1. Operant Conditioning

2. What is Operant Conditioning?

3. Classical v. Operant Conditioning
· Both classical and operant conditioning use acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization, and discrimination.
· Classical conditioning uses reflexive behavior - behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus that come before the behavior.
· Ask: Is the behavior something the animal does NOT control? YES. Does the animal have a choice in how to behave? NO. - Classical conditioning.
· Operant conditioning uses operant or voluntary behavior – voluntary behavior that is shaped by consequences that come after the behavior
· Ask: Is the behavior something the animal can control? YES. Does the animal have a choice in how to behave? YES Operant Conditioning.

4. What is it?
operant conditioning is a type of learning whereby the consequences of behavior determine the likelihood that it will be performed again in the future.
Operant conditioning theory proposes that an organism will tend to repeat a behavior = operants that has desirable consequences (such as receiving a treat), or that will enable it to avoid undesirable consequences (such as being given detention).
Furthermore, organisms will tend not to repeat a behavior that has undesirable consequences (such as disapproval or a fine).

5. In Summary
A learning process in which the likelihood of a particular behavior occurring is determined by the consequences of that behavior.
The frequency will increase if the consequence is reinforcing to the subject.
The frequency will decrease if the consequence is not reinforcing or punishing to the subject.

6. B.F. Skinner ( )
Believed that internal factors like thoughts, emotions, and beliefs could not be used to explain behavior. Instead said that new behaviors were actively chosen by the organism
Looked at “Operants” or active behaviors that are used on the environment to generate consequences
Developed the fundamental principles and techniques of operant conditioning and devised ways to apply them in the real world
Designed the Skinner Box, or operant chamber

7. DiscPsy Photo p179
B. F. Skinner (1904–1990)

8. The Skinner Box

9. Operant conditioning as a three-phase model
Skinner believed that virtually all behaviour can be analysed and explained by the relationship between the behaviour, its antecedents (what happens just before it) and its consequences (what happens just after it).
The three-way relationship between these elements and the order in which they occur is called the three-phase model of operant conditioning.

10. The ABC Model
The three-phase model of operant conditioning has three parts that occur in a specific sequence:
antecedent (A), a stimulus that occurs before the behaviour = discriminative stimulus’ also describes the antecedent (or the condition that influences behavior by predicting the likely outcome of a behavior).
the behaviour (B) that occurs due to the antecedent
the consequence (C) to the behaviour. This is an environmental event that occurs immediately after the behaviour and has an effect on the occurrence of the behaviour. Skinner argued that any behaviour which is followed by a consequence will change in strength (become more, or less established) and frequency (occur more, or less often) depending on the nature of that consequence (reward or punishment). .

11. This is usually expressed as antecedent (A) →
behavior (B) → consequence (C) and is therefore sometimes called the A-B-C model of operant conditioning
EXAMPLE : Consider a car stopped at a red traffic light at a busy intersection. When the traffic light turns green, the car is driven through the intersection. In this situation, the green traffic light is the antecedent stimulus that prompts the behaviour of gently pressing on the accelerator for the known, likely and desirable consequence of safely travelling across the intersection.

12. Skinner’s Air Crib: A room fit for a…Baby!
To read more on this invention: Click Here!

13. ELEMENTS OF OPERANT CONDITIONING

14. Reinforcement/Punishment
Reinforcement - Any consequence that increases the likelihood of the behavior it follows
Reinforcement is ALWAYS GOOD!!!
Punishment - Any consequence that decreases the likelihood of the behavior it follows
The subject determines if a consequence is reinforcing or punishing

15. Types of Reinforcement: - Always GOOD

16. Positive Reinforcement
Strengthens a response by presenting a stimulus that you like after a response
Anything that increases the likelihood of a behavior by following it with a desirable event or state
The subject receives something they want (added)
Will strengthen the behavior

17. Positive Reinforcement

18. Negative Reinforcement
Strengthens a response by reducing or removing an aversive (disliked) stimulus
Anything that increases the likelihood of a behavior by following it with the removal of an undesirable event or state
Something the subject doesn’t like is removed (subtracted)
Will strengthen the behavior
Neg. Rein. Allows you to either:
Escape something you don’t like that is already present (Neg. Rein. By Escape)
Avoid something before it occurs (Neg. Rein. By Avoidance)

