1. Schedules of Reinforcement
operant conditioning
One type of learning that we discussed was Classical Conditioning. That is , we learn to associate one stimulus with another. (Pavlov’s Dog)
Classical Conditioning shows how we learn involuntary responses.(salivating, sweating, a reflex like, a flinch, pain and jerking away, a puff of air to the eye and a blink, approaching danger and fear, light and pupil constriction
Operant conditioning shows how we learn voluntary responses.
- People and animals learn to do certain things- because the results of what they do or consequences Ex. People learn associations between behavior and its consequences.
Punishment &
Schedules of Reinforcement

2. F operant conditioning II. Punishments
Punishment - weakening a response by following it with unpleasant consequences. F
Many people believe that being negatively reinforced is the same as being punished. They are not. Negative reinforcement and punishment are quite different. They Both are usually unpleasant, but negative reinforcers increase the frequency of a behavior by being removed. Punishments on the other hand are unwanted events that decrease the frequency of the behavior they follow.
Diagram: Often punishments and reinforcement work together. To the athlete on the team who does not achieve required grades, being removed from the team is a PUNISHMENT.
But once the student is off the team, the disappointment of being banned from participation is a NEGATIVE REINFORCER. The student may work harder to raise their grade.
operant conditioning

3. operant conditioning II. Punishments a.Problems with Punishment
1. Doesn’t erase behavior, just suppresses it.
2. Only works when guaranteed & immediate
3. May have bad side effects -
- resent parent, & no admittance, or opp. effect.
4. may be abusive or imitated as the only way to solve problems
5. does not teach acceptable behavior
1.Because this suppression is usually controlled by the punishment, people often repeat previously punished acts when they think they can avoid detection.
2. If a behavior is punished some of the time, but goes unnoticed the rest of the time, the behavior probably will continue.
3. They may associate parent w/punishment.
4 Psychologists warn that when children are hit by angry parents, the children may learn not only that they have done something wrong, but also that people hit other people when they are upset. Thus, children who are hit may be more likely to hit others themselves.
A child who is punished may take out such anger on other children
Example: some children may learn that the most effective way of getting attention from their parents is to misbehave.
5. children may learn what not to do in a particular situation but does not learn what to do instead.
operant conditioning

4. operant conditioning II. Punishments b. Types:
1. Positive Punishment administer a “bad stimulus” to decrease a behavior
Example: spanking, speeding ticket
2. Negative Punishment - Withdraw a rewarding stimulus to decrease a behavior
Example: take away cell phone, or a driver’s license
Explain Positive and Negative Punishment
Punishment Works
At the top left of the screen is a picture of a 1 year old child who would regurgitate all of his food. He had been vomiting for a period of four months. The picture below was taken 13 days later. How did he change? He was delivered a punishment in the form of an electric shock after each time he vomited. The punishment eliminated the vomiting. He was tested and found psychologically and physically healthy when 6 months, one year and 2 years later.
WHY DO PEOPLE STILL DO BAD THINGS DESPITE PUNISHMENTS. OVEREATING, DRINK TOO MUCH OR SMOKE. Part of the answer relies on the timing. The results of all these things are generally positive and immediate - as opposed to the delayed consequences. Consequences are stronger when they are immediate.
operant conditioning

5. operant conditioning Reinforcement Schedules
Partial or Intermittent Reinforcement
- reinforcing a response only part of the time.(4 types)
1. Fixed-Ratio Schedules - reinforce behavior after a set number of responses
In life we rarely are reinforced every time we behave a certain way. A salesperson does not make a sale with every pitch, but they keep on trying, waiting for that next sale.
Researchers have looked at several PARTIAL OR INTERMITTENT REINFORCEMENT schedules where our responses are sometimes reinforced and sometimes not.
Intermittent Reinforcement takes longer to learn than continuous reinforcement - BUT - it has a greater resistance to extinction.
Example: Imagine a pigeon that has learned to peck on a key to obtain food. When the experimenter gradually phases out the delivery of food until it occurs only rarely and unpredictably, pigeons may peck 150,000 times without a reward. (Skinner)
Behavior stops if reinforcement stops***
Response rate – fast
Extinction rate - medium
Fixed-ratio Schedule - Fixed-ratio schedules reinforce behavior after a set number of responses. Coffee shops may reward us with a free drink after every 10 purchased. In the laboratory, rats may be reinforced on a fixed ratio of, say, one food pellet for every 30 responses. Once conditioned, animals will pause only briefly after a reinforcer before returning to a high rate of responding.
Ex: (Rats fed for every 30 responses)
(Restaurant Punch card - free coffee for every 3
purchases)
operant conditioning

6. operant conditioning Reinforcement Schedules
2. Variable-Ratio Schedules(VR)- reinforce after an unpredictable number of responses.
Variable-ratio schedules provide reinforcers after a seemingly unpredictable number of responses. This is what slot-machine players experience, unpredictable reinforcement, and what makes gambling so hard to extinguish even when gamblers get nothing for something. Because reinforcers increase as the number of responses increases, variable-ratio schedules produce high rates of responding. You may break a rule.
Response rate – fast**
Extinction rate – slow**
(Pigeon might sometimes be reinforced after 10 bar
presses, sometimes after 50)
Gambling - payout is unpredictable)
operant conditioning

7. operant conditioning Reinforcement Schedules
3. Fixed-Interval Schedules(FI)- reinforce the 1st response after a fixed time period.
Fixed-interval schedules reinforce the first response after a fixed time period. Animals on this type of schedule tend to respond more frequently as the anticipated time for reward draws near. People check more frequently for the mail as the delivery time approaches. A hungry child jiggles the Jell-O more often to see if it has set. Pigeons peck keys more rapidly as the time for reinforcement draws nearer.
Example: People checking the oven more often as the baking time approaches
Example: if Mr. Switzer only did walkthroughs every 3rd day, what would happen on days one and two?
Response rate – medium
Extinction rate – medium
High response rate closer to time of reinforcement
• (People checking more frequently for the mail as the delivery time approaches.)
• (Pigeons peck a key more frequently as the anticipated time for reward draws near.
operant conditioning

8. operant conditioning Reinforcement Schedules
3. Variable-Interval Schedules(FI) - reinforce the 1st response after a varying time period.
- there is no knowing when the waiting will be over
Variable-interval schedules reinforce the first response after varying time periods.
Like the message that finally rewards persistence in rechecking for a text from me or an e- mail response, variable-interval schedules tend to produce slow, steady responding. This makes sense, because there is no knowing when the waiting will be over
Ex: pop quizzes
Ex: Mr. Switzer doing walkthrough’s we don’t know when he is going to come in.
Response rate – medium/fast*
Extinction – slow *
• (Checking , or texts, - you don’t know when they’re going to come)
operant conditioning