OPERANT

CONDITIONING
THEORY BY B.F.
SKINNER
• PROF. B.F. SKINNER (B. 1904) STARTED HIS RESEARCH
WORK ON BEHAVIOR WHILE HE WAS A GRADUATE IN THE
DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY OF THE HARVARD
UNIVERSITY. IN 1931 HE WROTE HIS THESIS ENTITLED,
“THE CONCEPT OF THE REFLEX IN THE DESCRIPTION OF
THE BEHAVIOR”. SKINNER WAS A PRACTICAL
PSYCHOLOGIST WHO CONDUCTED SEVERAL
EXPERIMENTS ON RATS AND PIGEONS.
• HIS IMPORTANT PUBLICATIONS ARE: ‘THE BEHAVIOR OF
ORGANISM’ (1930), ‘SCIENCE AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR’
(1953), VERBAL BEHAVIOR (1957), CUMULATIVE RECORD
(1957), BEYOND FREEDOM AND DIGNITY (1971) AND
‘ABOUT BEHAVIORISM’ (1974).
 INTRODUCTION TO OPERANT
CONDITIONING
• ACCORDING TO SKINNER, THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF
BEHAVIORS, NAMELY RESPONDENT BEHAVIOR AND OPERANT
BEHAVIOR.
• YOU BLINK YOUR EYE IN RESPONSE TO A FLASH OF LIGHT. THIS
REFLEXIVE BEHAVIOR IS ELICITED DIRECTLY BY THE
ENVIRONMENT. SO THIS IS RESPONDENT BEHAVIOR -
SPONTANEOUS RESPONSE TO STIMULI.
• BUT MOST OF OUR BEHAVIORS ARE NOT SO SIMPLY GENERATED
BY THE ENVIRONMENT. YOU ARE NOT FORCED BY THE
ENVIRONMENT TO LOOK AT A BOOK, TO TALK, TO SING, AND TO
EAT. THESE BEHAVIORS ARE EMITTED BY YOU, THE INDIVIDUAL.
THROUGH SUCH BEHAVIORS, YOU OPERATE UPON THE
ENVIRONMENT. THESE ARE CALLED OPERANT BEHAVIORS
 THE OPERANT EXPERIMENT

• SKINNER DESIGNED A BOX NAMED AS ‘SKINNER BOX’ AND

PLACED A HUNGRY RAT INSIDE.
• THERE WAS A LEVER WHICH, AFTER BEING PRESSED,
RELEASED A MECHANISM TO DELIVER A PELLET OF FOOD TO
THE RAT.
• INITIALLY, THE RAT IS ENGAGED IN A NUMBER OF RANDOM
BEHAVIORS LIKE WALKING, SNIFFING AND SCRATCHING.
NONE OF THESE HELPED TO GET THE FOOD.
• AT SOME POINT OF TIME, THE RAT ACCIDENTALLY HIT THE
LEVER AND THE FOOD WAS DELIVERED. OF COURSE, FOR
THE SEMI-STARVED RAT, THIS WAS A BIG REWARD.
• SKINNER OBSERVED THAT AFTER A FEW ACCIDENTAL
MANIPULATIONS OF THE LEVER, THE RAT STARTED
SPENDING MORE TIME NEAR THE LEVER, AND THEN
DELIBERATELY PRESSED THE LEVER WHENEVER IT WAS
HUNGRY.
• SO, NOW PRESSING THE LEVER BECAME A NEW OPERANT
FOR THE RAT. SKINNER FURTHER NOTED THAT IF THE
PRESSING OF THE LEVER DID NOT DELIVER FOOD ANY
LONGER, THE OPERANT BEHAVIOR BY THE RAT
DECREASED AND GRADUALLY STOPPED ALTOGETHER.
• THIS IS KNOWN AS EXPERIMENTAL EXTINCTION OF
OPERANT CONDITIONING.
 REINFORCERS
• They are any event that strengthens or increases the behavior it
follows.
• There are two kinds of reinforcers.

