Transcript avoid punishments

CHS AP Psychology
Unit 6: Learning (Behaviorism)
Essential Task 6.3: Predict the effects of operant
conditioning with specific attention to (primary,
secondary, immediate, or delayed)
positive/negative reinforcement and
punishment.
Operant Conditioning
• The type of learning in which behaviors
are emitted to earn rewards or avoid
punishments
• In classical conditioning the response
to the stimulus was automatic. In
operant conditioning the participant
operates in the environment to gain
something desired or avoid something
unpleasant. THINKING HAPPENS.
Elements of Operant
Conditioning
• Reinforcer
– A stimulus or event that follows a
behavior and makes that behavior more
likely to occur again
• Punisher
– A stimulus or event that follows a
behavior and makes that behavior less
likely to occur again
Edward L. Thorndike
• Cat placed in puzzle boxes
• Fish used as a reward to
figure out how to get out
of the box
• Learning by random trial
and error
• Law of Effect –
Thorndike’s principle that
responses are “stamped
in” by rewards and
“stamped out” by
punishments.
Skinner’s Experiments
Walter Dawn/ Photo Researchers, Inc.
Using Thorndike's law of effect as a
starting point, Skinner developed
the Operant chamber, or the
Skinner Box, to study operant
conditioning.
Operant Chamber
The Skinner Box
comes with a bar or
key that an animal
manipulates to
obtain a reinforcer
like food or water.
The bar or key is
connected to
devices that record
the animal’s
response.
Operant Conditioning and
Shaping
Shaping is the operant conditioning
procedure in which reinforcers guide
behavior towards the desired target
behavior through successive
approximations.
Rewarding behavior as it
gets closer to desired
response and ignoring the
undesired actions
A rat shaped to sniff mines. A manatee shaped to discriminate
objects of different shapes, colors and sizes.
Types of Reinforcement
• Positive reinforcer
(+)
– Adds something
rewarding following
a behavior, making
that behavior more
likely to occur again
– Giving a dog a treat
for fetching a ball is
an example
• Negative reinforcer
(-)
– Removes something
unpleasant that was
already in the
environment following
a behavior, making
that behavior more
likely to occur again
– Taking an aspirin to
relieve a headache is
an example
Types of Reinforcers
Any event that strengthens the
behavior it follows. A heat lamp
positively reinforces a meerkat’s
behavior in the cold.
Reuters/ Corbis
Primary & Secondary Reinforcers
1. Primary Reinforcer: An innately
reinforcing stimulus like food or drink.
2. Conditioned Reinforcer: A learned
reinforcer that gets its reinforcing
power through association with the
primary reinforcer.
– If we notice that the TV is on when
food and drink is prepared, we may
want to turn on the TV in
anticipation of food
Immediate & Delayed
Reinforcers
1. Immediate Reinforcer: A
reinforcer that occurs instantly
after a behavior. A rat gets a food
pellet for a bar press.
2. Delayed Reinforcer: A reinforcer
that is delayed in time for a
certain behavior. A paycheck that
comes at the end of a week.
We may be inclined to engage in small
immediate reinforcers (watching TV) rather
than large delayed reinforcers (getting an A in
a course) which require consistent study.
Reinforcement Schedules
1. Continuous Reinforcement: Reinforces the
desired response each time it occurs.
a) Does your teacher grade every
assignment?
b) How do you feel when a teacher does not
score all of your work?
2. Partial Reinforcement: Reinforces a response
only part of the time. Though this results in
slower acquisition in the beginning, it shows
greater resistance to extinction later on.
Ratio Schedules
1. Fixed-ratio schedule: Reinforces a response
only after a specified number of responses.
e.g., piecework pay.
2. Variable-ratio schedule: Reinforces a
response after an unpredictable number of
responses. This is hard to extinguish because
of the unpredictability. (e.g., behaviors like
gambling, fishing.)
Interval Schedules
1. Fixed-interval schedule: Reinforces a
response only after a specified time has
elapsed. (e.g., Going to Taco Tuesday,
since Tuesday is the only day for tacos
at that restaurant.)
2. Variable-interval schedule: Reinforces
a response at unpredictable time
intervals, which produces slow, steady
responses. (e.g., checking Facebook.)
Punishment
An aversive event that decreases the
behavior it follows.
Punishment
• Goal of punishment is to decrease the
occurrence of a behavior
• Effective punishment
– Should occur as soon as possible after the
behavior
– Should be sufficient, i.e., strong enough
– Should be certain, occurring every time the
behavior does
– Should be consistent
Punishment
Although there may be some justification for
occasional punishment (Larzelaere &
Baumrind, 2002), it usually leads to negative
effects.
1. Results in unwanted fears.
2. Conveys no information to the organism.
3. Justifies pain to others.
4. Causes unwanted behaviors to reappear
in its absence.
5. Causes aggression towards the agent.
6. Causes one unwanted behavior to appear
in place of another.
Spanking
• Were you spanked as a child?
• What are the reasons parents spank
their children?
• Are there reasons parents would never
spank a child?
• Where is the line between spanking
and child abuse?
• Is spanking successful?
Identifying Contingent Responses
WHAT DO YOU WANT THE BEHAVIOR TO DO?
Increase?
Give Positive
Stimulus?
Decrease?
Take Away
Negative
PUNISHMENT
Stimulus?
POSITIVE
NEGATIVE
REINFORCEMENT
REINFORCEMENT
• Give Negative
Stimulus
• Take Away
Positive
Stimulus
Operant Conditioning is Selective
• Operant conditioning techniques work best
with behaviors that would typically occur in
a specific situation
• Superstitious behavior
– Tendency to repeat behaviors that are followed
closely by a reinforcer, even if they are not
related
– For example, a particular pair of socks might
become “lucky” if something good happened
when you wore them
Behavioral Change Using
Biofeedback
• Biofeedback is an operant conditioning
technique that teaches people to gain
voluntary control over bodily processes
like heart rate and blood pressure
– When used to control brain activity it is
called neurofeedback