1. The Tales of Operant Conditioning

2. Once Upon A Time, There Was Operant Conditioning… Operant Conditioning was a method of learning for all the people in the land of Skinnerian that occurred through rewards and punishment for behavior. It was coined by it’s master creator, B.F. Skinner, which is why the land in which the people lived was known as Skinnerian, because operant conditioning was also known as Skinnerian Conditioning.

3. The Law of Effect for all… Its true creator, however, was an American psychologist named Edward Thorndike of Thorn County. His idea was the Law of Effect which was a law for all the people of Thorn County and Skinnerian which stated: Behaviors with favorable consequences will occur more frequently and behaviors followed by less favorable consequences will occur less frequently. Here, the idea of operant conditioning originated and began the inspiration for Skinner’s fundamental principles and techniques on the subject.

4. The Master Psychologist… Master psychologist, B.F. Skinner developed a goal for the people of Skinnerian to understand and control other organisms through operant conditioning. Created the Skinner Box for his experiments: used rats and pigeons of the land as testing devices to understand/control behaviors. Put his baby girl in a climate controlled “air crib” (Baby in a Box)

5. The Obedient Animals… Pigeon in the Box… Rat in the Box… http://www.youtube.com /watch?v=TtfQlkGwE2U http://www.youtube.com /watch?v=TtfQlkGwE2U Taught pigeons to peck a disk with their beaks. Understanding of complicated behaviors in real world. http://www.youtube.com /watch?v=MOgowRy2W C0 http://www.youtube.com /watch?v=MOgowRy2W C0 Taught rats to press a lever with their paws. Performed these acts in the “operant chamber”. Controlled environment

6. Punishment’s Praises and Punches Punishment: Any consequence that decreases the future likelihood of a behavior. Two kinds of Punishment: 1) Positive Punishment- Presentation of unfavorable event or outcome in order to weaken response it follows. (Punishment by Application) 2) Negative Punishment- When an unfavorable event or outcome is removed after a behavior occurs. (Punishment by Removal) In both cases, behavior decreases.

7. The Positive Perspective… With Positive Punishment comes many positive outcomes such as: Obedience Respect Confidence for Future Experiences High Self Esteem Less Anxiety Lack of Fear Communication

8. The Double Negatives… With Negative Punishment comes many negative outcomes such as: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUkE9qaVgmo Fear Anxiety Low Self Esteem Lack of Communication Rebellion Intimidation Anti-Social Behavior Parent/Child Relationship Suffers

9. Positive Reinforcement… Anything that follows a behavior that will more than likely occur again in the future. When a reward/favorable outcome occurs after an action, that particular behavior will be strengthened. Examples: After giving a great presentation in class, the teacher shouts, “Great Job!” OR Getting a promotion in the workplace. Not always a good thing- child misbehaves in a store and parent gives him/her candy or toy..teaches child how to get his/her way.

10. Negative Reinforcement… Response or behavior is strengthened by stopping, removing or avoiding negative situation. Examples: You clean up mess in kitchen to avoid fight with parents, roommate, etc. OR Before heading out to the beach, you apply sunscreen to avoid getting sunburned. By eliminating undesirable outcomes, preventative behaviors become more likely to occur again in future. Negative Reinforcement VS. Punishment- People confuse the two. Negative Reinforcement is removal of a negative condition to strengthen behavior. Punishment is presenting or taking away something to weaken behavior.

11. Caught In The Middle… Activity Time!!!

12. The Many Faces of Reinforcement Schedule Reinforcement- a rule stating which pieces of behavior will be enforced. Goal of reinforcement is to strengthen behavior and increase likelihood that it will occur again in future. Examples: Continuous Reinforcement- reinforced every time something occurs. (Ex: Every time a little boy/girl draws a picture, you say, “Oh, how pretty!” Partial Reinforcement- Response reinforced only part time. Responses may be slower. (Ex: Gambling)

13. Cognition +Biology = Operant Conditioning… Cognition is concerned with the processing and storing of information. It is how people think, perceive, remember and learn. Biology is the study of life. Examples: B.F. Skinner putting his daughter in the box, us in the classroom studying cereal killers and the way they process information and think. This offers a practical and useful way for altering behavior in families, schools, and workplaces.

14. Sources… www.psychology.about.com www.allpsych.com/psychology101/reinforcement.html www.biology.about.com www.scholarpedia.org Thank YOU!!!