Operant Conditioning

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Operant Conditioning

• Overview
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vdrnnulHw5CM

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Edward Thorndike (1874-1949)

• Introduced the Law of Effect
• Behaviors with favorable consequences will occur
  more frequently.
• Behaviors with unfavorable consequences will
  occur less frequently.
• Developed into Operant Conditioning
• Created puzzle boxes for research on cats

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Thorndikes Puzzle Box
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Operant Conditioning

• A type of learning in which the frequency of a
  behavior depends on the consequence that follows
  that behavior
• The frequency will if the consequence is
  reinforcing to the subject.
• The frequency will if the consequence
  is not reinforcing to the subject.

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B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)

• Developed the fundamental principles and
  techniques of operant conditioning.
• Devised ways to apply these principles in the
  real world.
• Designed the Skinner
• Box.

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Reinforcement v. Punishment

• Reinforcement Anything that increases the
  likelihood of behavior to be repeated
• Punishment Anything that decreases the
  likelihood of the behavior to be repeated

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Positive Reinforcement

• Anything that increases the likelihood of a
  behavior by following it with a desirable event
  or state
• The subject receives something they want
• Will strengthen the behavior

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Positive Reinforcement
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Negative Reinforcement

• Anything that increases the likelihood of a
  behavior by following it with the removal of an
  undesirable event or state
• Something the subject doesnt like is removed
• Will strengthen the behavior (Definition of
  Reinforcement)

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Negative Reinforcement
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Positive Punishment

• Anything that decreases the likelihood of a
  behavior by following it with an undesirable
  event or state
• Will weaken behavior

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Negative Punishment

• Anything that decreases the likelihood of a
  behavior by following it with removal of an
  desirable event or state
• Will weaken behavior

Go to bed with no dinner!
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Two types of Punishment
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POSITIVE (ADDED) NEGATIVE (SUBTRACTED)
REINFORCEMENT (STRENGTHENS) Clean the house and earn 5 a coach pats you on the back after a good play a paycheck for working 10 for getting an A on your report card Senior privilege for maintaining good grades You buy your child ice cream so they stop nagging You leave early for school to avoid traffic You take Tylenol to remove back pain
PUNISHMENT (WEAKENS) You get your mouth washed out with soap when you curse Touch and hot stove and get burned Getting a ticket for speeding You lose your driving privileges for breaking curfew Time out, or the loss of freedom to combat bad behavior You pay money for a speeding ticket
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Schedules of Reinforcement

• By Response
• Fixed Ratio Rewarded after a certain number of
  responses (same every time)
• Variable Ratio Rewarded after a random number of
  responses (changes between rewards)
• By time
• Fixed Interval Rewarded after a certain amount
  of time (same every time)
• Variable Interval Rewarded after a random amount
  of time (changes between rewards)

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Immediate/Delayed Reinforcement

• Immediate reinforcement is more effective than
  delayed reinforcement

• Ability to delay gratification predicts higher
  achievement

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Ways of ReinforcementSchedules of
Reinforcement Continuous Reinforcement
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Continuous reinforcement

• A schedule of reinforcement in which a reward
  follows every correct response
• Most useful way to establish a behavior
• The behavior will extinguish quickly once the
  reinforcement stops.

Think of training your dog like this woman did.
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Schedules of Reinforcement Partial
Reinforcement
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Partial Reinforcement

• A schedule of reinforcement in which a reward
  follows only some correct responses
• Includes the following types
• Fixed-interval and variable interval
• Fixed-ratio and variable-ratio

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Fixed-Interval Schedule

• A partial reinforcement schedule that rewards
  only the first correct response after some
  defined period of time
• i.e. weekly quiz in a class

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Fixed interval schedule is when the reinforcement
is received after a fixed amount of time has
passed. Ex. You get allowance every other
Friday.
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Variable-Interval Schedule

• A partial reinforcement that rewards the first
  correct response after an unpredictable amount of
  time
• i.e. pop quiz in a class

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Variable interval schedule is when the
reinforcement occurs after varying amounts of
time. Ex. Fishing and catching a fish after
varying amounts of time
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Fixed-Ratio Schedule

• A partial reinforcement schedule that rewards a
  response only after some defined number of
  correct responses
• The faster the subject responds, the more
  reinforcements they will receive.

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Fixed ratio schedule a specific number of correct
responses is required before reinforcement can be
obtained. Ex. Buy 10 haircuts get 1 free.
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Variable-Ratio Schedule

• A partial reinforcement schedule that rewards an
  unpredictable number of correct responses
• This schedule is very resistant
• to extinction.
• Sometimes called the gamblers schedule
  similar to a slot machine

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Variable ratios schedule is when an unpredictable
number of responses are required before
reinforcement can be obtained. Ex. slot
machines.
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Schedules of Reinforcement
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Kindergarten Study

• Children who showed high interest in drawing were
  selected, then split into 3 groups
• 1 group given good player badge and told they
  would get it if they did a good job drawing
• 1 group given badge but werent expecting the
  reward
• 1 group given no reward after drawing
• Which group drew the most the next day?
• Answer Group 1 drew the least, 2,3 more
• Overjustification Effect rewarding an already
  enjoyable behavior may replace natural enjoyment
  with expectation of reward

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Should we pay students when they get better
grades?
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Banduras Experiment

• In Albert Banduras Bobo Doll experiment children
  observed others modeling violent behavior towards
  a blow-up doll.
• Another adult rewards the adult model with praise
  and candy. One group of children saw this
  ending.
• Another adult calls the model a bad person and
  spanks the model. A second group of children saw
  this ending.
• The model receives neither a reward nor a
  punishment. A final group saw this neutral
  ending.
• What would you expect the results of this
  experiment to be?

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Results of Bandura Experiment

• Children who saw the model receiving positive
  reinforcement were the most violent
• Those who saw the model being punished were the
  least violent

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Modeling learning by imitating/copying
Bobo-Doll Experiment
Bandura demonstrated that children learn
aggressive behaviors by watching an adults
aggressive behaviors.
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• Albert Bandura found that we learn by watching
  others if the following four conditions are met
• Attention We must be aware of behaviors of
  those around us
• Retention We must remember the behavior we
  have witnessed
• Ability to Reproduce Behavior We must possess
  the skills to do the tricks
• Motivation We are more likely to feel
  motivated to learn if the model weve observed
  has been rewarded and we like the model

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• Behaviors produced can either be prosocial or
  antisocial behaviors
• Prosocial Beneficial (helping people, obeying
  rules, etc.)
• Antisocial Damaging (vandalism, violence, etc)

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Role Models

• Can people choose to be role models?
• Whether we want it or not, people watch us and
  learn from us.