Transcript 5-3-operant_conditioning

WHS AP Psychology
Unit 5: Learning (Behaviorism)
Essential Task 5-3: Predict the effects of operant
conditioning with specific attention to (primary,
secondary, immediate, or delayed)
positive/negative reinforcement and
punishment.
Essential
Task
5-:
Outline
• Predict the effects of operant conditioning
with specific attention to
• Reinforcement increases behavior
– Positive and Negative
– Primary Reinforcers vs. Secondary Reinforcers
– Immediate vs. Delayed Reinforcers
• Punishment decreases behavior
– Positive an Negative
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 on the environment to gain
something desired or avoid something
unpleasant.
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
• Animals placed in puzzle
boxes
• String pulled, latch
released, animal jumps
out and receives food
• 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
Skinner’s experiments extend
Thorndike’s thinking, especially his
law of effect. This law states that
rewarded behavior is likely to occur
again.
Yale University Library
Operant Chamber
Using Thorndike's law of effect as a
starting point, Skinner developed
the Operant chamber, or the Skinner
box, to study operant conditioning.
Walter Dawn/ Photo Researchers, Inc.
Operant Chamber
The operant
chamber, or 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.
Shaping
Shaping is the operant conditioning
procedure in which reinforcers guide
behavior towards the desired target
behavior through successive
approximations.
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.
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.
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.
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
Learned Helplessness
• Failure to try to
avoid an
unpleasant stimulus
because in the past
it was unavoidable
• Possible model for
depression in
humans
Behavioral Change Using
Biofeedback
• Biofeedback is an operant 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
Outline