Operant Conditioning

Operant Conditioning

1. Description

   • Learning through reinforcement
     • Positive reinforcement
       • Give good thing
     • Negative reinforcement
       • Take away bad thing
     • Positive punishment
       • Give bad thing
     • Negative punishment
       • Take away good thing
     • Primary Reinforcers
       • Water
       • Food
       • Sex
     • Secondary Reinforcers
       • Money
   • Originated with Torndike's Law of Effect (1898)
     • Behaviours with a good outcome tend to be repeated
   • Skinner did experiments with Skinner's Box
     • Found that consequences shape and maintain behaviours (1938)
   • Schedules of reinforcement
     • Continuous
       • Good for learning new behaviours
       • Reinforcement is given every time target behaviour is displayed
     • How, when and why reinforcement will be delivered
     • Intermittent Reinforcement
       • Some, not all, displays of target behaviour are reinforced
       • Strengthens and maintains established behaviours
     • Ratio Schedule
       • A certain number of instances of target behaviours are needed for reinforcement (e.g. pressing a button 3 times)
     • Fixed Interval Schedule
       • A set amount of time must have passed between behaviours for reinforcement to occur
     • Variable Ratio
       • A varying number of responses is needed for reinforcement to occur
       • More efficient with steadier responses
     • Variable Interval
       • The amount of time between behaviours needed for reinforcement changes
   • Extinction
     • When the behaviour stops

2. Evaluation

   • Support
     • Skinner's Box
       • We are more likely to repeat behaviour if we get a reward
     • Possibly Pavlov's dogs
   • Criticism
     • It's reductionist
       • Ignores biological, vicarious reinforcement etc
     • Ignores behaviour which cannot be observed
   • Other
     • Classical
     • Social Learning Theory
       • This may involve operant conditioning to some degree
     • Biological
   • Usefulness
     • Can help explain addiction
     • Schools
     • Token economy
   • Testability
     • Can be tested with animals
       • Animal tests may not be able to be generalised to humans
       • Puzzle boxes can be standardised
       • Has ethical issues