1. Thinking About Psychology The Science of Mind and Behavior 3e
Charles T. Blair-Broeker & Randal M. Ernst
PowerPoint Presentation Slides
by Kent Korek
Germantown High School
Worth Publishers, © 2012

2. Development and Learning Domain

3. Learning and Language

4. Module 15
Operant Conditioning

5. Module Overview The Nature of Operant Conditioning The Law of Effect
Reinforcement
Punishment
Reinforcement Procedures
Schedules of Reinforcement
New Understandings of Operant Conditioning
Click on the any of the above hyperlinks to go to that section in the presentation.

6. The Nature of Operant Conditioning
Module 15: Operant Conditioning

7. Operant Conditioning
A type of learning in which the frequency of a behavior depends on the consequence that follows that behavior.
The frequency will increase if the consequence is reinforcing to the subject.
The frequency will decrease if the consequence is not reinforcing to the subject.

8. Operant Conditioning

9. Operant Conditioning

10. Operant Conditioning

11. Module 15: Operant Conditioning
The Law of Effect
Module 15: Operant Conditioning

12. Edward Thorndike ( )
Author of the law of effect, the principle that forms the basis of operant conditioning.
Behaviors with favorable consequences will occur more frequently.
Behaviors with unfavorable consequences will occur less frequently.
Created puzzle boxes for research on cats

13. Thorndike’s Puzzle Box

14. B.F. Skinner ( )
Behavioral psychologist who 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

15. Skinner Box

16. Skinner’s Air Crib

17. Reinforcement/Punishment
Reinforcement - Any consequence that increases the future likelihood of a behavior.
Punishment - Any consequence that decreases the future likelihood of a behavior.
The subject determines if a consequence is reinforcing or punishing

18. Module 15: Operant Conditioning
Reinforcement
Module 15: Operant Conditioning

19. Positive Reinforcement
In operant conditioning, anything that increases the likelihood of a behavior by following it with a desirable event or state.
The subject receives something they want
Will strengthen the behavior

20. Positive Reinforcement

21. Negative Reinforcement
In operant conditioning, 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
Will strengthen the behavior

22. Negative Reinforcement

23. Positive/Negative Reinforcement

24. Reinforcement: Immediate Versus Delayed Reinforcement
Module 15: Operant Conditioning

25. Immediate/Delayed Reinforcement
Immediate reinforcement is more effective than delayed reinforcement
Ability to delay gratification predicts higher achievement

26. Reinforcement: Primary Versus Secondary Reinforcement
Module 15: Operant Conditioning

27. Primary Reinforcement
Something that is naturally reinforcing, such as food (if you are hungry), warmth (if you are cold), and water (if you are thirsty).
The item is reinforcing in and of itself

29. Secondary Reinforcement
Something that you have learned to value,
like money.

31. Module 15: Operant Conditioning
Punishment
Module 15: Operant Conditioning

32. Punishment: The Process of Punishment
Module 15: Operant Conditioning

33. Types of Punishment An undesirable event following a behavior
A desirable state or event ends following a behavior

34. Types of Punishment

35. Punishment: Problems with Punishment
Module 15: Operant Conditioning

36. Negative Effects of Punishment
Doesn’t prevent the undesirable behavior when away from the punisher
Can lead to fear, anxiety, and lower self-esteem
Children who are punished physically may learn to use aggression as a means to solve problems.

37. Positive Effects of Punishment
Punishment can effectively control certain behaviors.
Especially useful if teaching a child not to do a dangerous behavior
Most still suggest reinforcing an incompatible behavior rather than using punishment

38. Reinforcement Procedures
Module 15: Operant Conditioning

39. Reinforcement Procedures: Shaping
Module 15: Operant Conditioning

40. Shaping
Reinforcement of behaviors that are increasingly similar to the desired one;
the operant technique used to establish a new behaviors.

41. Reinforcement Procedures: Discrimination and Extinction
Module 15: Operant Conditioning

42. Discrimination
The ability to distinguish between two similar signals or stimuli and
produce different responses.
Learning to respond to one stimuli but not to a similar stimuli

43. Extinction
In operant conditioning, the loss of a behavior when no consequence follows it.
The subject no longer responds since the reinforcement or punishment has stopped.

