LESSON 3:

SKINNER'S OPERANT CONDITIONING

Facilitating Learner-centered Teaching By: Ferdinand Bulusan, Marcelo R. Raquepo, Marilyn L. Balmeo and Joselito C. Gutierrez By:
Rex Books Store 2019

At the end of the lesson, you will be able to

• describe reinforcement and punishment in the context of operant conditioning,
• differentiate the characteristics of the theories of classical and operant conditioning.
• analyze a research article about operant conditioning, and
• devise a teaching strategy bank of classroom applications of operant conditioning
THINK
One of the most popular behavioral theorists of all time is B.F. (Burrhus Frederic) Skinner
(1904-1990). He postulated the operant conditioning. Classical conditioning refers to the
association of stimuli whereas operant conditioning actively involves the subject's participation.
The subject in operant conditioning has a choice to respond. In other words, operant conditioning
is the type of learning whereby learning occurs as a consequence of the learner's behavior.
B.F. Skinner made this conclusion after experimenting on animals through his Skinner's
box, a device that modified the animal's behavior. In his experiment, he put a rat in a box with a
lever, a bowl, and a closed chamber. If the lever was pushed, the chamber opened and dispensed
food. Unconscious about this mechanism, the rat accidentally pushed the lever, and the food was
dispensed. The rat learned that continuously pushing the lever could open the food dispenser to
the bowl. Skinner termed the food in such an experiment as the reward.
Reinforcement
Skinner's operant condition is dichotomized into reinforcement and punishment. Each
category is also divided into positive or negative. Reinforcement is defined as something that
strengthens the behavior or is sometimes called as the response strengthener (Schultz, 2006).
Positive reinforcement is defined as the addition of a pleasant stimulus. This is exactly what is
illustrated in the Skinner's box. The dispensed food became a positive reinforcement that caused
the rat to continually push the lever (behavior).
Positive reinforcement has many classroom applications. Preschool teachers stamp three
big stars on the hands of their pupils who may have behaved throughout the class, achieved the
highest score, or become friendly within the academic time. To maximize the use of the positive
reinforcement, however, teachers should make it clear to their students why they are stamping
them three stars and what the three big stars mean. In that way, the pupils will be motivated to
repeat their pleasant behavior and can eventually gain the reward-the stamp.
By building operant conditioning techniques into lesson plans, it is easily possible to teach
children useful skills as well as good behaviors. By using symbols like smiley faces, "Good Work"
stamps, stickers, and even simple ticks when a child does something correctly, you are encouraging
them to repeat such satisfying work further down the line.
Meanwhile, negative reinforcement is taking something away from a situation that
subsequently increases the occurrence of the response. In other words, it is taking away an
unpleasant consequence to cause the behavior to happen again. Some stimuli that often function
as negative reinforcers are loud noises, criticisms, annoying people, and low grades, because
actions that remove them tend to be reinforcing. For stance, Teacher X wants her Grade 3 class to
master the multiplication table, so she gives the pupils a problem set on multiplication. After a set
is solved, they would recite the multiplication table from multiples of 5 to 10. If they master the
multiplication table, the problem set is withdrawn, thus strengthening the behavior-perfectly
reciting the multiplication table.
Schedule of reinforcements
According to Skinner (1938), as mentioned by Zeiler (1977), schedules refer to when
reinforcement is applied (Skinner, 1938, Zeiler, 1977). Table 1 summarizes the reinforcement
schedules according to Skinner.
Table 1. Reinforcement schedules according to Skinner

