Chapter 9: B.F. Skinner

Question 1

Skinner denied:

Did not mention/consider:

Answer 1

The concept of personality and the use of theories as research tools (development of all theories is “time consuming and wasteful”)
Didn’t believe that his life showed a type of personality, an archetypal pattern, a schedule of development, or consistent character traits

Consciousness, the unconscious, anxiety, the idea of the “self” (real or ideal)

Question 2

Skinner’s idea of personality

Answer 2

Throughout his career, Skinner advocated a psychology that concentrates only on the relationship between environmental events and overt behavior. Personality only includes overt behaviors that are emitted reliably in the presence of quantifiable stimuli

Question 3

Pavlov’s work: Classical Conditioning (influenced Watson)

Answer 3

Conditioned Stimulus, Unconditioned stimulus, Unconditioned Response
If the conditioned stimulus was paired several times with the unconditioned stimulus, it gradually developed the capacity to elicit a response similar to the unconditioned response. Such a response is called a conditioned response.

**Skinner called Pavlovian/Classical Conditioning Type S Conditioning to stress the importance of the stimulus

Question 4

Respondent Behavior

Answer 4

Skinner referred to behavior elicited by a known stimulus as respondent behavior (all conditioned and unconditioned responses are examples). A direct stimulus-response association occurs in all respondent behavior. All reflexes such as pupils constricting when light intensity is increased are examples of respondent behavior.

***UNLIKE PAVLOV AND WATSON, SKINNER DID NOT EMPHASIZE RESPONDENT BEHAVIOR IN HIS THEORY. INSTEAD HE EMPHASIZED BEHAVIOR THAT IS NOT LINKED TO ANY KNOWN STIMULUS: Operant Behavior

Question 5

Operant Behavior

Answer 5

Caused by stimulation but that stimulation is not known
It is not important to know the origins of the operant behavior
Most important characteristic of operant behavior is that it is under the control of its consequences - it is what happens after operant behavior is emitted that determines its fate.
Operant behavior operates on the environment so as to change it in some way.

Question 6

Type R Conditioning

Answer 6

The conditioning of operant behavior (emphasizes the importance of the response)
SKinner’s work was primarily in this area of conditioning

Question 7

Operant Conditioning (Type R) Definition:

Principles of Operant Conditioning:

Answer 7

Definition: If the occurrence of an operant is followed by presentation of a reinforcing stimulus the strength is increased. Ie: if a response is followed by a reward, the response will be strengthened

Principles:
-Acquisition
-Shaping
-Extinction

Question 8

Acquisition

Answer 8

Operant Level: the frequency with which an operant response occurs before the introduction of a reinforcer (random/unmotivated occurrence)

Rate of Responding: operant conditioning is measured by the change in rate of responding. Ex: rate of lever pressing increases —> indicates demonstration of operant conditioning

Conditioning does not depend on the subject’s awareness of the conditioning (Verplank and Greenspoon verified this)

Question 9

Shaping

Answer 9

The process used to strengthen a response that is not in an organism’s normal response repertoire (ie lever-pressing is not a response that a rate might initially make on its own). Consists of a series of several steps that gradually reinforces behavior that is closer and closer to the desired response
Differential Reinforcement: some responses are reinforced and some are not
Successive Approximations: the responses that are reinforced are those that are increasingly close to the response ultimately desired

Question 10

Extinction:

Answer 10

The counterpart of acquisition: If the reinforcer is removed from the situation, the operant behavior will be weakened (usually over time)
Eventually response returns to its operant level.

Reinforce desirable behavior and ignore undesirable behavior. Skinner believed extinction (not reinforcing behavior) is more effective than punishment

Question 11

Discriminative Operant:

Discriminative Stimulus:

Answer 11

Definition: An operant response made under one set of circumstances but not under others (the action of hitting a lever only when a light above it is on)

Definition: a specific occasion that stimulates a response (we learn that when a light is on we will be rewarded when we hit the lever. In this case the light on is the discriminative stimulus)

Question 12

Stimulus Generalization

Answer 12

The tendency to respond to similar situations in a like manner. The tendency to emit an operant response in situation similar to the one in which it was originally reinforced. Ie: you learn to avoid John Doe via reward. You then start to avoid anyone who might look like John Doe.