44. Schedules of Reinforcement
Module 15: Operant Conditioning

45. Schedules of Reinforcement: Continuous Reinforcement
Module 15: Operant Conditioning

46. Continuous reinforcement
In operant conditioning, a schedule of reinforcement in which a reward follows every correct response.
Most useful way to establish a behavior
The behavior will extinguish quickly once the reinforcement stops.

47. Schedules of Reinforcement: Partial Reinforcement
Module 15: Operant Conditioning

48. Partial Reinforcement
In operant conditioning, a schedule of reinforcement in which a reward follows only some correct responses.
Includes the following types:
Fixed-interval and variable interval
Fixed-ratio and variable-ratio

49. Fixed-Interval Schedule
In operant conditioning, a partial reinforcement schedule that rewards only the first correct response after some defined period.
i.e. weekly quiz in a class

50. Variable-Interval Schedule
In operant conditioning, a partial reinforcement schedule that rewards the first correct response after an unpredictable amount of time.
i.e. “pop” quiz in a class

51. Fixed-Ratio Schedule
In operant conditioning, a partial reinforcement schedule that rewards a response only after some defined number of correct responses.
The faster the subject responds, the more reinforcements they will receive.

52. Variable-Ratio Schedule
In operant conditioning, a partial reinforcement schedule that rewards an unpredictable number of correct responses.
This schedule is very resistant to extinction.
Sometimes called the “gambler’s schedule”; similar to a slot machine

53. Schedules of Reinforcement

54. Schedules of Reinforcement

55. Schedules of Reinforcement

56. Schedules of Reinforcement

57. New Understanding of Operant Conditioning
Module 15: Operant Conditioning

58. New Understanding of Operant Conditioning: The Role of Cognition
Module 15: Operant Conditioning

59. Latent Learning
Learning that occurs but is not apparent until the learner has an incentive to demonstrate it.
Tolman and Honzik’s study on maze learning

60. Tolman and Honzik

61. Cognitive Map The mental representation of a place.
Experiments showed rats could learn a maze without any reinforcements

62. Overjustification Effect
The effect of promising a reward for doing what one 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.

63. New Understanding of Operant Conditioning: The Role of Biology
Module 15: Operant Conditioning

64. Biological Predisposition
Research suggests some species are biologically predisposed to learn specific behaviors

65. The End

66. Teacher Information Types of Files Animation
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Animation
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Adding slides to this presentation
Teachers are encouraged to adapt this presentation to their personal teaching style. To help keep a sense of continuity, blank slides which can be copied and pasted to a specific location in the presentation follow this “Teacher Information” section.

67. Teacher Information Domain Coding Key Terms and Definitions in Red
Just as the textbook is organized around the APA National Standards, these Powerpoints are coded to those same standards. Included at the top of almost every slide is a small stripe, color coded to the APA National Standards.
Scientific Inquiry Domain
Biopsychology Domain
Development and Learning Domain
Social Context Domain
Cognition Domain
Individual Variation Domain
Applications of Psychological Science Domain
Key Terms and Definitions in Red
To emphasize their importance, all key terms from the text and their definitions are printed in red. To maintain consistency, the definitions on the Powerpoint slides are identical to those in the textbook.

68. Teacher Information
Hyperlink Slides - Immediately after the unit title slide, a page (usually slide #4 or #5) can be found listing all of the module’s subsections. While in slide show mode, clicking on any of these hyperlinks will take the user directly to the beginning of that subsection. This allows teachers quick access to each subsection.
Continuity slides - Throughout this presentations there are slides, usually of graphics or tables, that build on one another. These are included for three purposes.
By presenting information in small chunks, students will find it easier to process and remember the concepts.
By continually changing slides, students will stay interested in the presentation.
To facilitate class discussion and critical thinking. Students should be encouraged to think about “what might come next” in the series of slides.
Please feel free to contact me at with any questions, concerns, suggestions, etc. regarding these presentations.
Kent Korek
Germantown High School
Germantown, WI 53022

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