Skinner's Rats

• 𝙇𝙀𝘼𝙍𝙉𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝘽𝙔 𝘾𝙊𝙉𝙎𝙀𝙌𝙐𝙀𝙉𝘾𝙀𝙎 (𝙊𝘾):

  In learning by consequences, behaviour is learned based on its outcomes/consequences. The learner is active, and the response is voluntary. Behaviour followed by pleasant consequences (rewards) is more likely to be repeated, while behaviour followed by unpleasant consequences (punishments) is less likely.

  
  

  For instance, if a child gets praised for cleaning their room, they’re more likely to clean their room in the future. Conversely, if they get scolded for not doing homework, they’re likely to complete it next time to avoid the scolding.
• Operant conditioning is a theory of learning coined by B. F. Skinner where behaviour is said to be influenced by its consequences. Behaviour that is reinforced (rewarded) will likely be repeated, and punished behaviour will occur less frequently.
• Positive reinforcement (PR) involves rewarding desirable behaviour, and increases the frequency of that behaviour when applied.
• Negative reinforcement (NR) involves the removal of something unpleasant as a reward, increasing the frequency of a behaviour.
• Punishment involves an unpleasant consequence directly decreasing the frequency of a behaviour.
• Neutral operants are responses from the environment that neither increase nor decrease the probability of a behaviour being repeated.
• Reinforcers are responses from the environment that increase the probability of a behaviour being repeated (can be positive/negative).
• Punishers are responses from the environment that decrease the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated (weakens behaviour).
• 𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗜𝗡𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗖𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧:

  • primary reinforcers are stimuli that are natural reinforcers because they are not learned and directly satisfy a need, such as food or water
  • secondary reinforcers are stimuli that are reinforced with a primary reinforcer (e.g. money); they do not directly satisfy an innate need but may act as the means of doing so (therefore are sometimes equally as important).
• Skinner showed positive reinforcement by placing a hungry rat in his 'Skinner box' containing a lever on one side. As the rat moved about it would accidentally press the lever and a food pellet would drop next to it. The rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever after being put in the box a few times. The reward of receiving food, if they pressed the lever, ensured that they would repeat that action.
• Negative reinforcement is when something bad happens until we take some form of action which then stops the negative event happening. This increases the likelihood of us repeating this action again in future situations where the same negative outcome might occur.
• Positive punishment is when there is an addition of something undesirable following a response which reduces the likelihood of that response occurring again. For example, a child who throws their toys around the room will have them taken away as a punishment.
• Negative punishment is when something desirable is removed following a response which reduces the likelihood of that response occurring again. For example, a parent taking away TV privileges from a child who has been rude to others.
• Skinner showed negative reinforcement by placing a rat in his box and subjecting it to an unpleasant electric current, which caused it some discomfort. As the rat moved about the box it would accidentally knock the lever, and the electric current would be turned off. The rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put in the box; the desirable consequence of escaping the electric current ensured that they would repeat the action.
• The law of effect states that behaviour that results in satisfying consequences tends to increase while behaviour resulting in unsatisfying outcomes decreases.
• Skinner even taught the rats to avoid the electric current altogether by turning on a light just before the electric current came on. The rats soon learned to press the lever when the light came on because they knew that this would stop the electric current from being switched on.
• The two learned responses of negative reinforcement that Skinner's rats showed are called 'Escape Learning' (escaping the electric current) and 'Avoidance Learning' (avoiding the electric current).
• Punishment is the opposite of reinforcement since it is designed to weaken or eliminate a behaviour (an aversive event).
• Positive punishment involves adding something undesirable as a result of a particular behaviour, such as giving someone detention at school if they have misbehaved.
• Positive punishment aims to weaken the target behaviour by associating it with an undesirable consequence.
• Negative punishment involves removing something desirable as a result of a particular behaviour, such as taking away pocket money if children do not complete their homework.
• Negative punishment aims to weaken the target behaviour by taking away something the target values or enjoys.
• 𝙄𝙎𝙎𝙐𝙀𝙎 𝙒𝙄𝙏𝙃 𝙋𝙐𝙉𝙄𝙎𝙃𝙈𝙀𝙉𝙏:

  • punished behaviour is only suppressed, not forgotten
  • it exemplifies aggression as a way to cope with problems
  • it creates fear that can generalise to undesirable behaviours (e.g. fear of school)
  • doesn't tell you what is right to do, only tells you what you shouldn't do
• A real-world application of Skinner's research is behaviour modification therapy in psychiatric wards. 'Token economy' is a system in which targeted behaviours are reinforced with tokens (secondary reinforcers) that can later be exchanged for rewards (primary reinforcers). It is extremely effective at managing psychiatric patients, however, they can become over-reliant on the tokens and therefore struggle to adapt to society when they leave the ward. Further, the staff implementing the economy have great power and it is important they are specially trained to treat all individuals equally.
• A real-world application of Skinner's research is in the conventional education system. It applies largely to issues of class/student management as it is very relevant to shaping skill performance. A simple way to shape behaviour is to provide feedback on learner performance, such as with compliments, approval and encouragement. Unwanted behaviours (e.g. tardiness/dominating class discussion) can be extinguished by being ignored by the teacher rather than reinforced with attention.
• There is little difference between the learning that takes place in humans and that in other animals (e.g. rats). Skinner proposed that his findings about behaviour in rats would be very similar to human learning.