Lisa Marvel, Holly Ziegler, and Amos Kim B.F. Skinner http://www.freeinfosociety.com/article.php?id=100 Lisa Marvel, Holly Ziegler, and Amos Kim

Operant Conditioning “Form of learning in which a spontaneous behavior is followed by a stimulus that changes the probability that the behavior will occur again (Berk, L., E., 2006).” Skinner Box http://www.geocities.com/skews_me_too/behavior.html

Operant Conditioning and Education Environmental stimuli influence people to produce different kinds of behaviors Behavior can be changed by altering antecedents and consequences Teachers often use rewards and punishments to produce desired behaviors from their students These consequences partially determine whether students will repeat the behavior that led to the consequence (Woolfolk, A., 2007.)

Examples of Rewards Used By Teachers Concrete: Prizes, candy Activity: Free time, Recess Exemption: no homework, no final exams Social: praise, student of the month (Woolfolk, A., 2007.) http://static.squidoo.com/resize/squidoo_images/-1/draft_lens1862717module12215593photo_1224519060chalk-board-coupon.gif

Examples of Punishments Used By Teachers Loss of privileges: no recess or free time Fines: lost points, lower test grades Extra work: more homework and classwork (Woolfolk, A., 2007.) http://pro.corbis.com/images/CBR001859.jpg?size=572&uid=%7B17DC4E23-EAF7-498A-96C2-F0C149C5BFE9%7D

Prompts and Cues Cues provide students with a stimulus that let them know when a certain behavior should take place. When this occurs, the behavior can be reinforced by the teacher. Prompts help students learn how to respond to a cue for a desired behavior. These prompts must occur immediately and then fade as quickly as possible. For example, Skinner’s pigeons learned to peck for food when the light turned on, but did not try when the light was off because no food would be returned. The light was used as a cue to determine the likely consequence of pecking. (Woolfolk, A., 2007.)

Operant Conditioning and Education Rewards and reinforcement should be given immediately Students should be able to know if their work is correct immediately (Smith 1994)

Programmed Instruction Use rewards to motivate students Learning step by step Learning through direct participation Different paces for learning for different students (Pedrini)

Technology Quizzes on the computer will allow students to immediately know if their answers are correct Computer Games Practice Quizzes with clues http://www.dosgamesonline.com/screenshots/full/numbermunchers2.gif

Q & A Which group of words fits correctly into this statement?: Environmental ______ influence people to produce different kinds of ______. rewards, actions stimuli, behaviors studies, products

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Q & A Which group of words fits correctly into this statement?:Teachers often use ______ and ________ to produce desired behaviors from their students. rewards, punishments staplers, pencils instruction, pets

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Q & A Who is the real Skinner?? www.psychology.uiowa.edu animatedtv.about.com

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References Berk, L. E. (2006). Development Through the Lifespan (4th ed.). Boston: Pearson. Dunder, J. (n.d.). Skinner, Burrhus Frederic. Retrieved 17 2, 2009, from Free Info Society: http://www.freeinfosociety.com/article.php?id=100 Pedrini, B., & Pedrini, D. (1973). Operant Conditioning and Learning: Examples, Sources, and Technology. Smith, L. (1994). B.F. Skinner (1904-1990). Prospects: Quarterly Review of Comparative Education , 519-532. Woolfolk, A. (2007). Educational Psychology. Boston: Pearson.