OPERANT

CONDITIONING
 DIFFERENT FROM CLASSICAL

 CLASSICAL: Experimenter presents UCS

and CS and then observes the behavior
 OPERANT: Participant / Animal must
behave in a certain way to get a reward or
avoid a punishment
 Def. – Learning in which reinforcement is
contingent upon the subject’s behavior.
 Thorndike’s Puzzle Box

Figure 8.8 Cat in a puzzle box

Myers: Psychology, Eighth Edition
Copyright © 2007 by Worth Publishers

Law of Effect: Behavior + Consequences = Learned Behavior

 B.F. SKINNER
 Psychologist most
closely associated
with operant
conditioning
SKINNER BOX
 REINFORCEMENT
 REWARD / PUNISHMENT
 POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT:
 Get a reward or receive something you like for doing
the desired behavior
 Social approval, money, food
 NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT:
 Something unpleasant is taken away for doing
desired behavior
 Homework, chores, sales tax on tax free weekend
 `

Big Bang Theory

 REINFORCEMENT cont.
 PRIMARY
REINFORCEMENT:
 satisfies a biological
need such as hunger,
thirst, or sleep, etc.
 SECONDARY
REINFORCEMENT:
 one that has been paired
with a primary re-
inforcer through classical
conditioning.
 SHAPING
 Technique used to teach animals / people
a more complicated task
 The subject is rewarded for each response
that is closer to the final desired behavior
 Successive approximations
 SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT

 CONTINUOUS
 RATIO:
 reinforcement is given after a certain
NUMBER of responses.
 FIXED RATIO: reinforcement is given after
the same number of responses each time
 VARIABLE RATIO: reinforcement after
varying number of responses.
 SCHEDULES cont.
 INTERVAL:
 reinforcement is given after a certain amount
of TIME.
 FIXED INTERVAL: reinforcement is given
after the same amount of time each time.
 VARIABLE INTERVAL: amount of time
changes between reinforcements
 EXAMPLES
 Typist gets paid $2 per page
 Fixed ratio
 Slot machines
 Variable ratio
 Giving a quiz every Friday
 Fixed interval
 CHAINING
 Learning simple skills, that when
combined together enable the subject to
perform more complex tasks.
 Examples:
 Reading, writing, math, sports, etc.
 AVERSIVE CONTROL

 Using an unpleasant stimulus to influence

behavior.
 NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT:
 when an unpleasant stimulus is removed after a
certain behavior.
 ESCAPE CONDITIONING: A person’s behavior causes an
unpleasant event to stop
 AVOIDANCE CONDITIONING: Training of an organism to
withdraw from an unpleasant stimulus before it starts.

Cliff's Buzzer
 PUNISHMENT
 An unpleasant
consequence occurs
and decreases the
frequency of the
behavior that
produced it

Big Bang Part 2

DISADVANTAGES OF PUNISHMENT

 Unwanted side effects: rage, fear,

aggression (spanked children may become
more aggressive)
 Subjects learn to avoid the punisher
 Punishment may suppress rather than
eliminate such behaviors
 Alone it does not teach what is acceptable
behavior
 EXAMPLES
 Which schedule of reinforcement is being used?

 Factory workers?
 Fixed interval
 Getting paid by the bale for hauling hay?
 Fixed ratio
 Pop quizzes?
 Variable interval
 Homework from the teacher’s
perspective
 Behavior desired from the student?
 Complete homework assignments
 Reinforcement being offered?
 grades
 Positive or negative?
 Primary or secondary?
 Overworked / underpaid teacher doesn’t want to have to
grade EVERY assignment
 Which schedule of reinforcement would be most
beneficial for the teacher to use?
 Variable ratio
 POKER CHIMPS
 Shaping was used to get chimps to perform
tasks for food
 Classical conditioning was then used to teach
the chimps to associate poker chips with food.
 Soon the chimps were performing tasks to get
poker chips to exchange for food in the chip-o-
mat
 Generalization and discrimination
Which type of rft. is best for. . .?

 . . . introducing a new behavior?

 . . . maintaining a behavior for a long

period of time?