1. Operant Conditioning
Chapter 9 Section 2

2. Operant Conditioning
Learn to do, or not do, things based on the _________________ of the ________________
Behavior operates on, or manipulates, the ________________________
_______________responses are ________________or __________________

3. The Birth of Radical Behaviorism
Edward __________________(1998)
As a doctoral candidate Thorndike conducted a classic experiment called the “________ ____”. He placed a cat in a specially designed box and allowed it to learn the correct sequence of behaviors to escape from the box and retrieve a food reward.
The cat at first would randomly perform a number of behaviors.

4. Thorndikes’ Puzzle Box
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Thorndikes’ Puzzle Box
However once the cat exhibited the correct response (loosening the bolt, pulling a sting, or hitting a button).
Psychologist, born in Williamsburg, MA. He studied at Wesleyan University and Harvard, and became professor at Teachers College, Columbia ( ), where he worked on educational psychology and the psychology of animal learning. As a result of studying animal intelligence, he formulated his famous "law of effect", which states that a given behavior is learned by trial-and-error, and is more likely to occur if its consequences are satisfying. His works include Psychology of Learning (1914) and The Measurement of Intelligence (1926).
Fig 6.8

5. Law of effect
According to the law of effect, ___________________followed by _________________ are more likely to reoccur in the future.
_________ that produce a discomforting effect become _______ likely to occur again in that situation.

6. The Consequences of Behavior
From Skinner’s perspective a response (“operant”) can result from a. b.

7. The Consequences of Behavior--Reinforcement
Reinforcement ~ _____________ the response or makes it more likely to
recur. When the dog begs for food at the table, and you give him/her a scrap, the dog will most likely keep begging for food.

8. The Consequences of Behavior-Punishment
Punishment ~_______________the response or makes it less likely to recur.
Any Aversive (unpleasant) stimulus or event may be a punisher. If your dog
begs for food from the table and you refuse, his/her is not likely to continue to beg in the future.

9. Primary and Secondary Reinforcers
Reinforcers can be categorized into two groups:
Primary Reinforcers
Any stimulus or event that is inherently reinforcing, typically satisfying some physiological need; such as
________, ________, or ____________.
Secondary Reinforcers
A stimulus that has acquired reinforcing properties through association with other primary reinforcers.
Examples:
How does a secondary reinforcer acquire those properties?

10. Primary and Secondary Punishers
Punishers can be categorized into two groups:
___________ Punisher
A stimulus that in inherently punishing; an example is electric shock.
____________ Punishers
A stimulus that has acquired punishing properties through association with other punishers.

11. Positive Reinforcement:
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Behavior:
Studying
Positive Reinforcement:
Good Grades
Result:
Increases
Negative
Reinforcement:
Poor Grades
Positive Reinforcement is the procedure in which a response is followed by the presentation of, or increase in intensity of , a reinforcing stimulus; as a result, the response becomes stronger or more likely to occur.
Negative Reinforcement is the reinforcement procedure in which a response is followed by the removal , delay, or decrease in intensity of an unpleasant stimulus; as a result, the response become stronger or more likely to occur.

12. Positive Punishment: Ridicule by Friends Behavior: Studying Result:
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Positive Punishment:
Ridicule by
Friends
Behavior:
Studying
Result:
Decreases
Negative
Punishment:
Loss of Time
with Friends
Positive Punishment is the procedure in which a response is followed by the presentation of, or increase in intensity of , a punishing or aversive stimulus; as a result, the response becomes weaker or less likely to occur.
Negative Punishment is the punishing procedure in which a response is followed by the removed , delay, or decrease in intensity of an pleasant stimulus; as a result, the response become weakened or is less likely to occur.

13. Putting It All Together
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Positive
Reinforcement
Negative
Present
Remove
Increase
Behavior
Decrease
Punishment
Putting It All Together
Extinction
The weakening and eventual disappearance of a learned response; in operant conditioning, it occurs when a response is no longer followed by a reinforcer.

