1. Unit 6: Learning (Behaviorism)
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.
Essential Task 6.4: Predict how practice, shaping through successive approximations, schedules of reinforcement (continuous, fixed ratio, variable ration, fixed interval, variable interval), motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic), contingency, and time influence the quality of learning.
Logo Green is R=8 G=138 B= Blue is R= 0 G=110 B=184
Border Grey is R=74 G=69 B=64

2. 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.

3. 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

4. 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.

5. Skinner’s Experiments
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.

6. 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.

7. 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
OBJECTIVE 12| Describe the shaping procedure, and how it can increase our understanding of what animals and babies can discriminate.
A rat shaped to sniff mines. A manatee shaped to discriminate objects of different shapes, colors and sizes.

8. Types of Reinforcement
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
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
Golf claps
Low grade electrical shock only removed when you performed the task

9. Types of Reinforcers
Any event that strengthens the behavior it follows. A heat lamp positively reinforces a meerkat’s behavior in the cold.
OBJECTIVE 13| Compare positive and negative reinforcement, and give one example each of a primary reinforcer, a conditioned, an immediate, and a delayed reinforcer.
Reuters/ Corbis

11. Primary & Secondary Reinforcers
Primary Reinforcer: An innately reinforcing stimulus like food or drink.
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

12. Immediate & Delayed Reinforcers
Immediate Reinforcer: A reinforcer that occurs instantly after a behavior. A rat gets a food pellet for a bar press.
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.

14. Question of the Day
Jack finally takes the garbage out in order to get his father to stop pestering him. Jack’s behavior is being influenced by
positive reinforcement
negative reinforcement
primary reinforce
punishment
Answer: B negative reinforcement

15. Reinforcement Schedules
Continuous Reinforcement: Reinforces the desired response each time it occurs.
Does your teacher grade every assignment?
How do you feel when a teacher does not score all of your work?
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.

16. Ratio Schedules
Fixed-ratio schedule: Reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses. e.g., piecework pay.
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.)

17. Interval Schedules
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.)
Variable-interval schedule: Reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals, which produces slow, steady responses. (e.g., checking Facebook.)

18. An aversive event that decreases the behavior it follows.
Punishment
An aversive event that decreases the behavior it follows.
OBJECTIVE 15| Discuss the ways negative punishment, positive punishment, and negative reinforcement differ, and list some drawbacks of punishment as a behavior-control technique.

19. 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

20. Punishment
Although there may be some justification for occasional punishment (Larzelaere & Baumrind, 2002), it usually leads to negative effects.
Results in unwanted fears.
Conveys no information to the organism.
Justifies pain to others.
Causes unwanted behaviors to reappear in its absence.
Causes aggression towards the agent.
Causes one unwanted behavior to appear in place of another.

21. 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?

22. Identifying Contingent Responses
WHAT DO YOU WANT THE BEHAVIOR TO DO?
Increase?
Decrease?
Take Away Negative Stimulus?
Give Positive Stimulus?
PUNISHMENT
POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT
NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT
Give Negative Stimulus
Take Away Positive Stimulus

23. 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

24. 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