Operant Conditioning Basics

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Operant Conditioning Basics

• A form of learning in which responses come to be
  controlled by their consequences

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Operant Conditioning Basics

• Shaping
• The process of reinforcing closer and closer
  approximations of a desired response

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Operant Conditioning Basics cont.Signal
Behavior Consequence

• Discriminative stimulus
• Signal or cue in the environment that indicates
  the probable consequence of a response (behavior)
• Differences between Operant Cond. and CC
• Behavior is mostly voluntary instead of mostly
  reflexive as in CC
• Behavior depends largely on what comes after it,
  instead of what precedes it in CC

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Operant Conditioning Basics cont.
Possible Consequences of Behaviors

• Reinforcement increases the probability of a
  behavior being repeated also increases the rate
  of response
• Positive Reinforcement give something desirable
  (reward)
• Ex A biscuit when your dog gives you his paw
• Negative Reinforcement take away something
  unpleasant
• Ex Annoying dinging stops when you fasten your
  seatbelt
• Both result in an increase in the rate of
  response!

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Operant Conditioning Basics cont.
Possible Consequences of Behaviors

• Punishment decreases the probability of a
  behavior being repeated also decreases the rate
  of response
• Positive Punishment give something unpleasant
• Ex A smack in the face for a child who swears
• Negative Punishment take away something the
  organism desires
• Ex No PSP for you because you stayed out too
  late
• Both result in a decrease in the rate of
  response!

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Reinforcers and Punishers
Increase Behavior
Decrease Behavior
Negative Punishment Ex Take away childs toys
Positive Reinforcement Ex Give a sticker for a
good test
Pleasant Stimulus Aversive (Unpleasant) Stim
ulus
Positive Punishment Ex Electric shock applied
Negative Reinforcement Ex Electric shock
removed
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Classify the Consequence

• A rat runs to the end of the maze and receives an
  electric shock
• Positive punishment
• Student studies to avoid failing an exam
• Negative reinforcement
• Misbehavior results in a child not being allowed
  to watch his or her fav. TV show
• Negative punishment
• Employee receives praise for a job well done
• Positive reinforcement

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Classify the Consequence

• Rat turns an activity wheel to terminate electric
  shock
• Negative reinforcement
• Rat presses lever and causes a scheduled delivery
  of a food pellet to be skipped
• Negative punishment
• Rat presses lever and receives a food pellet
• Positive reinforcement
• Political figure is caught cheating on his wife
  and suffers public contempt
• Positive punishment

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Classify the Consequence

• A teenager has his or her car keys taken away for
  staying out past his or her curfew
• Negative punishment
• You swat your dog with a newspaper after he pees
  on the floor
• Positive punishment
• You stop twisting your little brothers arm when
  he says uncle
• Negative reinforcement

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Schedules of Reinforcement

• Continuous reinforcement
• Each and every target behavior is reinforced
• Intermittent Schedules
• Fixed ratio
• Reinforcement only after a certain fixed number
  of correct responses
• EX Payment of 1.00 for every ten pairs of Nike
  sneakers you work on
• Variable ratio
• Reinforcement after a varying number of correct
  responses
• EX Playing a slot machine

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Schedules of Reinforcement

• Fixed interval
• Reinforcement for a particular behavior after a
  fixed amount of time has passed
• EX Getting paid 7.25 an hour
• Variable interval
• Reinforcement for a particular behavior after a
  variable amount of time has passed
• EX Random pop quizzes based on homework

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Other Operant Conditioning Principles

• Extinction
• The response slows and disappears because it is
  no longer reinforced
• Resistance to extinction
• The degree to which a response continues
  despite the fact that it is no longer reinforced

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Impact of reinforcement schedules on rate of
responding and resistance to extinction

• Continuous reinforcement
• Fast response rate, but low resistance to
  extinction
• Fixed vs. variable schedules
• Variable produce a steadier response rate, and
  are more resistant to extinction
• Ratio vs. interval schedules
• Ratio produces a faster response rate

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Generalization vs. discrimination

• Generalization
• Responding to a new stimulus as if it were the
  original (in expectation of a reinforcer)
• EX A dog runs to his food bowl
• when he hears the pans clattering
• Discrimination
• Not responding to a somewhat similar stimulus
• EX A dog knows the difference between the sound
  of food hitting his bowl and of plates being
  unloaded from the dishwasher

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Concurrent Schedules of Reinforcement
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Two Process Theory of Avoidance Learning
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Conditioned Taste Aversion
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