Operant Conditioning: - Burrhus Frederic Skinner
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Wing CausarenOperant Conditioning: - Burrhus Frederic Skinner
Uploaded by
Wing CausarenOperant Conditioning
- Burrhus Frederic Skinner
Operant Conditioning
- is the process of learning behavioral patterns which are based
on certain stimuli from the environment, such that, the
external stimuli leads to a certain behavior. A human being
knows the kind of consequences that a particular behavior will
lead to, and therefore, to either encourage or discourage that
consequence, he will behave in a particular way.
Burrhus Frederic Skinner
• commonly known as B. F. Skinner,
was an
American psychologist, behavioris
t, author, inventor, and social
philosopher
• He was the Edgar Pierce Professor
of Psychology at Harvard
University from 1958 until his
retirement in 1974.
Operant Conditioning
• Skinner considered free will an illusion and human action
dependent on consequences of previous actions.
• If the consequences are bad, there is a high chance the action
will not be repeated; if the consequences are good, the
probability of the action being repeated becomes stronger.
Skinner box - is a laboratory
apparatus used to study
animal behavior.
An operant conditioning chamber
permits experimenters to study
behavior conditioning (training)
by teaching a subject animal to
perform certain actions (like
pressing a lever) in response to
specific stimuli, such as a light or
sound signal.
-----------Skinner box----------
When the subject correctly performs the behavior, the
chamber mechanism delivers food or another reward. In some
cases, the mechanism delivers a punishment for incorrect or
missing responses.
Eventually, the invertebrate will be conditioned to stay on the
side that does not undergo a temperature change. This goes to
the extent that even when the temperature is turned to its
lowest point, the fruit fly will still refrain from approaching
that area of the heat box. These types of apparatuses allow
experimenters to perform studies in conditioning and training
through reward/punishment mechanisms.
4 Sub Parts :
Positive Reinforcement – more is more
Negative Reinforcement – more is less
Positive Punishment – less is less
Negative Punishment – less is more
Positive Reinforcement
Positive reinforcement occurs when a particular behavior
strengthens or increases in the hope of experiencing a positive
action or behavior.
For Example:
A student will continue to do his/her homework because he/she
knows that he/she will be rewarded with a candy (action) or is
praised (behavior) by his/her parents or teachers if he/she
completes it. This is a great example of positive reinforcement
on school kids.
Negative Reinforcement
In this form, a particular behavior strengthens or increases in the
hope that a negative consequence can be avoided.
For Example:
The elevator in a building makes a lot of noise, so a person
decides to take the stairs. Taking the stairs helps avoid the
negative action of dealing with the noise.
Positive Punishment
In this concept, a particular behavior pattern decreases so
as to avoid dealing with something unpleasant later.
For Example:
A student tries to avoid turning in late for class so that the
teacher does not insult/shout
Negative Punishment
In this, a particular behavior pattern decreases so
that a positive stimulus or object is not taken away
or removed.
For Example:
A child might stop throwing tantrums after his/her
favorite toy is taken away after each tantrum.
Examples in Children
Example # 1
A child learns to clean his/her room after being rewarded with extra TV time, every
time he/she cleans it. (Positive reinforcement)
Example # 2
A child will clean his/her room in order to avoid being nagged by his/her mother
(where the nagging is the negative stimulus), and will end up having a clean room.
(Negative reinforcement)
Example # 3
After hitting a classmate, the child is made to sit separately and no one is allowed
to talk to him/her. This will ensure that the child never ever hits any of his/her
classmates again. (Positive punishment)
Example # 4
A child is stopped from watching his/her favorite cartoon show because he/she
gets into a fight with his/her sibling (where the cartoon show is the positive
stimuli), and he/she learns to avoid getting into a fight henceforth. (Negative
punishment)
Examples in Adults
Example # 1
Every time the wife makes her husband's favorite dish, he gets into a good mood and
takes her out for a romantic evening.
(Positive reinforcement)
Example # 2
A person decides to take a different route on his/her morning walk to avoid a garbage
dump and therefore increases his/her running speed and the distance that he/she covers.
(Negative Reinforcement)
Example # 3
A student's cell phone is taken away and he/she is given a scolding, after the cell phone
starts ringing in the middle of a lecture (where the shouting becomes the negative
stimuli). The student will learn either to put the phone on silent mode or never to get it in
class.
(Positive punishment)
Example # 4
A person stops teasing his girlfriend about a certain issue after she gives him a silent
treatment. (Negative Punishment)
