Operant Conditioning

Operant Conditioning Billy: “Dad, can you tie my shoes?!” Dad: (Reads paper) Billy: “Daaaad! Tie my shooooes!” Dad: “Just a second!” Billy: “Daaaaaad! Come on!” Dad: “I’m almost finished Billy! Hang on!” Billy: “Daaaad! Tie my shoes!” Dad: “How many times have I told you not to whine? Now, which shoe should we do first?”

Operant Conditioning What is the basic difference between “classical” & “operant” conditioning? Basic concept of operant conditioning: responses (behaviors) come to be controlled by their consequences… Begins with Thorndike, his cats, & his “puzzle boxes” Difference: in Operant, the “stimulus” (consequence) follows the “response” (behavior); wider variety of behaviors, b/c no necessity for some “natural biological response.”

Operant Conditioning Skinner Box

Operant Conditioning

Operant Conditioning Elements Operant Response: behavior we’re interested in Consequence: what “happens” as a result of the behavior Types of Consequences Reinforcers: increase tendency to make a response Primary Secondary Punishers: decrease tendency to make a response

Operant Conditioning Reinforcement: increases likelihood behavior will be repeated Positive: something rewarding is added Negative: remove something negative (this is good!) Study nags, whining, seatbelts Mowrer’s 2-Process Theory (phobias) May lead to escape/avoidance learning Phobia “maintenance” Learned helplessness Punishment: decreases likelihood behavior will be repeated Best if immediate, consistent, not too severe Possibility of negative consequences Positive: call parents for money from college & they give it, you’ll call again

Operant Conditioning Response Rate Stimulus Increase Decrease Added This is known as: ________________ Taken Away Stimulus

Operant Conditioning The Steps (which should look familiar…) Acquisition: may occur through shaping Discriminative stimuli Extinction: often preceded by an increase in response/behavior Some responses have high resistance to extinction Largely based on schedules of reinforcement Stimulus Generalization/Discrimination

Operant Conditioning Schedules of Reinforcement What does this mean? When/how often do we reinforce the behavior? Every time we see it? After a set or variable period of time? After a set or variable number of behavioral responses? How does the timing affect the behavior?

Operant Conditioning Schedules of Reinforcement Schedules can be either: Fixed or variable Fixed: always the same Variable: uh, variable (usually around some “average”) Interval or ratio Interval: based on time – reinforcement occurs only after some period of time has elapsed Ratio: based on number of behavioral responses

Operant Conditioning Schedules of Reinforcement Fixed Interval: based on fixed amount of time Variable Interval: based on a variable amount of time Fixed Ratio: based on a fixed number of responses (including continuous reinforcement) Variable Ratio: based on a variable number of responses Which types of schedules are most resistant to extinction & why? Which types of schedules lead to faster response rates & why? F.I.: paychecks V.I.: pop quizzes, e-mail F.R.: Subway card, commission pay (around some average, e.g. 1/3) V.R.: casinos/slot machine (around some average, e.g. 1/3) Variable schedules are more resistant to extinction (less predictable—”are the rewards gone?”) Ratio schedules lead to faster responses (“my reward comes sooner if a I press the lever more”)

Operant Conditioning

Operant Conditioning So let’s talk about whiny kids… Kids whine, you don’t give in… Kids whine, you give in all the time… Kids whine, you give in sometimes…

Operant Conditioning Other Concepts Cognition & Operant Conditioning Evidence of cognitive processing has been seen in maze studies of rats Rats in a maze with no obvious reward will wander at leisure They apparently develop a “cognitive map” of the maze, because… When a reward is present, they will get through the maze quickly, thus they “learned” despite a lack of reward Latent Learning: learning occurs but no incentive to demonstrate it