Operant Conditioning

• Who developed the theory of Operant Conditioning?

  1. F. Skinner
• Operant Conditioning is also known as Skinnerian Conditioning
• Skinner conducted his original research on rats
• What survey in 2002 ranked Skinner as the most influential psychologist of the 20th century?

  A 2002 survey
• Steps in the development of Operant Conditioning and related theories

  1️⃣ Skinner’s discoveries on animal behavior

  2️⃣ Generalization to humans based on evolutionary theory

  3️⃣ The emergence of the behaviorist school in psychology
• What is the central principle of Operant Conditioning?

  Learning by consequences
• Operant Conditioning is based on the principle of A-B-C
• What are the two main ways to change behavior according to Operant Conditioning?

  Change antecedents or consequences
• It is easier to change the consequences than the antecedents to modify behavior
• Positive reinforcement involves adding something pleasant
• What is an example of primary reinforcement?

  Food
• Match the type of reinforcement with its definition:

  Positive reinforcement ↔️ Adding something pleasant

  Negative reinforcement ↔️ Removing something unpleasant

  Primary reinforcement ↔️ Basic need reward
• Negative punishment involves removing something pleasant
• What did Skinner find to be more effective at changing behavior, reinforcement or punishment?

  Reinforcement
• Effective conditioning requires the consequence to be contingent and contiguous
• What does contingent mean in Operant Conditioning?

  Clear link between behavior and consequence
• Contiguous means that the consequence follows soon after the behavior
• Arrange the steps in Skinner’s four quadrants of Operant Conditioning

  1️⃣ Positive reinforcement

  2️⃣ Negative reinforcement

  3️⃣ Positive punishment

  4️⃣ Negative punishment
• Why might punishment act as positive reinforcement if it is the only attention someone receives?

  Attention is the reward
• Skinner found negative reinforcement to be more effective than positive reinforcement

  False
• What apparatus did Skinner use in his animal research?

  Skinner box
• In Skinner’s research, the lever, light, and food dispenser were all located in the Skinner box
• What type of reinforcement was used when the rat pressed the lever to receive food?

  Positive reinforcement
• In Skinner’s experiments, rats learned to press the lever because the consequence was contiguous and contingent
• In a variation of Skinner’s box, what did pressing the lever turn off?

  Electric current
• Turning off the electric current in Skinner’s box is an example of negative reinforcement
• What were the pigeons in Skinner’s “Superstition in the Pigeon” experiment fed at regular intervals?

  Food
• Skinner concluded that the pigeons were repeating whatever behavior they were doing when the reinforcement was first offered
• What is the concept of superstition in Operant Conditioning?

  Repeating senseless behavior
• Match the schedule of reinforcement with its description:

  Fixed interval ↔️ Reward at a regular time

  Variable interval ↔️ Reward at unpredictable times

  Fixed ratio ↔️ Reward after a set number of behaviors

  Variable ratio ↔️ Reward after a changing number of behaviors
• In a fixed interval schedule, the reward is given at a regular time
• Which reinforcement schedule leads to fast learning and slow extinction?

  Variable ratio
• Shaping involves reinforcing behaviors that are similar to the desired target behavior
• What film featured Uggie, the dog trained using shaping in Operant Conditioning?

  The Artist
• Phobias can be explained by Operant Conditioning through negative reinforcement
• What is the purpose of systematic desensitization in treating phobias?

  Gradual exposure to fear
• Systematic desensitization combines Classical and Operant Conditioning
• What are tokens in Token Economy Programmes (TEPs)?

  Secondary reinforcers
• In a TEP, tokens can be cashed in for positive reinforcers
• What is essential for a TEP to be effective?

  Well-known exchange rate