Module 20 Operant Conditioning - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Module 20

Operant ConditioningSlide2

20-1: WHAT IS OPERANT CONDITIONING?

Operant conditioning

is a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher.Actions followed by reinforcers increase; those followed by punishment decrease.Operant behavior is behavior that operates on the environment to produce rewarding or punishing stimuli. (In contrast, classical conditioning involves respondent behavior—automatic responses to a stimulus.)

Operant ConditioningSlide3

Actions followed by reinforcement increase; those followed by punishments often decrease.

Organisms associate their own actions with consequences.

Behavior operates on the environment to produce rewarding or punishing stimuli.

Operant ConditioningSlide4

20-2:

WHO WAS SKINNER, AND HOW IS OPERANT BEHAVIOR REINFORCED AND SHAPED?

B. F. Skinner (1904–1990), was modern behaviorism’s most influential and controversial figure.Expanded on Edward L. Thorndike’s law of effect, which states that rewarded behavior tends to recur.Developed behavioral technology that revealed principles

of

behavior control.Designed and used an operant chamber (popularly known as a Skinner box) for experiments that

included a bar (a lever) that an animal presses (or a key or disc the animal pecks) to release a reward of food or water, and also a device that records these responses.Operant ConditioningSkinner’s ExperimentsSlide5

Cat in a puzzle box,

illustrating

Thorndike’s Law of Effect.

Operant Conditioning

Skinner’s ExperimentsSlide6

A Skinner box

Inside

the box, the

rat presses

a bar for a food reward. Outside, a measuring device (not shown) records the animal’s

accumulated responses.By shaping animals’ natural behaviors, Skinner was able to teach these animals unnatural behaviors (such as teaching pigeons to walk in a figure 8, play Ping-Pong, and keep a missile on course by pecking at a screen target).Reinforcement: Any event that strengthens the behavior it follows.

Operant ConditioningSkinner’s ExperimentsSlide7

Operant Conditioning

Shaping Behavior

Everyday behaviors are continually reinforced and shaped.Shaping: Gradually guiding behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior.With this method of successive

approximations

, responses that are ever-closer to the final desired behavior are rewarded, and all other responses are ignored . Slide8

Negative reinforcement

Increases behaviors by stopping or

reducing

negative stimuli

.

A

negative reinforce is any stimulus that, when removed after a response,

strengthens the response. (Note: Negative reinforcement is not punishment.)

Positive reinforcementIncreases behaviors by presenting

positive reinforcers

.

A

positive

reinforcer

Is any stimulus that, when

presented

after a response, strengthens

the response

.

20-3:

HOW DO POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT DIFFER, AND WHAT ARE THE BASIC TYPES OF REINFORCERS?

Operant

Conditioning:

Types

of

ReinforcersSlide9

Ways to Increase Behavior

Operant

Conditioning:

Types of ReinforcersSlide10

Primary and Conditioned Reinforcers

Primary reinforcer

: Is unlearned; innately reinforcing stimuli, such as those that satisfy biological needsConditioned (secondary): A stimulus that gains power through association with primary reinforcerImmediate and Delayed ReinforcersImmediate: Occurs immediately after a behaviorDelayed: Involves time delay between

desired

response of and delivery of rewardOperant Conditioning: Types of

ReinforcersSlide11

20-4:

HOW DO DIFFERENT REINFORCEMENT SCHEDULES AFFECT BEHAVIOR?

Reinforcement scheduleA pattern that defines how often a desired response will be reinforcedContinuous reinforcement scheduleReinforcing the desired response every time it occursPartial (intermittent) reinforcement scheduleReinforcing a response only part of the time; results in slower acquisition of a response but much greater resistance to extinction than does continuous reinforcement

Operant Conditioning

Reinforcement SchedulesSlide12

Skinner’s (1961) laboratory pigeons

produced four

reinforcement schedules. (

Reinforcers

are indicated by diagonal marks.)INTERMITTENT REINFORCEMENT SCHEDULESSlide13

Operant Conditioning

Reinforcement Schedules

Schedules

of Partial ReinforcementSlide14

20-5:

HOW DOES PUNISHMENT DIFFER FROM NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT, AND HOW DOES PUNISHMENT AFFECT BEHAVIOR?

Punishment administers an undesirable consequence or withdraws something desirable in an attempt to decrease the frequency of a behavior (a child’s disobedience). Positive punishmentPresenting a negative consequence after an undesired behavior is exhibited, making the behavior less likely to happen in the futureNegative punishmentRemoving a desired stimulus after particular undesired behavior is exhibited, resulting in reducing behavior in future

Operant Conditioning

PunishmentSlide15

Ways to Decrease Behavior

Operant Conditioning

PunishmentSlide16

Physical punishment may increase aggression by

modeling

violence

as

a way to cope with problems.

Punishment can teach fear.

Punishment teaches discrimination

among situations

(perhaps only selectively decreasing the undesired behavior).

Punished behavior is suppressed, not forgotten. This temporary state may (negatively) reinforce parents’ punishing behavior.

Four Major Drawbacks of Physical PunishmentSlide17

20-6:

WHY DID SKINNER’S IDEAS PROVOKE CONTROVERSY, AND HOW MIGHT HIS OPERANT CONDITIONING PRINCIPLES BE APPLIED AT SCHOOL, IN SPORTS, AT WORK, AND AT HOME?

At school: Electronic technologies and adaptive learning software used in teaching and learning have helped realize Skinner’s goal of individually paced, customized instruction with immediate feedback.In sports: Behavioral methods implemented in shaping behavior in athletic performance.

At work

: Rewards successfully used to increase productivity and skill development.At home: Basic rules of shaping used in parenting, and to reinforce our own desired behaviors.

Operant ConditioningSkinner’s LegacyApplications of Operant ConditioningSlide18

Reduce the rewards gradually.

Reinforce the desired behavior.

Monitor how often you engage in your desired behavior.

Decide how, when, and where you will work toward your goal.

State a realistic goal in measurable terms.

Reinforcing Desired Behavior and Extinguishing Undesired OnesSlide19

20-7:

HOW DOES OPERANT CONDITIONING DIFFER FROM CLASSICAL CONDITIONING?

Contrasting Classical and

Operant Conditioning

Both classical and operant conditioning are forms of associative learning. Both involve acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization, and discrimination. Classical conditional involves respondent behaviors and operant conditioning involves operant behaviors.