Reinforcement
Description Classroom Application
Schedule
Reinforcement is given every Students receive feedback after each
Continuous time the animal gives the response concerning the accuracy of
Schedule desired response.
their work
Reinforcement is given Students are not called on every time
Intermittent irregularly as the animal gives they raise their hands, not praised after
Schedule the desired response. working each problem, and not always
told they are behaving appropriately
The time interval is constant Appreciating a student's answer is done
Fixed
from one reinforcement to the for the first response made after 5
interval
next minutes.
The time interval varies from The first correct response after 5
Variable
occasion to occasion around minutes is reinforced, but the time
interval
some average value interval varies (eg. 2,3,7, or 8 minutes).
Reinforcement is given Teacher gives praises to a student after
reciting the fifth correct answer.
Ratio Schedule depending on the number of
correct responses or the rate
of responding
Every nth correct response is Every 10th correct response receives
Fixed ratio reinforced, where n is reinforcement
constant.
 Variable Every nth correct response is A teacher may give free time
ratio reinforced, but the value periodically around an average of five
varies around an average completed assignments.
number n.

Punishment
Operant conditioning also includes punishment, whose main aim is to weaken the response.
However, punishment does not necessarily eliminate the behavior, when the threat of punishment
is removed, the punished response may recur (Merrett & Wheldall, 1984), Skinner believed that
positive punishment is an addition of an unpleasant stimulus to decrease the behavior For instance,
Max, a grade 6 pupil, had been neglecting his Math assignments. He completely hated washing
the dishes. To decrease such behavior of neglecting his assignments, her parents assigned him to
wash the dishes after dinner After some time, Max eventually became more diligent to complete
his assignments in Math. The addition (positive) of the work Max hates (punishment) decreases
the likelihood for the behavior (neglect of doing the assignments) to occur in only.
Negative punishment, meanwhile, is the removal of rewarding stimulus to decrease the
behavior For example, Jennie, a grade 3 pupil, is always noisy in a group activity. Her teacher calls
her attention and warns her that she could not participate in the subsequent fun activity if she
continues to behave noisily. Joining in a fun activity is a pleasant stimulus. Withdrawing it
(negative) is believed to reduce noisy behavior (punishment)
Table 2. Relationship of reinforcement and punishment

Reinforcement Punishment
(Increasing Behavior) (Decreasing the behavior)
Positive Adding something to increase Adding something to
(adding) the behavior decrease the behavior
Negative Subtracting something to Subtracting something to
(subtracting) increase the behavior decrease the behavior

Alternating to Punishment
Punishment is often applied in schools to address disruptions. Maag (2001) enumerated
some common punishments like loss of privileges, removals from the classroom, in-and-out of
school suspensions, and expulsions. Nonetheless, there are several alternatives to punishment (see
Figure 28). The primary advantage of this alternative over punishment is that it shows the student
hoe to behave adaptively.

Change the Condition an

Allow the unwanted Extinguish the
discriminative incompatible
behavior to continue unwanted behavior
stimuli behavior
• Move misbehaving • Have students who • Ignore minor • Reinforce learning
student away from stands when he or misbehavior so progress, which
other misbehaving she should be that it is not occurs only when a
students sitting continue to reinforced by the student is not
stand teacher attention misbehaving

Figure 18. Alternatives to punishment.

EXPERIENCE
The use of rewards and punishments in a classroom setting is very noticeable in an
everyday situation For instance, the teacher may use prizes or rewards in exciting collaborative
games to increase student participation. Notably, the K to 12 curriculum promotes higher student
participation and collaboration Knowing the appropriate use of rewards and punishments in
teaching may address this pedagogical requirement
Showing simple ways to reinforce students may somehow build an image of a supportive
teacher. For instance, the teacher positively reinforcing a pleasant behavior who often smiles,
praises, and shows affectionate patting on the back is considered a kind and caring teacher.
Moreover, classroom management is one of the key areas of concern in teaching Operant
conditioning can also be applied to ensure a well-organized climate in class. For example, a teacher
may ignore students who shout out correct answers but may give them the opportunity to recite
when they raise their hands. Moreover, using operant conditioning, the teacher may give
immediate feedback toward pleasant or unpleasant behavior. Giving feedback is vital in
diminishing undesirable student behavior.
Reinforcement in teaching has different effects on different learners; therefore, the use of
varied ways for different types of learners should be observed. Moreover, it is worth extending
continuous reinforcement to enable the learners to acquire new behavior.