Operant Conditioning

How to Shape Behavior Identify what the respondent can do now. Identify the desired behavior. Identify potential reinforcers in the respondent's environment. Break the desired behavior into small substeps to be mastered sequentially. Move the respondent from the entry behavior to the desired behavior by successively reinforcing each approximation to the desired behavior.

Training Animals through Operant Conditioning Operant conditioning forms an association between a behavior and a consequence.

The Difference Between Negative Reinforcement and Punishment It is true that punishment and negative reinforcement both involve an aversive stimulus, but they are two very different processes. Negative reinforcement is the process by which escaping or avoiding an aversive or unpleasant stimulus strengthens the response that it follows. Punishment is the process by which presenting a stimulus weakens the response that it follows.

Schedules of Reinforcement Fixed Ratio- In a factory, workers may be paid $1 for every item produced. Variable ratio -If you keep putting quarters into a slot machine until you win, sometimes it takes twenty quarters for a payoff, sometimes sixty, sometimes ten. Fixed interval – Coming to work on Friday, results in a paycheck for work completed during the interval of a week. Variable interval. If a friend wants to reinforce your studying habit, she could come in in ten minutes, twenty minutes or an hour to give you a chocolate.

Biological Restrictions on Operant Conditioning

Basic ideas of operant conditioning have endless examples in everyday life. Learning how to be “civilized” and cultural gender roles, are just two examples. Principles of operant conditioning have led to treatment programs for altering problematic behavior. Behavior modification programs combine the use of rewards and extinction. It may be easier to quit smoking if you avoid the places in which your smoking was most often reinforced.