Chapter 5 Powerpoint 2

Operant conditioning More on reinforcement and beyond Certain materials in this presentation are included under The Fair Use exemption of the U.S. copyright Law and should not be reproduced without the permission of the copyright holder.

Operant Conditioning 

The kind of learning that applies to voluntary behavior in animals and people

Skinner and the Skinner Box  

Skinner is a behaviorist He followed Thorndike – Law of Effect 

If an action is followed by a pleasurable consequence, it will tend to be repeated

– We learn how to function in life

Reinforcement

“What is in it for me”  To

strengthen  Contributes to behavior  Follows a behavior, the behavior will more likely happen again

The Box

Primary Reinforcer 

Fulfills a basic need – Water – Food- a candy bar – Comfort – praise

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Can easily be used with toddlers, young children and animals Removing pain can be a primary reinforcement

Secondary reinforcer These must first be paired with primary reinforcers to prompt increases in behaviors

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– money

Positive Reinforcement 

Response followed by a pleasurable consequence will increase the response happening again

Negative Reinforcement 

Removal of something unpleasant

Getting Pain to stop

Reinforcement schedules 

Two different types of basic reinforcement schedules:

Continuous-Reinforcement follows every correct response

Reinforcement schedules  Partial

schedules

– only occasional

correct responses are reinforced

Partial Reinforcement 

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Reinforcement after some of the behavior Very resistant to extinction More true to real life Completed in different patterns

The allure of intermittent reinforcement 

Continuous Reinforcement quickly succumb to extinction

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Intermittent Reinforcment are quite resistant to extinction Lotto That unpredictable boyfriend/girlfriend

Interval Schedule 

Timing of the response is more important – An event happening once in a certain amount of time

Ratio Schedule 

Certain amount of responses is required for each reinforcer

Fixed Interval Schedule Reinforcement delivered after a fixed amount of time  Slow response  Quicker responses right before reinforcement 

Variable interval Reinforcement delivered after a varying amount of time  Unpredictable  Responses are made at a slow and steady rate  An astronomer looking for comets 

Fixed ratio Provide reinforcement after only a fixed number of correct responses  Marked by a steady response rate  If many responses are needed to secure reinforcement, a pause follows reinforcement 

Variable ratio Reinforcement provided after a variable amount of responses  Marked by steady response rates  Playing slot machines, lotto, other types of gambling 

Stimulus generalization Somewhat similar to classical conditioning  If a certain response/behavior received reinforcement in a certain situation, you are likely to make the same response in a similar situation 

discrimination 

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Some responses gain reinforcement, others don’t As you would expect, those that gain reinforcement will be much more likely to be repeated We learn to chose or discriminate between the two

Discriminative stimuli Any stimulus that provides an organism with a cue for making a certain response in order to obtain reinforcement  Stop signs  Warm smiles/ eye contact  Or a frown 

Punishment 

Different than reinforcement – Positive reinforcement 

Adds something pleasurable – Candy, money, privileges

– Negative Reinforcement 

Removes something painful – Clean room so mom stops nagging – Give baby bottle to stop crying

Punishment 

Opposite of reinforcement – Weakens the response – Takes away

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Two forms – Application 

Spanking, yelling, anything unpleasant

– Removal 

Something pleasant is taken away

Problems with Punishment     

Punishment gets forgotten Might avoid punisher May encourage lying Creates fear May provide a role model of aggressive behavior

Shaping •Small steps to ultimate goal •Reinforce the most simple of steps

Latent Learning 

Learning that occurs but is not immediately reflected in a behavior change

Observational learning 

Learning new behavior through watching the actions of a model – We might like what we see – Or not

Bandura’s contribution 

Albert Bandura realized that Skinner’s framework was incomplete

We learn from watching the behavior of others not just enduring the consequences of our own 

imitation 

Poor Bobo, the adult cursed and beat on him – The children that watched 

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Repeated those actions

Happy Bobo, the adult did not interact with Bobo – The Children that watched 

The kids did not interact with Bobo

Vicarious consequences 

If the children watched the adult being disciplined for pounding Bobo – they didn’t rough him up

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They had somehow vicariously experienced the adult’s punishment and the behavior never emerged

Vicarious reinforcement     

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Powerball winners Are they hidden? No, they are celebrated We share in their triumph We can’t wait for our chance How about all those who lost big?

Self efficacy “self

esteem”

– We have to believe that we also can perform the behavior

Self efficacy ii 

The belief that you yourself could perform the task successfully – A key factor in maximizing potential – If we believe, we will:

1) start the process, 2) persist despite obstacles, and 3) finish successfully

Encouraging moral behavior

“Catch them when they are being good”? 

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Moral behavior rarely occurs spontaneously So, we teach it through …..

modeling 

We imitate those we view as: 1) Powerful, 2) Successful, 3) Similar to us, and 4) Warm/Kind.

Modeling ii 

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We find an individual or character who fits these criteria and then we show them displaying the desired quality It might make an impression