Question 13

Primary Reinforcer:

Secondary Reinforcer:

Generalized Reinforcer:

Answer 13

Definition: reinforcers related to survival. They include food, water, oxygen, elimination, sexual activity

Definition: stimuli that are originally biologically neutral (not primary reinforcers) but acquire their reinforcing properties through their association with a primary reinforcer. Examples: seeing your mother, kind words, bodily contact, money, medals, awards, recognition, gifts, privileges, points, etc.

Definition: secondary reinforcers that do not depend on one particular motivational state. Ie: money because it is usually associated with several primary reinforcers

Question 14

Chaining:

Answer 14

Definition: stimuli far removed from the primary reinforcement can become secondary reinforcers, and as such can influence behavior. These secondary reinforcers develop two functions:
1) they reinforce the response that preceded their appearance
2) they act as a discriminative stimulus for the next response. It is the primary reinforcer that holds this entire chain of events together

Question 15

Verbal Behavior:

Mand:

Tact:

Echoic Behavior:

Answer 15

Skinner believes in nurture over nature (empiricism over nativism). For him language is simply verbal behavior that is governed by the same principles as any other behavior. Reinforced behavior persists. Nonreinforced behavior extinguishes. Skinner named various categories of verbal behavior:

1) a verbal command that specifies its own reinforcer. Ex: pass the salt is reinforced when the salt is passed

2) the accurate naming of something. Ex: the child says doll when holding a doll and is reinforced with praise

3) Repeating something verbatim. Ex: parent points to their mouth and says mouth. Child says mouth and receives praise

Question 16

Reinforcement Schedules

Answer 16

A scenario in which an organism is reinforced for a desirable behavior 100% of the time is said to be on a continuous reinforcement schedule.

If a response that has been learned stops being reinforced completely we say it’s on a 0% reinforcement schedule

A response that is sometimes followed by a reinforcer and sometimes not is said to be on a partial reinforcement schedule

Question 17

Forster and Skinner’s Four main reinforcement schedules

Answer 17

1) Fixed interval reinforcement schedule (FI): Organism is reinforced for a response that is made following a specific period of time. Ex: only the response made following a 30 sec interval is reinforced. Only one response is needed to obtain the reinforcement if the response is made at just the right time. Tendency on these schedules to quicken behavior toward the end of the time interval and decrease behavior drastically after reinforcement has been obtained (ex: fixed weekly/monthly salary)

2) Fixed Ratio Reinforcement Schedule (FR): organism must make x number of responses before being reinforced (ex: every 4th response is reinforced). Produces extremely high rates of responding and characterizes persons doing piece-work or working for a commission. The harder one works, the more pay one receives.

3) Variable Interval Reinforcement Schedule (VI): Organism reinforced at teh end of variable time intervals. Ex: reinforced for a response made after 10 seconds, then 7, then 20, then 2. Ie boss reinforcing ppl with kind words at various times w/o workers doing anything extra to earn kind word

4) Variable Ratio Reinforcement Schedule (VR): Organism is reinforced on the basis of an avg number of responses. The faster an organism responds, the more reinforcement it will obtain. This schedule produces the highest rate of responding

Question 18

Partial Reinforcement Effect:

Answer 18

Definition: all partial reinforcement schedules produce greater resistance to extinction than does a 100% or continuous reinforcement schedule. A response followed by reinforcement only some of the time will persist much longer when reinforcement is discontinued than will a response followed by reinforcement each time it occurs.

Although a 100% schedule may be used in the early stages of training, a response should be switched to a partial reinforcement schedule as soon as possible.