1. POSITIVE REINFORCERS are favorable events or outcomes

that are presented after the behavior. in situations that reflect positive
reinforcement, a response or behavior is strengthened by the addition of
something, such as praise or a direct reward.
2. NEGATIVE REINFORCERS involve the removal of an
unfavorable events or outcomes after the display of a behavior. in these
situations, a response is strengthened by the removal of something
considered unpleasant.
• IN BOTH OF THESE CASES OF REINFORCEMENT, THE BEHAVIOR
INCREASES.
 PUNISHMENT
• Punishment is the presentation of an adverse event or
outcome that causes a decrease in the behavior it follows.
punishment weakens behaviour.
• There are two kinds of punishment:
• Positive punishment , sometimes referred to as
punishment by application, involves the presentation of an
unfavorable event or outcome in order to weaken the
response it follows.
• Negative punishment , also known as punishment by
removal, occurs when an favorable event or outcome is
removed after a behavior occurs.
• In both of these cases of punishment, the behavior
decreases.
 SHAPING

• Shaping is an extremely important concept in operant conditioning.

• Shaping means modification of the organism’s behavior to the experimenter’s
desired end.
• It takes place only through ‘successive approximations’.
• Suppose you are trying to modify a child’s behavior by selectively rewarding
the response desired by you. Before the ultimate desired behavior is enacted,
the child’s usually engaged in numerous other behaviors which may be
considered as steps to the final behavior. They are close to the target, but not
the target per se. If these approximate target behaviors are rewarded, shaping
is facilitated.
 EXAMPLE: TEACHING A CHILD TO WRITE

• Imagine a scenario where a teacher is tasked with teaching a child, let's call him
sam, to write his name. Sam initially has no experience with writing and finds it
challenging to grasp a pencil and form letters. The teacher decides to use shaping
techniques to gradually guide sam toward successfully writing his name.
• Identifying baseline behavior: initially, sam may only be able to hold a pencil
and make random marks on paper.
• Breaking down the task: the teacher breaks down the task of writing sam's name
into smaller, manageable steps. For example:
• Holding the pencil correctly.
• Making straight lines.
• Forming curved lines.
• Combining lines to form letters.
• Writing individual letters.
• Writing the complete name.
 CONT…
• Reinforcement: the teacher provides positive reinforcement for each step sam successfully
accomplishes. For instance:
Praise and encouragement for holding the pencil correctly.
Verbal praise for making straight lines.
A small reward (such as a sticker or a brief break) for forming curved lines.
Continued reinforcement for each subsequent step.
• Shaping behavior: As Sam progresses, the teacher adjusts the criteria for reinforcement. Initially,
the reinforcement may be provided for any attempt at holding the pencil correctly. As Sam
becomes proficient in this, the reinforcement is only given when he holds the pencil in the correct
grip for a longer duration or applies appropriate pressure.
• Gradual progression: Over time, with consistent reinforcement and gradual adjustments, Sam's
writing skills improve. The teacher may gradually increase the complexity of the task by
introducing different letters or words, continuing to shape Sam's writing behavior.
• Generalization and maintenance: Once Sam can write his name proficiently, the teacher
reinforces this behavior in various contexts to ensure generalization. Additionally, periodic
reinforcement helps maintain the behavior over time .
GENERALIZATION, DISCRIMINATION, AND
EXTINCTION
• Generalization in operant conditioning means giving the same response to
similar stimuli. Especially of interest is the extent to which behavior
generalizes from one situation to another. For example, if a teacher praises the
student for asking good questions related to English, will this generalize to
stimulating the student to do harder work in history, math, and other subjects?
• Discrimination in operant conditioning involves differentiating among
stimuli or environmental events. For example, a student knows that the tray
on the teacher’s desk labeled “math” is where she is supposed to place today’s
math work, whereas another tray labeled “English” is where today’s English
assignments are to be put. Th is might sound overly simple, but it is important
because students’ worlds are filled with many such discriminative stimuli.
Around school these discriminative stimuli might include signs that say, “stay
out,” “form a line here,” and so on.
• In operant conditioning, extinction occurs when a previously
reinforced response is no longer reinforced and the response decreases.
In the classroom, the most common use of extinction is for the teacher
to withdraw attention from a behavior that the attention is maintaining.
For example, in some cases a teacher’s attention inadvertently
reinforces a student’s disruptive behavior, as when a student pinches
another student, and the teacher immediately talks with the perpetrator.
If this happens on a regular basis, the student might learn that pinching
other students is a good way to get the teacher’s attention. If the teacher
withdraws his attention, the pinching might be extinguished.
 a. Fixed
ratio
1. schedule
Types of Continuous b) Variable
Reinforcem
ratio
ent
schedule
Schedule 2. Partial
c) Fixed
interval
schedule
d) Variable
interval
schedule
 1. CONTINUOUS
REINFORCEMENT
• IN CONTINUOUS REINFORCEMENT., THE DESIRED
BEHAVIOR IS REINFORCED EVERY SINGLE TIME IT
OCCURS.
• THIS SCHEDULE IS BEST USED DURING THE
INITIAL STAGES OF LEARNING IN ORDER TO A
STRONG ASSOCIATION BETWEEN THE BEHAVIOR
AND THE RESPONSE.
• ONCE THE RESPONSE IF FIRMLY ATTACHED,
REINFORCEMENT IS USUALLY SWITCHED TO A
PARTIAL REINFORCEMENT SCHEDULE.
 2. PARTIAL REINFORCEMENT