19. Negative Reinforcement

20. Positive/Negative Reinforcement
BOTH ARE GOOD THINGS!!!

21. Punishment: Always BAD

22. Types of Punishment
Punishment is the delivery of an unpleasant consequence following a response, or the removal of a pleasant consequence following a response
An undesirable event following a behavior
Its effect is opposite that of reinforcement – it decreases the frequency of behavior

23. Positive Punishment (Punishment by Application)
Something is added to the
environment you do NOT like.
A verbal reprimand/something
painful like a spanking.
electric shock for a rat in a Skinner
box
having to run extra laps around a
basketball court for being late to training
being given extra chores at home for doing something wrong all involve positive punishment.

24. Negative Punishment (Punishment by Removal)
Something is taken away that you DO LIKE.
taking food away from a hungry rat
not being allowed to join basketball training because you are late
your parents taking away your internet access for doing something wrong

26. Response cost
Negative punishment involves the removal or loss of a stimulus , which weakens the likelihood of a response occurring again. ‘Do something wrong, get something taken away’. e.g. losing your mobile phone as a punishment. The response cost is the thing that is lost (e.g. mobile phone) response cost = removal of any valued stimulus, whether or not it causes the behavior. There is a ‘cost’ for making a ‘response’

27. EG. For a speeding fine, your money (a valued stimulus) is taken away from you. In addition, the stimulus of money was unlikely to have been the reason (or ‘cause’) for your speeding! So speeding fine is considered to be a response cost, but also negative punishment, as something of value has been taken away. It is a form of punishment because it decreases the likelihood of a behavior occurring.
Response cost does not necessarily involve something of monetary value. A loss of a grade or two for late submission of school work is a response cost that can decrease the likelihood of lateness in the future. Similarly, making a rude comment during a conversation might result in the loss of a smile. This would be the response cost if the smile is a valued stimulus.

28. Reinforcement vs. Punishment
Reinforcing/Desirable Stimulus
Aversive/UnDesirable
Stimulus
Stimulus is presented or added to animal’s environment…
Positive (+) Reinforcement
Add something you DO LIKE.
Behavior Increases
Positive (+) Punishment
Add something you DO NOT LIKE.
Behavior Decreases
Stimulus is removed or taken away from animal’s environment…
Negative (-) Punishment
TAKES AWAY something you DO LIKE.
Negative (-) Reinforcement
TAKES AWAY something you DO NOT LIKE.

30. The Good Effects of Punishment
Punishment can effectively control certain behaviors if…
It comes immediately after the undesired behavior
It is consistent and not occasional
Especially useful if teaching a child not to do a dangerous behavior
Most still suggest reinforcing an incompatible behavior rather than using punishment

31. Bad Effects of Punishment
Does not teach or promote alternative, acceptable behavior.
Only tells what NOT to do while reinforcement tells what to do.
Doesn’t prevent the undesirable behavior when away from the punisher in a “safe setting”
Can lead to fear of the punisher, anxiety, and lower self-esteem
Children who are punished physically may learn to use aggression as a means to solve problems.

32. How is Neg. Reinforcement different from Punishment?
Negative Reinforcement will always increase a behavior
Punishment will always decrease a behavior
Negative Reinforcement is something YOU DO to take away something bad.
Punishment is something DONE TO YOU that is bad and makes you stop doing a behavior.

33. Stimulus Generalization
In operant conditioning, stimulus generalization occurs when the correct response is made to another stimulus that is similar (but not necessarily identical) to the stimulus that was present when the conditioned response was reinforced.
in our everyday life, we frequently generalize our responses from one stimulus to another.
EG our generalizations from past experiences with people, events and situations influence many of our likes and dislikes of new people, events and situations.

34. Lab evidence of SG

35. Stimulus discrimination
In operant conditioning, stimulus discrimination occurs when an organism makes the correct response to a stimulus and is reinforced, but does not respond to any other stimulus, even when stimuli are similar (but not identical).
EG sniffer dogs used by police, customs and border protection officers to find hidden drugs, explosives and other illegal goods.

36. Extinction
In operant conditioning, the loss of a conditioned behavior when consequences no longer follow it.
The subject no longer responds since the reinforcement or punishment has stopped.
Can you think of an example?