Question 19

Superstitious Behavior

Contingent reinforcement:

Noncontingent reinforcement:

Answer 19

Definition: a behavior that appears as if the animal believes its ritualistic response is responsible for producing the reinforcer when in fact it is not. Ie: food pellets shot out at random on avg of every 15 seconds. Rat will think that whatever its doing when the pellet is shot is being reinforced, leading them to do that action more often, leading them to be randomly reinforced for it more often

Definition: When a response is responsible for making a reinforcer available, we say that the reinforcer is contingent on the response. Ie: press lever to receive food pellet

Definition: reinforcement that occurs regardless of what the animal is doing. Superstitious behaviors result from noncontingent reinforcement

Question 20

Reinforcing Contingencies

Answer 20

Positive Reinforcement: presents the organism with something it wants. if a primary or secondary reinforcer follows a response, the rate of that response will increase

Negative Reinforcement: removes something the organism does not want (escape contingency - allows the organism to escape from an undesirable experience/situation) Ie: loud noise is stopped when you push a button (escaping)

Avoidance: contingency that exists when engaging in certain behavior prevents an aversive event (avoiding John Doe on the street so you don’t have to interact with him)

Punishment: either removing a positive reinforcer or presenting a negative reinforcer. Either takes away something an organism wants or gives it something it does not want. Skinner believed that punishment does not necessarily weaken an undesirable behavior.

Question 21

Contingency Contracting

Answer 21

The act of making the future immediate. Make it so your behavior is under the control of more immediate reinforcers instead of distant ones (ie: if you’re a smoker and want to quit give a friend $1000. Every week that you don’t smoke you get $100 back. These reinforcers are much more immediate than the reinforcers of not having lung cancer when you’re older)

Question 22

Behavior Therapy

Answer 22

Any approach to psychotherapy that is base don a learning theory (Pavlovian learning theory, Bandung’s observational learning theory, skinnerian learning theory, etc.)

Question 23

Token Economies

Answer 23

A behavioral therapy approach in which certain behaviors are deemed desirable and other behaviors are deemed undesirable. Desirable behavioral are rewarded with tokens that can then be used to trade for/purchase things that the participants might want.

Criticisms: “all forms of behavior therapy treat only symptoms and not the causes of those symptoms.”
:the effects of the programs do not often generalize to extra treatment conditions like in the home, community, place of employment, etc.”
“The desirable behavior goes away soon after the tokens are discontinued”

Question 24

Contingency management

Answer 24

The purposive manipulation of reinforcement contingencies to they encourage certain behaviors

Skinner defined culture as a set of reinforcement contingencies that encourages certain behaviors and discourages others. Culture can be designed to produce certain effects.

When contingency management is used to design a culture the effort is called cultural engineering
Skinner published Walden Two in 1948 — about a fictitious community of 1,000 ppl utopian culture designed in accordance with teh principles of operant conditioning

Question 25

Evaluation/Criticisms

Answer 25

Evaluations: “with the possible exceptions of Cattell & Eysenck’s, no personality theory considered thus far is so intimately tied to experimental research as Skinner’s. No issues with empirical validation

Criticisms:
Excessive generalization from nonhuman animals to humans: many of the attributes thought to be uniquely human are essentially ignored

Radical Environmentalism: reduces humans to mindless automatons. Where in teh skinnerian analysis of behavior is the explanation for such phenomena and experiences as suicide, depression, love, wonder, hope, purpose, awe?

Who controls the controllers in cultural engineering? Who are the dispensers and reinforcers? Who decides what behavior is desirable?

Question 26

Contributions of Skinner’s Theory

Answer 26

High Applied value: Skinnerian principles have been applied to education, child rearing, therapy, personali improvement, prison reform, & societal problems. “A good theory explains, synthesizes large amounts of information, generates new information, and can be used as a guide in solving practical problems.” Skinner’s theory meets all of these criteria

Scientifically Rigorous Explanation of Human Behavior: All of the elements of skinner’s theory grew out of laboratory research. The question concerning skinner’s theory is not whether or not it is correct (it is). The question is not even whether it can be generalized to humans (it can). The question is to what extent it can be employed to explain human behavior.