Operant Conditioning

Operant Conditioning

1. learning to modify voluntary behaviours

2. learning based on the consequences of behaviour

3. Reinforcement

   • increasing a desirable response through favourable outcomes

4. punishment

   • Decreasing an undesirable response through favourable outcomes

5. Edward Thorndike (1874-1949)

   • american psychologist
   • Early pioneer of behaviourism
   • one of the first to apply psychological principles and perspective to the study of learning
   • Thorndikes puzzle box
     • Cat in box, move lever to open box to get to food.
     • time taken decreases across trials
   • the law of effect
     • behaviour that is followed by pleasant consequences is likely to be repeated
     • behaviour followed by unpleasant consequences is likely to be stopped

6. BF Skinner (1904-1990)

   • founder of radical behaviourism
   • Expanded on Thorndikes law of effect
   • coined term operant conditioning

7. Control of behaviour through its consequences

8. operant in the sense that the behaviour operates on the environment and produces a consequence

9. the nature of that consequence determines whether the behaviour is repeated

10. Reinforcement vs punishment

    • Reinforcement
      • used to maintain or increase desired behaviour
      • Negative
    • Punishment
      • used to reduce or eliminate undesired behaviour