Operant conditioning

Operant conditioning

1. Law of effect

   • Thorndike: studied the problem solving abilities of animals
     • He designed a puzzle box and a cat was placed inside
       • There was a loop of string and a latch. The cat needed to work out how to escape
         • The cat accidently escaped the first time and through trial and error got quicker and quicker at the task
     • Hypothesis: If a response has pleasant consequences it is more likely than other responses to occur in the same circumstances
     • Animals can be trained to work in this way e.g. guide dogs, drug dogs e.t.c

2. B.F. Skinner

   • He added reinforcement to the Law of Effect
     • The animal learns to produce voluntary behaviour that operates the environment
     • Reinforcement is both positive and negative
     • He placed a hungry rat inside a box with a lever that issued food.
       • When the rat gained food =positive reinforcement
       • Later he adapted the experiment.
         • Now the rat needed to remove an unpleasant noise/or pain by pressing the lever
           • This is negative reinforcement

3. Definition: This takes place because of the consequences of behaviour

4. Behaviour shaping

   • Reinforcement can induce complex behaviours in animals and humans
     • Pigeons and ping pong
       • A task is broken into steps 1. the pigeon hits the ping pong ball accidentally and is rewarded, if it them moves towards the ball it is rewarded, if it hits the ball purposely it is rewarded
         • But the rewards change to match the desired behaviour and soon the pigeon can only gain a reward for the last stage

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