• IN PARTIAL REINFORCEMENT, THE RESPONSE IS

REINFORCED ONLY PART OF THE TIME.
• LEARNED BEHAVIORS ARE ACQUIRED MORE SLOWLY
WITH PARTIAL REINFORCEMENT, BUT THE RESPONSE IS
MORE RESISTANT TO EXTINCTION.
A) Fixed–ratio schedules are those where a response is reinforced only after a
specified number of responses. This schedule produces a high, steady rate of
responding with only a brief pause after the delivery of the reinforce.
• Example: in a classroom, students earn a small treat, like a sticker or a piece of
candy, every time they solve five math problems correctly. This makes them want to
keep solving more problems. It helps them get better at math and stay interested in
learning.
B) variable-ratio schedules occur when a response is reinforced after an unpredictable
number of responses. This schedule creates a high steady rate of responding.
• Example: In a classroom, a variable-ratio schedule can be applied to encourage
student participation during class discussions. The teacher might randomly select
moments to reward students who actively contribute to the discussion. For example,
the teacher could give a small prize, like a sticker or a praise, after a student makes a
valuable comment or asks a thoughtful question. The timing of these rewards varies,
creating an element of surprise and excitement. This keeps all students engaged and
eager to participate throughout the discussion, as they never know when they might
receive recognition.
C) fixed-interval schedules: are those where the first response is rewarded only after a
specified amount of time has elapsed. This schedule causes high amounts of responding
near the end of the interval but much slower responding immediately after the delivery of
the reinforce.
• Example: in a classroom, a fixed-interval schedule can be observed during timed
quizzes or tests. For example, the teacher might give out a short quiz every Friday at
the end of the class. During the week leading up to the quiz, students might study
diligently, but their rate of studying may increase significantly as Friday approaches,
especially just before the quiz is given. After the quiz is over, there may be a slower
rate of studying until the next quiz is announced.
D) variable-interval schedules occur when a response is rewarded with an unpredictable
amount of time has passed. This schedule produces a slow, steady rate of response.
• Example: In a classroom setting, a variable-interval schedule can be applied during
surprise quizzes. For instance, the teacher might announce that there will be pop
quizzes throughout the week, but they won't specify exactly when. This
unpredictability creates a slow, steady rate of student engagement. Students remain
attentive and prepared throughout the week, as they never know when the next quiz
might occur.
 EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS

• IDENTIFICATION OF ROOT CAUSE OF THE BEHAVIOR.

• ELIMINATES NEGATIVE BEHAVIOR: THE OPERANT
CONDITIONING THEORY INVOLVES THE USE OF NEGATIVE
REINFORCEMENT WHICH STRENGTHENS BEHAVIOR BY
ELIMINATING UNPLEASANT BEHAVIOR.
• BY BUILDING OPERANT CONDITIONING TECHNIQUES INTO
LESSON PLANS, IT IS EASILY POSSIBLE TO TEACH CHILDREN
USEFUL SKILLS-AS WELL AS GOOD BEHAVIORS.
• THE USE OF REINFORCEMENT IN THE FORM OF REWARDS
MOTIVATES CHILDREN TO KEEP LEARNING AND PERFORM
BETTER.