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Behaviour Modifications (Skinner) : Prepared By: Constance Chi Dhivyah Arumugam Huzaimah Mon Emir Uzair Farhan

Skinner developed the theory of operant conditioning which states that behavior is governed by reinforcing and punishing stimuli. He showed through experiments with rats in a Skinner box that positive reinforcement, like receiving food for pressing a lever, causes behaviors to be repeated. Behavior modification uses reinforcement to reward desired behaviors and punishment to decrease undesirable ones. Both reinforcement and punishment can be positive, like adding a reward, or negative, like removing an annoyance.

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Dhivyah Arumugam
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29 views

Behaviour Modifications (Skinner) : Prepared By: Constance Chi Dhivyah Arumugam Huzaimah Mon Emir Uzair Farhan

Skinner developed the theory of operant conditioning which states that behavior is governed by reinforcing and punishing stimuli. He showed through experiments with rats in a Skinner box that positive reinforcement, like receiving food for pressing a lever, causes behaviors to be repeated. Behavior modification uses reinforcement to reward desired behaviors and punishment to decrease undesirable ones. Both reinforcement and punishment can be positive, like adding a reward, or negative, like removing an annoyance.

Uploaded by

Dhivyah Arumugam
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Behaviour Modifications

( Skinner)
Prepared by :
Constance Chi
Dhivyah Arumugam
Huzaimah Mon
Emir Uzair Farhan

Operant Conditioning
Skinner (1948) studied operant conditioning
by conducting experiments using animals
which he placed in a 'Skinner Box' which was
similar to Thorndikes puzzle box.
Skinner developed a theory of operant
conditioning, which states that all behavior is
governed by reinforcing and punishing stimuli.
Behavior modification uses a scheduled
approach that rewards desired behavior and
punishes undesirable behavior.

Skinner showed how positive reinforcement


worked by placing a hungry rat in his Skinner
box.
The box contained a lever on the side and as
the rat moved about the box it would
accidentally knock the lever.
Immediately it did so a food pellet would drop
into a container next to the lever.
The rats quickly learned to go straight to the
lever after a few times of being put in the box.
The consequence of receiving food if they
pressed the lever ensured that they would
repeat the action again and again.

Reinforcement and
Punishment
Like the definition of behavior, the
concept of reinforcement and punishment
is used differently in behavior modification
than in everyday language.
Anything that increases a behavior is
considered reinforcement and anything
that decreases behavior is considered
punishment. The tricky part is that both
reinforcement and punishment can be
positive or negative.

Positive refers to something added to


the environment and negative is
something taken away.
An example of positive reinforcement
might be giving a child a hug when
she does a good job.
An example of negative
reinforcement might be turning off
an annoying sound when the child
does a good job.

THE END

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