Box', demonstrated that reinforcement strengthens desired responses, while punishment can lead to suppressed behavior and increased aggression. The approach is particularly relevant in educational settings for managing class behavior and shaping skill performance through feedback and varying reinforcement strategies.

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Laizel Dangatan-de Dios
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8 views2 pages

Operant Conditioning

Operant conditioning, developed by B.F. Skinner, focuses on changing behavior through reinforcement, which can be positive or negative. Skinner's experiments, often conducted in a 'Skinner Box', demonstrated that reinforcement strengthens desired responses, while punishment can lead to suppressed behavior and increased aggression. The approach is particularly relevant in educational settings for managing class behavior and shaping skill performance through feedback and varying reinforcement strategies.

Uploaded by

Laizel Dangatan-de Dios
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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OPERANT CONDITIONING

The term operant conditioning originated from Burrhus Frederick


Skinner. He is an experimental psychologist at Harvard who
developed behaviorism as a position in learning.

Skinner emphasizes observable behavior in the study of humans;


hence, the term “behaviorism.” Skinner held firm to the logical
positive position that all we can really know is that which we
can learn through direct observation using our senses. He was not
inclined to speculate about things nor to hypothesize about why
something might have happened. He conducted experiments,
observed, and recorded the results. He did this because of his
belief that the only stable knowledge comes from direct
observation, not from speculation about internal matters or
things that are not directly observable. He believed that the
best way to understand behavior is to look at the causes of an
action and its consequences. He called this approach operant
conditioning.

Operant conditioning is the changing of behavior by the use of


reinforcement which is given after the desired response. Skinner
studied operant conditioning by conducting experiments using
animals which he placed in a 'Skinner Box' which was similar to
Thorndike’s puzzle box.

Reinforcement is the key element is Skinner’s theory. A


reinforcer is anything that strengthens the desired response.
There are two types of reinforcement: positive reinforcer and
negative reinforcer.

A positive reinforcer is any stimulus that is given or added to


increase the response. An example of this positive reinforcement
is when a teacher gives good grades if the students perform well
in the class. Another is when a mother promises a new cell phone
for her son who perfects his exam. Other examples are in the form
of verbal praises, star stamps and stickers.

A negative reinforcer is any stimulus that results in the


increased frequency of a response when it is withdrawn or
removed. For instance, a teacher announces that a student who
volunteers to report will be exempted in the first quiz. The
negative reinforcer is removing the quiz, which is a form of
reward for volunteering to report.

Another element in Skinner’s theory is punishment. It is a


consequence intended to result in reduced responses. An example
would be a student who misbehaves in the class is given
additional homework assignment. There are many problems with
using punishment, such as:

1. Punished behavior is not forgotten, it's suppressed -


behavior returns when punishment is no longer present.
2. Causes increased aggression - shows that aggression is a way
to cope with problems.
3. Creates fear that can generalize to undesirable behaviors,
e.g., fear of school.
4. Does not necessarily guide toward desired behavior -
reinforcement tells you what to do, punishment only tells
you what not to do.

In the conventional learning situation operant conditioning


applies largely to issues of class and student management, rather
than to learning content. It is very relevant to shaping skill
performance.

A simple way to shape behavior is to provide feedback on learner


performance, e.g. compliments, approval, encouragement, and
affirmation. A variable-ratio produces the highest response rate
for students learning a new task, whereby initially reinforcement
(e.g. praise) occurs at frequent intervals, and as the
performance improves reinforcement occurs less frequently, until
eventually only exceptional outcomes are reinforced.

For example, if a teacher wanted to encourage students to answer


questions in class they should praise them for every attempt
(regardless of whether their answer is correct). Gradually the
teacher will only praise the students when their answer is
correct, and over time only exceptional answers will be praised.
Unwanted behaviors, such as tardiness and dominating class
discussion can be extinguished through being ignored by the
teacher (rather than being reinforced by having attention drawn
to them).

Knowledge of success is also important as it motivates future


learning. However it is important to vary the type of
reinforcement given, so that the behavior is maintained. This is
not an easy task, as the teacher may appear insincere if he/she
thinks too much about the way to behave.

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