Module 28 – Operant Conditioning’s Applications, and Comparison to Classical Conditioning 28.1 – Identify some ways to apply operant conditioning principles at school, in sports, at work, at home, and for self-improvement. The principles of operant conditioning are evident in our daily lives. Operant conditioning is displayed in the form of behavior modification, a change in a previous behavior to a newly desired behavior, and a token economy. Operant conditioning principles are used daily to modify a child’s behavior in a classroom. To effectively modify a student’s behavior in a classroom, a teacher may simply ignore the inappropriate behavior or reward the appropriate behavior. Ignoring the behavior and not providing the attention the student desires is a form of negative punishment (omission). Removing the appetitive stimulus, the attention the student receives from the teacher or classmates, will cause the inappropriate behavior to become extinct. In addition, rewarding appropriate behavior is a form of positive reinforcement, and will increase the desirable behavior.

Module 28 – Operant Conditioning’s Applications, and Comparison to Classical Conditioning 28.1 – Identify some ways to apply operant conditioning principles at school, in sports, at work, at home, and for self-improvement. Another practical application of operant conditioning is known as token economy, an environment that reinforces desirable behavior by rewarding the behavior with secondary reinforcers that can be exchanged for other reinforcers. This form of behavior modification is seen in many environments. For example, many classrooms in elementary schools reward students for displaying desirable behaviors (e.g., raising their hands to answer a question) by giving them gold stars next to their names on a board in the front of the classroom. After a given number of stars has been obtained (a fixed- ratio schedule), students are rewarded with a new pencil. This form of behavior modification is useful in promoting desirable behavior.

Module 28 – Operant Conditioning’s Applications, and Comparison to Classical Conditioning 28.1 – Identify some ways to apply operant conditioning principles at school, in sports, at work, at home, and for self-improvement. In operant conditioning the formation of a specific behavior may require multiple trials. During these trials, it is important to understand the principles of shaping (via successive approximations), creating a new behavior based on a sequence of rewarding behaviors that come closer and closer to the ultimate behavioral goal. For example, if you want to get your friend to jump on one foot and turn in circles, it would be necessary to reward her first for jumping, then jumping on one foot, and finally for reaching the final goal (jumping on one foot and turning in circles).

Module 28 – Operant Conditioning’s Applications, and Comparison to Classical Conditioning 28.2 – Identify the characteristics that distinguish operant conditioning from classical conditioning. Comparison of Classical and Operant Conditioning Classical Conditioning Operant Conditioning Basic Idea organism associates events organism associates behavior and resulting events Response involuntary, automatic voluntary, operates on environment Acquisition associating events; NS is paired with associating response with a consequence US and becomes CS (reinforcer or punisher) Extinction CR decreases when CS is repeatedly responding decreases when reinforcement presented alone stops Spontaneous Recovery the reappearance, after a rest period, the reappearance, after a rest period, of an an extinguished CR extinguished response Generalization the tendency to respond to stimuli organism’s response to similar stimuli is also similar to the CS reinforced Discrimination the learned ability to distinguish organism learns that certain responses, between a CS and other stimuli that but not others, will be reinforced do not signal a US