1. Operant Conditioning

2. Thorndike’s Theory of Connectionism
Law of Effect
If Situation + Response is followed by a positive consequence then the connection between the Situation + Response is strengthened.
If Situation + Response is followed by a negative consequence then the connection between the Situation + Response is weakened.

3. “Spare the reward, spoil the child” by E.L. Thorndike
In Thorndike’s words:
“When a modifiable connection between an situation and a response is made and is accompanied or followed by a satisfying state of affairs, that connection’s strength is increased: When made or accompanied or followed by an annoying state of affairs, the strength is decreased.” (Thorndike, 1913)
Note: Thorndike(1932) later modified the Law of Effect when research showed that while positive consequences strengthened connections, negative consequences did not necessarily weaken them.
“Spare the reward, spoil the child” by E.L. Thorndike

4. The Big Idea
Consequences of behavior effect behavior, responses resulting in satisfying consequences are learned.
Behavioral theories explain learning in terms of environmental events.

5. 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

6. 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.
Edition by Michael P. Domjan, Used with permission
From The Essentials of Conditioning and Learning, 3rd
by Thomson Learning, Wadsworth Division
Walter Dawn/ Photo Researchers, Inc.

7. 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.

8. Shaping
Shaping is the operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior towards the desired target behavior through successive approximations.
Khamis Ramadhan/ Panapress/ Getty Images
Fred Bavendam/ Peter Arnold, Inc.
A rat shaped to sniff mines. A manatee shaped to discriminate
objects of different shapes, colors and sizes.

9. Types of Reinforcers
Reinforcement: Any event that strengthens the behavior it follows. A heat lamp positively reinforces a meerkat’s behavior in the cold.
Preview Question 9: What are the basic types of reinforcers?
Reuters/ Corbis

10. Primary & Secondary Reinforcers
Primary Reinforcer: An innately reinforcing stimulus like food or drink. Satisfies a biological need.
Conditioned Reinforcer: A learned reinforcer that gets its reinforcing power through association with the primary reinforcer.

11. Reinforcement Schedules
Continuous Reinforcement: Reinforces the desired response each time it occurs.
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.
Preview Question 10: How do different reinforcement schedules affect behavior?

12. Ratio Schedules
Fixed-ratio schedule: Reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses. e.g., Quiz at end of chapter
Variable-ratio schedule: Reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses. This is hard to extinguish because of the unpredictability. (e.g., pop quiz once a chapter)

13. Interval Schedules
Fixed-interval schedule: Reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed. (e.g., quiz every friday.)
Variable-interval schedule: Reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals, which produces slow, steady responses. (e.g., pop quiz once a week.)

14. An aversive event that decreases the behavior it follows.
Punishment
An aversive event that decreases the behavior it follows.
Preview Question 11: How does punishment affect behavior?

15. 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.

16. Cognition & Operant Conditioning
Evidence of cognitive processes during operant learning comes from rats during a maze exploration in which they navigate the maze without an obvious reward. Rats seem to develop cognitive maps, or mental representations, of the layout of the maze (environment).
Preview Question 12: Do cognitive processes and biological constraints affect operant conditioning?

17. Latent Learning
Such cognitive maps are based on latent learning, which becomes apparent only when an incentive is given (Tolman & Honzik, 1930).
Learning that is not immediately reflected in a behavior change
We learn lots of stuff without having to demonstrate it immediately

18. Biological Predisposition
Biological constraints predispose organisms to learn associations that are naturally adaptive.
Breland and Breland (1961) showed that animals drift towards their biologically predisposed instinctive behaviors.
Photo: Bob Bailey
Marian Breland Bailey

19. Falk/ Photo Researchers, Inc.
Skinner’s Legacy
Skinner argued that behaviors were shaped by external influences instead of inner thoughts and feelings. Critics argued that Skinner dehumanized people by neglecting their free will.
Falk/ Photo Researchers, Inc.

20. Applications of Operant Conditioning
Skinner introduced the concept of teaching machines that shape learning in small steps and provide reinforcements for correct rewards.
Preview Question 13: How might operant conditioning principles be applied at school, in sports, at work, and at home?
LWA-JDL/ Corbis
In School

21. Operant vs. Classical Conditioning

22. Table 6.1 Comparison of Basic Processes in Classical and Operant Conditioning

24. Social Learning Theory
Learning from observation

25. Learning by Observation
Higher animals, especially humans, learn through observing and imitating others.
The monkey on the right imitates the monkey on the left in touching the pictures in a certain order to obtain a reward.
© Herb Terrace
Preview Question 14: What is observational learning, and how is it enabled by mirror neurons?
©Herb Terrace

26. Imitation Onset
Learning by observation begins early in life. This 14-month-old child imitates the adult on TV in pulling a toy apart.
Child Development, Photos Courtesy of A.N. Meltzoff and M. Hanuk.
Meltzoff, A.N. (1998). Imitation of televised models by infants.

27. Courtesy of Albert Bandura, Stanford University
Bandura's Experiments
Bandura's Bobo doll study (1961) indicated that individuals (children) learn through imitating others who receive rewards and punishments.
Courtesy of Albert Bandura, Stanford University

28. Applications of Observational Learning
Unfortunately, Bandura’s studies show that antisocial models (family, neighborhood or TV) may have antisocial effects.

29. Observational Learning and the Media Violence Controversy
Studies demonstrate that exposure to TV and movie violence increases the likelihood of physical aggression, verbal aggression, aggressive thoughts, and aggressive emotions
The association between media violence and aggression is nearly as great as the correlation between smoking and cancer

30. Figure Comparison of the relationship between media violence and aggression to other correlations.

31. Television and Observational Learning
Gentile et al., (2004) shows that children in elementary school who are exposed to violent television, videos, and video games express increased aggression.
Ron Chapple/ Taxi/ Getty Images

32. Modeling Violence
Research shows that viewing media violence leads to an increased expression of aggression.
Bob Daemmrich/ The Image Works
Glassman/ The Image Works
Children modeling after pro wrestlers

33. Observational Learning
Vicarious Reinforcement / Punishment
Watching someone else rewarded or punished for a behavior and being more or less likely to exhibit the same behavior