Operant conditioning: B. F. Skinner

• Explain the difference between reinforcement and punishment:

  • Positive and negative reinforcement increase the likelihood that behaviour will be repeated.
  • Punishment decreases the likelihood that behaviour will be repeated.
• Define positive reinforcement and give an example:

  • Definition - Receiving a reward when a certain behaviour is performed.
  • Example - Praise from a teacher for answering a question correctly in class.
• Define negative reinforcement and give an example:

  • Definition - When an animal (or human) avoids something unpleasant.
  • Example - Student hands in an essay as not to be told off, the avoidance of something. A rat may learn through this that pressing a lever leads to avoidance of an electrical shock.
• Define positive punishment and give an example:

  • Definition - Adding a negative consequence after an undesired behaviour is emitted to decrease future behaviour to happen again.
  • Example - Putting a child in timeout after they've hit someone.
• Define negative punishment and give an example:

  • Definition - Taking away a certain desired item after the undesired behaviour happens in order to decrease future behaviour to happen again.
  • Example - Being grounded.
• What is the skinner box?

  Skinner conducted experiments with rats (and sometimes pigeons) in specifically designed cages called 'Skinner Boxes.'
• Skinner box variation 1:

  A rat is placed inside a box. Every time the rat (accidentally) pressed a lever within the box it received a food pellet. Eventually, the rat learnt that if it continued to perform the behaviour (pressing the lever) it would be rewarded with a food pellet.
• Skinner box variation 2:

  A rat is placed inside a box, in which it receives electric shocks. Every time the rat (accidentally) pressed a lever within the box the electric shock would stop. Eventually, the rat learnt that if it continued to perform the behaviour (pressing the lever) the electric shock would be removed.
• Explain how Skinner's study shows that pigeons have been conditioned to play ping pong:

  • Used behavioural learning to teach pigeons how to play
  • A pigeon stood on each end of the ping pong table and pecked ball towards opponent
  • Each time the ball went past opponent and dropped off the table, the pigeon that pecked it across could eat
• State two issues with the behaviourist approach using animals to understand human behaviour:

  • Ethical issues - may be harmful to them and put them in danger
  • Generalisability (validity) - all animals are different and do not all act the same way, therefore research decreases in validity (cannot be applicable to other settings or to a larger group)