Operant Conditioning

Do Now Do you feel you try harder if you have the chance to receive a reward, or because you are afraid of receiving a punishment? Explain your reasoning.

Objectives Define the law of effect, and explain the different kinds of reinforcement. Describe the effects of punishment and the disadvantages of using punishment to control behavior. Explain how behaviors are influenced through shaping, discrimination, and extinction. Define operant conditioning.

The Law of Effect Operant Conditioning: Type of learning in which the frequency of a behavior depends on the consequence that follows that behavior. B.F. Skinner: Developed the fundamental principles and techniques of operant conditioning and devised ways to apply them in the real world. Reinforcement: Any consequence that increases the future likelihood of a behavior. Punishment: Any consequence that decreases the future likelihood of a behavior. Positive Reinforcement: Anything that increases the likelihood of a behavior by following it with a desirable event or state. Negative Reinforcement: Anything that increases the likelihood of a behavior by following it with the removal of an undesirable event or state.

The Process of Punishment Shaping: Reinforcement of behaviors that are increasingly similar to the desired one; the operant technique used to establish new behaviors. Discrimination: Ability to distinguish between two similar signals or stimuli. Extinction: The loss of behavior when no consequence follows it. Continuous Reinforcement: A schedule of reinforcement in which a reward follows every correct response. Partial Reinforcement Schedule: A schedule of reinforcement in which a reward follows only some correct responses.

The Role of Cognition Latent Learning: Learning that occurs but is not apparent until the learner has an incentive to demonstrate it. Cognitive Map: Mental representation of a place. Overjustification Effect: Effect of promising a reward for doing what one already likes to do; the reward may lessen and replace the person’s original, natural motivation so that the behavior stops if the reward is eliminated.