14. Principles of Operant Conditioning
Early in his career ___________ (1938) used the ____________Box to demonstrate the principles of operant conditioning.
A rat that had previous learned to eat from the food-releasing device was placed in the box
Because there was no food present in the box, the rat began to engage in typical rat-like behaviors. (sniffing, random touching, scurrying etc.)
Once he hit the lever that released food, he continued to display that behavior

15. The Skinner Box Psychology 101 On-line Learning 09/15/99
Quite by accident, sooner or later the rat would press a lever in the box and cause the dispenser to release a pellet of food.
After several accidental repetitions of the lever pressing behavior, the rat learns to press the lever consistently based upon the immediate reinforcement (food pellets) which are associated with that behavior.
By the end of the experiment the rat did little else other that pressing the level and eating.
Figure 6-9 from Davis, S.F., & Palladino, J.J. (1997). Psychology, 2nd edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
©1999 Prentice Hall 14

16. Schedules of reinforcement
__________and ___________are very important
__________ Reinforcement
Reinforcement Schedule in which a particular response is _______ reinforced after ______ occurrence of the target behavior.
Target behaviors are only reinforced sometimes.
Which do you think lasts longer and is more stable? Why?

17. Schedules of Reinforcement
Learning
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Schedules of Reinforcement
Partial
©1999 Prentice Hall 16

18. Schedules of Reinforcement
Learning
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Schedules of Reinforcement
Fixed and Variable Ratio
Rely on ______________
Fixed and Variable Interval
Ratio schedules produce higher response rates
than Interval schedules
Figure 5.12 from: Kassin, S. (1998). Psychology, second edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Source:
©1999 Prentice Hall 16

19. Schedules of Reinforcement
Fig 6.9

20. Reinforcement Schedules and Extinction
Learning
Psychology 101 On-line
09/15/99
Reinforcement Schedules and Extinction
Figure from Davis, S.F., & Palladino, J.J. (1997). Psychology, 2nd edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Extinction will occur if _____________
is removed
©1999 Prentice Hall 15

21. Schedule Examples Ratio Interval Paid for every 10 pizzas
Ejected from a baseball game after five fouls
Cramming for an exam
Picking up check
Playing at a slot machine
Sales commissions
Pop quiz in class
Teacher checks work periodically when you are working in groups
Fixed
schedules
Variable
schedules

22. Shaping Shaping Successive Approximations
An operant conditioning procedure in which _____________ _____________ of a desired response are reinforced.
Successive Approximations
___________ that are ordered in terms of _______________ similarity or closeness to the _____________ response.

23. chaining Chaining Example:
An operant conditioning procedure in which learned reactions follow one another, and each reaction is the _________for the next
Chains of responses are ____________ _________
Example:
Swimming various strokes: Arm chain, Breathing chain, leg chain

24. Biological Limits on Learning
All principles of operant and classical conditioning are limited by an animal's _______ ____________and __________ characteristics.
A fish cannot be trained to climb a ladder.

25. Skinner: The Man and The Myth
Because of his groundbreaking work B. F. Skinner is often called the greatest _____________ Psychologist.
Believed that we could study private emotions and thought by observing our own sensory responses, the verbal reports of others, and the conditions under which such events occur.
Thoughts cannot explain behavior ~ there are only behaviors that occur because of reinforcement and punishment.

26. Skinner: The Man and The Myth
The environment should be manipulated to alter behavior.
Controversial experiments like
his “air-crib” or “living space” attempted to control _______________discomfort and reduce the a baby’s distress.
The experiment was misunderstood and criticized as cold-blooded at the time.

27. Reinforcers versus Rewards and Punishment
Reinforcers are known by their effect (increase response)
Rewards are pleasant events that affect behavior
Punishment are aversive events that decrease the frequency of the behavior they follow

28. Negative Reinforcers Versus Punishment

29. Two Uses of Negative reinforcement
_____________ Conditioning:
A person’s behavior causes an unpleasant event to ________. This increases behavior.
______________ Conditioning:
The person’s behavior prevents an unpleasant situation from ____________. This increases behavior.
Examples:
A child whining and crying to get what he wants when a parent has said “No”
Repeating “I’ll do it later,” or “Okay,” when asked to complete a chore, and you never do it

30. Punishment
An unpleasant consequence occurs and DECREASES the behavior.
Examples?

31. When Punishment Works
Punishment can be a deterrent for some young criminal from repeated offenses (Brennan & Sarnoff, 1994) provided the punishment is ___________________applied.
The severity of the punishment, however, made _____ difference in term of relapsing into a previous undesirable type of behavior.
_________________punishment was found to have the same effect as an intermittent reinforcement schedule making the poor behavior highly resistive to extinction.

32. When Punishment Fails
People often administer punishment _________________ or mindlessly.
The recipient of punishment often responds with _______, _________, or _________.
The effectiveness of punishment is often ________________depending heavily on the presence of the punishing person or circumstances.
Person learns to ______________ the person giving the punishment

33. When Punishment Fails
Most misbehavior is hard to punish _______________.
Punishment conveys little information.
An action intended to punish may instead be _____________ if brings attention.