Operant Conditioning

Rewards and punishment

Classical vs. Operant Conditioning

Classical Conditioning Behavior is determined by what PRECEDES it. Involuntary Dog salivates after a tone. Operant Conditioning Behavior is determined by anticipation of what FOLLOWS it. Voluntary Dog sits in anticipation of getting a treat.

Classical or Operant?
A very bright (mildly painful) light is turned on a rat. The rat has learned that he can turn off the light by pressing a lever on the other side of his cage. As soon as the light comes on, the rat runs across the room and presses the lever.

Classical or Operant?
When a mother strokes her infants skin, the stroking creates pleasure responses in the baby. After this goes on for many days, the baby begins to show pleasure responses simply at the sight of her mother (even before being touched).

Classical or Operant?
Imagine you have a friend who keeps the temperature in her home so high that each occasion on which you visit her you find yourself perspiring. The last time you visited her, you noticed that you began to perspire and became uncomfortable as soon as you saw her house (even before you got inside).

Classical or Operant?
A patient in a mental hospital is very disruptive at mealtimes. She grabs food from the plates of those sitting near her and tries to cram the food in her mouth. Because this behavior of stealing food is very undesirable, a plan is developed whereby every time the patient steals food from other plates, she is immediately taken to a room without food.

Classical or Operant?
Alice leaves her clothes and toys all over her room. It seems that the only time she cleans up her room is when her mother yells at her. When she yells at her, Alice picks up her clothes and put away her toys.

Reinforcement vs. Punishment

Practice with partner.

Types of Reinforcment

positive (adding) or negative (taking away) primary (innately satisfying) or secondary (conditioned) (learned to be satisfying) immediate or delayed

Reinforcement Schedules
continuous rewarded every time partial not every time

fixed set, constant variable unpredictable interval time ratio number

Reinforcement Schedules

fixed ratio set number (every three times you raise your hand I call on you) variable ratio unpredictable number of responses (slot machine) fixed interval set amount of time (pay you every hour) variable interval unpredictable amount of time (fishing)

Reinforcement Schedules

Role-playing activity Summary

Ratio schedules cause a greater response rate than interval schedules Variable schedules are more resistant to extinction Continuous reinforcement causes the fastest learning. Immediate reinforcement is more effective than delayed.

Superstition

BF Skinner radical behavioralist Wanted to demonstrate that uniquely human behaviors were the product of conditioning. Starved 8 pigeons. Then rewarded them with food every 15 s, no matter what they did.

Results:

6 of 8 bird developed superstitions

Turning counter-clockwise in a circle Thrusting head toward a specific corner of cage tossing an imaginary ball with its head Head bobbing with accompanying steps (2 birds) fake pecking

Superstition (cont)

Follow up studies:

Gradually increased time between rewards to 1 min bird behaviors became more pronounced (head bobbing/stepping looked like a dance) Removed reward altogether to create extinction pigeons showed resistance to extinction (one pigeon repeated behavior over 10,000 times before quitting).

What are your superstitions? How are they rewarded?

Problems with Punishment

it models aggression as a way to solve problems breeds anger in the recipient doesnt provide an alternative behavior. Therefore, the behavior only goes away when the punisher is around.

Overjustification Effect

Experiment Story of boys playing soccer Overjustification effect: when we are rewarded for behaviors that we naturally enjoy, we sometimes lose our intrinsic motivation. Learning and grades? Professional athletes?

Criticisms of Behavioralism

Deemphasizes the role of internal thoughts and feelings in behavior; Presents humans as lacking free will Ignores biological predispositions

Support for Criticisms

Experiments with humans and animals both indicate that biological predispositions influence conditioning. a. Animal training b. Human societies built on behavioralist principles.

Support for Criticisms

2. Expectations alter the effectiveness of conditioning (i.e., alcoholics and nauseaproducing drug; overjustification effect).
3. Learning occurs in the absence of rewards or punishments (this is called latent learning) - mice and cognitive maps

Observational Learning

Also known as modeling. Albert Bandura Bobo doll experiment

Modeling

Prosocial Behavior constructive behavior Antisocial Behavior unproductive or destruction behavior