Operant conditioning

• Basic assumptions

  • Type of learning

  • Future behaviour is determined by consequences of past behaviour

  • Association between a behaviour and consequence
• Law of effect

  In a given situation, a response followed by a satisfying consequence will become more likely to occur and a response followed by a negative consequence will become less likely to occur
• Positive reinforcement

  Encouraging a pattern of behaviour by offering a reward when the behaviour is shown
• Negative reinforcement

  Strengthening a behaviour by removing or stopping the stimulus
• Punishment

  A behaviour is less likely to reoccur because of negative consequences
• Positive punishment

  Punishment added to decrease behaviour
• Negative punishment

  Something desirable is taken away to decrease behaviour
• BF Skinner - Father of Operant Conditioning


  Positive reinforcement - rat was given food after pressing lever accidentally

  • Rat learnt that if he pressed it again more food would dispense

  
  

  Negative reinforcement - rat was given electric shock and accidentally pressed lever

  • Lever would turn off shock and rat learned new behaviour

  • Light turned on before shock so rat learnt to press lever when light goes off
• Primary reinforcement

  Things that motivate behaviour because they satiate an individuals basic survival needs (food, water)
• Secondary reinforcement

  A stimulus that reinforces a behaviour after it has been associated with a primary reinforcer - e.g. verbal praise alongside primary reinforcer
• Strengths

  • Credibility - uses scientific experiments to support key principles

  • Application - use of token economies can be used to improve behaviours e.g. psychiatric hospitals
• Limitations

  • Objective - fails to take into account our biology as it's environmentally deterministic

  • Limited applicability - studies rely on animals

  • Faults to behaviour system - could lead to behaviours that aren't genuine
• Token economy

  • A behavioural management system in which an individual is rewarded for demonstrating deserted behaviour

  • Tokens represent the number of times the individual has successfully performed desired behaviour.