37. Spontaneous Recovery
As in classical conditioning, extinction is often not permanent in operant conditioning. After the apparent extinction of a conditioned response, spontaneous recovery can occur and the organism will once again show the response in the absence of any reinforcement. The response is likely to be weaker and will probably not last very long. A spontaneously recovered response is often stronger when it occurs after a lengthy period following extinction of the response than when it occurs relatively soon after extinction.

38. Parts of Operant Conditioning
Discriminative Stimulus
Operant Response
Consequence
Effect on Future Behavior
Specific environmental stimulus
Gas gage on empty
Wallet on sidewalk
Voluntary behavior
Fill car with gas
Give Wallet to Security
Event that will make the operant response more or less likely to reoccur
Avoid running out of gas.
Get $50 Reward
If reinforcement = more likely to reoccur
If punishment = less likely to reoccur

39. Some Reinforcement Procedures: Shaping

40. Shaping
Reinforcement of behaviors that are more and more similar to the one you want to occur
Technique used to establish a new behavior

41. Shaping Principles
Skinner box - soundproof box with a bar that an animal presses or pecks to release a food or water reward, and a device that records these responses.
Shaping - procedure in which rewards, such as food, gradually guide an animal’s behavior toward a desired behavior.
Successive approximations - shaping method in which you reward responses that are ever closer to the final desired behavior and ignore all other responses.
Shaping nonverbal animals can show what they perceive. Train an animal to discriminate between classes of events or objects.
After being trained to discriminate between flowers, people, cars, and chairs, a pigeon can usually identify in which of these categories a new pictured object belongs

42. Skinner attached some horizontal stripes to the wall which he then used to gauge the dog's responses of lifting its head higher and higher. Then, he simply set about shaping a jumping response by flashing the strobe (and simultaneously taking a picture), followed by giving a meat treat, each time the dog satisfied the criterion for reinforcement. The result of this process is shown below, as it was in LOOK magazine, in terms of the pictures taken at different points in the shaping process. Within 20 minutes, Skinner had Agnes "running up the wall"

43. For the second shaping demonstration, Skinner trained Agnes to press the pedal and pop the top on the wastebasket. Again, the photographer's flash served as the conditioned reinforcer, and each step in the process was photographed. The results are shown below.

44. Schedules of Reinforcement

45. Continuous reinforcement
A schedule of reinforcement in which a reward follows every correct response
Learning occurs rapidly
But the behavior will extinguish quickly once the reinforcement stops.
Once that reliable candy machine eats your money twice in a row, you stop putting money into it.

46. Partial Reinforcement
A schedule of reinforcement in which a reward follows only some correct responses
Learning of behavior will take longer
But will be more resistant to extinction
Includes the following types:
Fixed-interval and variable interval
Fixed-ratio and variable-ratio

47. Fixed-Ratio Schedule
A partial reinforcement schedule that rewards a response only after some set number of correct responses
The faster the subject responds, the more reinforcements they will receive.
i.e. piece work: You get $5 for every 10 widgets you make.

48. Variable-Ratio Schedule
A partial reinforcement schedule that rewards an unpredictable average number of correct responses
High rates of responding with little pause in order to increase chances of getting reinforcement
This schedule is very resistant to extinction.
Vegas Rules! Sometimes called the “gambler’s schedule”; similar to a slot machine or fishing

49. Fixed-Interval Schedule
A partial reinforcement schedule that rewards only the first correct response after some set period of time
Produces gradual responses at first and increases as you get closer to the time of reinforcement
“Procrastinator Schedule”
Example: a known weekly quiz in a class, checking cookies after the 10 minute baking period.

50. Variable-Interval Schedule
A partial reinforcement that rewards the first correct response after an unpredictable amount of time
Produces slow and steady responses
Example: “pop” quiz in a class
“Are we there yet?” – ask all you want, doesn’t mean it speeds up when the reinforcement of arriving will happen

51. Ask Yourself…
Can the animal speed up its reinforcement by doing the behavior? If YES - Ratio
Does the number of times the animal does the behavior vary for reinforcement? Variable
Does the animal do the behavior a set number of times for reinforcement? Fixed
Is the example dealing with the amount of time that elapses from the behavior till it gets reinforcement? - Interval
Reinforcement will NOT be sped up by doing the behavior more often
Does the amount time between the behavior and reinforcement vary? Variable
Is the amount of time between the behavior and reinforcement stay the same? Fixed

52. Schedules of Reinforcement

53. Operant Conditioning

54. Class Activity
4 Volunteers are needed to demonstrate schedules of reinforcement
No punishment will be used.
You will remain dry for the entire activity.

