Transcript watson skinner and operant conditioningx

John Watson and Classical
Conditioning
• Watson believed that human emotions and
behaviors were just a ‘bundle of conditioned
responses’ with some biological influence
• Little Albert experiment
• What happens to Watson? You can thank him
for modern advertising….
Behaviorist: Operant Conditioning
• B.F. Skinner elaborated on
Thorndike’s Law of Effect:
Rewarded behavior is more
likely to recur/Punished
behavior less likely to recur.
• Builds animal experiments
around the idea of
reinforcement: any event
that strengthens (increases
the frequency of) a
proceeding response. Ex:
Rats push a lever and receive
food
Conditioning
• Shaping:Operant
gradually guiding
actions to the desired
action through successive approximations,
reinforcers, and punishments.
• A+ on your paper
• Cookies for raking the
yard
• A pat on the back
• Paychecks
• Good grades means
you don’t have to do
chores
• Addicts abusing a
substance to make
withdrawal pains go
away
Scenario
Child at store whines they want a candy bar.
Parent ignores the whining. Child whines louder,
going into a full tantrum. Parent buys candy bar
and gives it to the child.
What two reinforcers are present?
Reinforcement
• Primary reinforcers: innately rewarding; food
when hungry, having a headache go away.
They are unlearned
• Conditioned (secondary) reinforcers:
Reinforcers that help us achieve more primary
rewards. Money gets us food. Clapping for an
actress. Clicker training for pets.
• Caveman Test
Reinforcement
• Ideally reinforcement
happens quickly…if not you
could reinforce the wrong
action
• Humans do respond to
delayed reinforcement
(paychecks, not eating candy
when trying to lose weight).
Delayed gratification is an
important skill. Studies show
those who can are more
socially competent and
higher achieving!
Schedule of Reinforcement
Continuous reinforcement is best for mastering a
behavior, but in real life that doesn’t always happen
• Spanking
• Speeding tickets
• Spraying water on the
cat who’s on the
counter
• No car until grades
come up
• Phone turned off for
non-payment of bill
• Time-out
Punishment
4 Major Drawbacks (especially in parenting)
•
1. Behavior is suppressed not forgotten. The
temporary state of ‘non-behavior’ neg.
reinforces the parents behavior
2. Punishment teaches situation discrimination.
Just don’t swear around Mom and Dad.
3. Punishment can teach fear through
generalization. The painful punishment is
associated with the person
4. Physical punishment models aggression as an
acceptable response and action.
(Action)