4.1.3 operant conditioning

Question 1

what is operant conditioning?

Answer 1

Involves learning through consequence

suggests that if a person is rewarded for a behaviour, they will continue to do it, if a person is punished, the will not do that behaviour again

Question 2

what are the 2 types of reinforcers?

Answer 2

• primary reinforcer - the thing that acts as a reinforcer has biological significance e.g food, drink, shelter, etc.
• secondary reinforcer - a reinforcer which has become associated with and allows access to a primary reinforcer e.g. money, tokens, etc.

Question 3

what is reinforcement?

Answer 3

Occurs when a behaviour is followed by an event that increases the probability of that behaviour being repeated

Question 4

what is positive reinforcement?

Answer 4

When something pleasant is introduced to an individual following a behaviour, increasing the likelihood that the behaviour will be repeated

Question 5

what is negative reinforcement?

Answer 5

When something unpleasant is removed from the individual following a behaviour, increasing the likelihood of that behaviour being repeated

Question 6

what is punishment?

Answer 6

Takes place when an event follows a behaviour that decreases the likelihood of that behaviour being repeated

Question 7

what is positive punishment?

Answer 7

When something unpleasant is introduced to the individual following a behaviour, decreasing the likelihood that the behaviour will be repeated

Question 8

what is negative punishment?

Answer 8

When something nice is removed from an individual following a behaviour, decreasing the likelihood of that behaviour being repeated

Question 9

Skinner box

Answer 9

B.F. Skinner created a box that could dispense food and electric shocks to animals such as rats and pigeons.

The rat or pigeon was given a food pellet when they pressed a lever to positively reinforce this behaviour. This caused the animals to repeat this behaviour.

Negative reinforcement also caused repeated behaviour. Animals were given an electric shock until they pressed the lever. The want to stop the shock caused animals to continue to press the lever.

Question 10

what is a schedule of reinforcement?

Answer 10

the rules that determine how often an organism is reinforced for a particular behavior

Question 11

what is continuous reinforcement?

Answer 11

• every instance of a desired behaviour is reinforced
• leads to rapid behavioural change but effects do not last long

e.g. pay a child every time they wash up

Question 12

what is partial reinforcement?

Answer 12

• reinforce the desired behaviour occasionally (irregular)
• tend to take longer to learn but harder to extinguish
• described as either fixed or variable, and as either interval or ratio.

Question 13

fixed interval

Answer 13

rewarding a response after a pre-set amount of time

e.g. free cup of coffee every 2 days

Question 14

variable interval

Answer 14

behaviour is reinforced after varying times

e.g. free cup of coffee after 2 days, then 1 day, then 3 days

Question 15

fixed ratio

Answer 15

a response is reinforced after a specified number of responses

e.g. free cup of coffee after 8 correct answers

Question 16

variable ratio

Answer 16

• behaviour is reinforced after varying numbers of responses
• produce behaviour that is hard to extinguish

e.g free cup of coffee after 8 correct answers, then 10 answers, then 15

Question 17

what is behaviour modification?

Answer 17

using operant conditioning to change behaviour - reinforcement is systematically used to increase a desired behaviour

Question 18

token economy

Answer 18

• token economy programmes are used successfully to modify undesirable behaviour such as aggression or addiction in closed settings through giving consequence.
• desirable behaviour, such as drug-free urine samples are rewarded with secondary reinforcers (token) which when added up allow access to primary reinforcers (sweets, extra TV time).

Question 19

shaping

Answer 19

• reinforcing successive approximations to a target behaviour
• starts by reinforcing behaviour which is vaguely like the target behaviour
• then reinforcement only continues each time the behaviour is a step closer to the target behaviour

Question 20

description of operant conditioning (ao1)

Answer 20

Operant conditioning by BF skinner suggests that we learn our behaviour through consequences either by reinforcement which increases behaviour or punishment which decreases behaviour and there are two types of each.

Positive reinforcement(When someone is given a reward for a behaviour)
Negative reinforcement(when someone does something right and something unpleasant removed),
Positive punishment(adding a negative consequence for a behaviour) and Negative punishment(removing a pleasant consequence for a behaviour).

Question 21

operant conditioning - supporting evidence

evaluation

Answer 21

P - a strength of the theory is that it has supporting evidence

E - skinner demonstrated that rats/mice could be conditioned through reinforcement in a skinner box which contained a lever. rats/mice learnt to press the lever through pos reinforcement (giving food) and negative reinforcement (an electrical current from the floor would stop when the lever was pressed).

T - this evidence suggests that operant conditioning (OC) is a valid explanation of behaviour

Question 22

operant conditioning - contradicting theories

evaluation

Answer 22

P - a weakness of the theory is there is contradicting theories

E: - SLT suggests that we learn behaviour (e.g. phobias or aggression) by paying attention to a role model’s behaviour, retaining it and replicating it if we feel motivated to do so, rather than learning through consequences

T - therefore because there are other ways of explaining behaviour OC isn’t a complete explanation, therefore validity is lowered

Question 23

operant conditioning - application

evaluation

Answer 23

P - Application to real life behaviour

E - Token economy programmes are used successfully to modify undesirable behaviour such as aggression or addiction in closed settings through giving consequence. desirable behaviour, such as drug-free urine samples are rewarded with secondary reinforceres (tokens) which when added up allow access to primary reinforcers (sweets, extra TV time)

T - this is a strength as the principles of the theory can be used to improve people’s quality of life

Question 24

operant conditioning - reductionist

evaluation

Answer 24

P - a further weakness of the theory is …

E - it reduces complex behaviours such as addicton or aggression down to consequences, suggesting they can be extinguished or modified easily, however token economy schemes are not successful for all individuals

T - therefore by being reductionist, OC theory limits its validity as it ignores how other factors, such as genes or cognitions, play a role in our behaviour

Question 25

operant conditioning - conclusion

evaluation

Answer 25

overall, there are strengths and weaknesses of OC as an explanation, despite its limitations it offers practical ways to shape people’s behaviour so their quality of life can be improved, however using it in combinatin with other explanations would improve its effectiveness