1. Operant Conditioning
Chapter 9 Section 2

2. Operant Conditioning
Learn to do, or not do, things based on the __________________of the behavior
Behavior operates on, or manipulates, the __________________
__________________responses are acquired or conditioned

3. The Birth of Radical Behaviorism
Edward _______________(1998)
As a doctoral candidate Thorndike conducted a classic experiment called the “______________. He placed a cat in a specially designed box and allowed it to learn the correct sequence of behaviors to escape from the box and retrieve a food reward.
The cat at first would randomly perform a number of behaviors.

4. Thorndikes’ Puzzle Box
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Thorndikes’ Puzzle Box
However once the cat exhibited the correct response (loosening the bolt, pulling a sting, or hitting a button).
Psychologist, born in Williamsburg, MA. He studied at Wesleyan University and Harvard, and became professor at Teachers College, Columbia ( ), where he worked on educational psychology and the psychology of animal learning. As a result of studying animal intelligence, he formulated his famous "law of effect", which states that a given behavior is learned by trial-and-error, and is more likely to occur if its consequences are satisfying. His works include Psychology of Learning (1914) and The Measurement of Intelligence (1926).
Fig 6.8

5. Law of effect
According to the law of effect, responses followed by satisfaction are _______ ________to reoccur in the future. Responses that produce a discomforting effect become _______ ________to occur again in that situation.

6. The Consequences of Behavior
From Skinner’s perspective a response (“operant”) can result from
_________________

7. The Consequences of Behavior--Reinforcement
____________ ~ Strengthens the response or makes it more likely to
recur. When the dog begs for food at the table, and you give him/her a scrap, the dog will most likely keep begging for food.

8. The Consequences of Behavior-Punishment
__________ ~ Weakens the response or makes it less likely to recur. Any
Aversive (unpleasant) stimulus or event may be a punisher. If your dog begs for
food from the table and you refuse, his/her is not likely to continue to beg in the
future.

9. Reinforcement
Positive reinforcement occurs when a stimulus is ___________ and an __________ in behavior is likely
Negative reinforcement occurs when a stimulus is ___________ and an __________in behavior is likely.
Remember: Reinforcement __________________ behavior

10. Punishment
Positive punishment occurs when a stimulus is _______________ and behavior is _______________
Negative punishment occurs when a stimulus is _______________ and behavior is _______________
Remember: Punishment _________behavior

11. Putting It All Together
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Positive
Reinforcement
Negative
Present
Remove
Increase
Behavior
Decrease
Punishment
Putting It All Together
Extinction
The weakening and eventual disappearance of a learned response; in operant conditioning, it occurs when a response is no longer followed by a reinforcer.

12. Principles of Operant Conditioning
Early in his career Skinner (1938) used the Skinner Box to demonstrate the principles of operant conditioning.
A rat that had previous learned to eat from the food-releasing device was placed in the box
Because there was no food present in the box, the rat began to engage in typical rat-like behaviors. (sniffing, random touching, scurrying etc.)
Once he hit the lever that released food, he continued to display that behavior.

13. Principles of Operant Conditioning
Discrimination
Generalization
Extinction
Importance of _________— Learning which behaviors are appropriate in which contexts.
EX: Responding to a student using profanity with no teacher around produces a reinforcer. Responding to same comment with a teacher present would not produced a reinforcer.

14. The Skinner Box Psychology 101 On-line Learning 09/15/99
Quite by accident, sooner or later the rat would press a lever in the box and cause the dispenser to release a pellet of food.
After several accidental repetitions of the lever pressing behavior, the rat learns to press the lever consistently based upon the immediate reinforcement (food pellets) which are associated with that behavior.
By the end of the experiment the rat did little else other that pressing the level and eating.
Figure 6-9 from Davis, S.F., & Palladino, J.J. (1997). Psychology, 2nd edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
©1999 Prentice Hall 14

15. Schedules of reinforcement
______________ are very important
____________ Reinforcement
Reinforcement Schedule in which a particular response is always reinforced after every occurrence of the target behavior.
____________Reinforcement
Target behaviors are only reinforced sometimes.
Which do you think lasts longer and is more stable? Why?

16. Schedules of Reinforcement
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Learning
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Schedules of Reinforcement
©1999 Prentice Hall 16

17. Schedules of Reinforcement
Learning
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Schedules of Reinforcement
Fixed and Variable Ratio
Rely on ______________
Fixed and Variable Interval
Ratio schedules produce _______ response rates than Interval schedules
Figure 5.12 from: Kassin, S. (1998). Psychology, second edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Source:
©1999 Prentice Hall 16

18. Schedules of Reinforcement
Fig 6.9

19. Reinforcement Schedules and Extinction
Learning
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Reinforcement Schedules and Extinction
Figure from Davis, S.F., & Palladino, J.J. (1997). Psychology, 2nd edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Extinction will occur if reinforcement is ________
©1999 Prentice Hall 15

20. Schedule Examples Ratio Interval Paid for every 10 pizzas
Ejected from a basketball game after five fouls
Cramming for an exam
Picking up check
Playing at a slot machine
Sales commissions
Pop quiz in class
Teacher checks work periodically when you are working in groups
Fixed
schedules
Variable
schedules

21. Shaping Shaping Successive Approximations
An operant conditioning procedure in which successive approximations of a desired response are ________________.
Successive Approximations
Behaviors that are ordered in terms of __________ similarity or closeness to the desired response.

22. Biological Limits on Learning
All principles of operant and classical conditioning are limited by an animal's ___________disposition and ___________characteristics.
A fish cannot be trained to climb a ladder.

23. Reinforcement versus Punishment
_________________ is more effective in promoting learning.
Issues with Punishment:
Punishment signals unacceptable behavior, but does not specify the ______________behavior.
People often administer punishment inappropriately or mindlessly.
The recipient of punishment often responds with ________________________________.
Person learns to avoid the __________________.

24. When Punishment Fails
The effectiveness of punishment is often ____________depending heavily on the presence of the punishing person or circumstances.
Most misbehavior is hard to punish ______________________
An action intended to punish may instead be reinforcing if it brings ________________.