55. Variable Ratio
1:1/ 7:1 / 4:1 / 12:1 / 8:1 / 19:1 / 3:1 / 2:1 / 2:1 / 5:1 / 16:1 / 11:1 / 3:1 / 8:1 / 4:1
Fixed Ratio
7:1 / 7:1 / 7:1 / 7:1 / 7:1,…. 15 times
Fixed Interval
10 sec:1 / 10 sec:1 / 10 sec:1 / ,… 15 times
Variable Interval
6 sec:1 / 8 sec:1 / 10 sec:1 / 3 sec:1 / 7 sec:1 / 14 sec:1 / 15 sec:1 / 8 sec:1 / 5 sec:1 / 12 sec:1 / 6 sec:1 / 9 sec:1 / 13 sec:1/15 sec:1 / 8 sec:1

56. New Understandings of Operant Conditioning: The Role of Cognition

57. Skinner & Thorndike
Believed that cognitions (thoughts), perceptions and expectations have no place in psychology.
This is because they cannot be studied through observation and therefore were seen as not being objective.

58. Cognitive Aspects of Operant Conditioning
Latent learning—learning that occurs in the absence of reinforcement, but is not demonstrated until a reinforcer is available
Cognitive map—term for a mental representation of the layout of a familiar environment
Learned helplessness—phenomenon where exposure to inescapable and uncontrollable aversive events produces passive behavior

59. Latent Learning
Learning that takes place in absence of an apparent reward
Idea developed by E.C. Tolman

60. E.C. Tolman’s Rat Maze Experiment
Three groups of rats were trained to run a maze.
The control group, Group 1, was fed upon reaching the goal.
The first experimental group, Group 2, was not rewarded for the first six days of training, but found food in the goal on day seven and everyday thereafter.
The second experimental group, Group 3, was not rewarded for the first two days, but found food in the goal on day three and everyday thereafter.

61. Tolman’s Rat Maze Experiment (continued)
Both of the experimental groups demonstrated fewer errors when running the maze the day after the transition from no reward to reward conditions. The marked performance continued throughout the rest of the experiment.
This suggested that the rats had learned during the initial trials of no reward and were able to use a "cognitive map" of the maze when the rewards were introduced.
The initial learning that occurred during the no reward trials was what Tolman referred to as latent learning.
He argued that humans engage in this type of learning everyday as we drive or walk the same route daily and learn the locations of various buildings and objects. Only when we need to find a building or object does learning become obvious.

62. Cognitive Map A mental representation of a place
Experiments showed rats could learn a maze without any reinforcements
See a modern day example of Tollman’s experiment where they change the maze on the rat (2 min)

63. Latent Learning & Cognitive Maps
Play “Cognitive Processes in Learning” (6:25) Segment #12 from Psychology: The Human Experience.

64. Other evidence that we do think!
Animals on a fixed-interval reinforcement schedule though respond more frequently as the time approaches for their reinforcer as if they expect that the response will produce the reward

65. Overjustification Effect
The effect of promising a reward for doing what someone 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
The person may now see the reward, rather than intrinsic interest, as the motivation for performing the task.
“If I have to be bribed into doing this, then it’s not worth doing for its own sake.”
Rewards do help increase interest when used to indicate a job well done

66. Learned Helplessness
Dogs in electrified cage at first not able to escape the impending shock.
Later, all they had to do was cross to the other side but they didn’t even try.
The dogs had learned they were “helpless” to avoid the shock and just sat there and took it without trying to escape.

67. Learned Helplessness
Exposure to inescapable and uncontrollable aversive events produces passive behavior. If an animal believes or expects it cannot escape a certain result, it will give up trying to do a behavior that could result in it escaping from the bad result.
To overcome this, one must establish a sense of control over one’s environment and see some success.

68. New Understandings of Operant Conditioning: The Role of Biology

69. Biological Predispositions
Animal training issues – easier to train behaviors that are closer to natural behaviors using a natural reinforcer (food).
Instinctive drift—naturally occurring behaviors that interfere with operant responses.
What happens when a trained tiger shows instinctive drift?

70. Classical Conditioning vs. Operant Conditioning
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