1. Operant Conditioning
Remember… it deals with rewards and punishments… is VOLUNTARY…and based on what happens after the behavior

2. Classical vs. Operant Conditioning
Classical Conditioning
Operant Conditioning
Behavior is determined by what PRECEDES it.
Behavior is determined by what FOLLOWS it.
Involuntary
Voluntary
Dog salivates after a tone.
Dog sits in anticipation of getting a treat.

3. operant! Classical or Operant?
A very bright (mildly painful) light is turned on a rat. The rat has learned that he can turn off the light by pressing a lever on the other side of his cage. As soon as the light comes on, the rat runs across the room and presses the lever.
operant!

4. operant! Classical or Operant?
A patient in a mental hospital is very disruptive at mealtimes. She grabs food from the plates of those sitting near her and tries to cram the food in her mouth. Because this behavior of stealing food is very undesirable, a plan is developed whereby every time the patient steals food from other plates, she is immediately taken to a room without food.
operant!

5. operant! Classical or Operant?
Alice leaves her clothes and toys all over her room. It seems that the only time she cleans up her room is when her mother yells at her. When she yells at her, Alice picks up her clothes and put away her toys.
operant!

6. Reinforcement vs. Punishment
Practice with partner.

7. Types of Reinforcment positive (adding) or negative (taking away)
primary (innately satisfying) or secondary (conditioned) (learned to be satisfying)
immediate or delayed

8. Superstition BF Skinner – “radical behavioralist”
Wanted to demonstrate that uniquely human behaviors were the product of conditioning.
Starved 8 pigeons. Then rewarded them with food every 15 s, no matter what they did.

9. Results: 6 of 8 bird developed superstitions
Turning counter-clockwise in a circle
Thrusting head toward a specific corner of cage
“tossing” an imaginary ball with its head
Head bobbing with accompanying steps (2 birds)
“fake” pecking

10. Superstition (cont) Follow up studies:
Gradually increased time between rewards to 1 min – bird behaviors became more pronounced (head bobbing/stepping looked like a dance)
Removed reward altogether to create extinction – pigeons showed resistance to extinction (one pigeon repeated behavior over 10,000 times before quitting).
What are your superstitions? How are they rewarded?

11. Problems with Punishment
it models aggression as a way to solve problems
breeds anger in the recipient
doesn’t provide an alternative behavior. Therefore, the behavior only goes away when the punisher is around.

12. Overjustification Effect
Experiment
Story of boys playing soccer
Overjustification effect: when we are rewarded for behaviors that we naturally enjoy, we sometimes lose our intrinsic motivation.
Learning and grades?
Professional athletes?

13. Criticisms of Behavioralism
Deemphasizes the role of internal thoughts and feelings in behavior; Presents humans as lacking free will
Ignores biological predispositions

14. Support for Criticisms
Experiments with humans and animals both indicate that biological predispositions influence conditioning.
a. Animal training
b. Human societies built on behavioralist principles.

15. Support for Criticisms
2. Expectations alter the effectiveness of conditioning (i.e., alcoholics and nausea-producing drug; overjustification effect).
3. Learning occurs in the absence of rewards or punishments (this is called latent learning)
- mice and cognitive maps

16. Observational Learning
Also known as modeling.
Albert Bandura – Bobo doll experiment
Kids modeled the behaviors seen in video by beating Bobo with a hammer

17. Modeling Prosocial Behavior – constructive behavior
Antisocial Behavior – unproductive or destruction behavior