Evaluate Operant Conditioning (8 marks)

Question 1

CREDIBILITY

Answer 1

• There’s a lot of research in support of the Operant Conditioning, including the study bySkinner (1948)into pigeons.
• Brain imaging has identified “reward centres” in the brain that activate during positive reinforcement – these are linked to the brain’s motivational centres.

Question 2

CREDIBILITY - SCIENTIFIC

Answer 2

• a lot of this research is strictlyscientific
• being carried out onanimals in lab conditionsor using brain imaging techniques likeMRI
• Because the theory only looks atbehaviours(rather than cognitions), every step in the conditioning process isobservable. This adds to thecredibilityof the theory, since you can see it happen with your own eyes.

Question 3

OBJECTIONS

Answer 3

• The theory focuses entirely on thenurtureside of thenature/nurture debate.
• It is possible some people are born withpredispositionstowards behaviours, rather than learning them through conditioning.
• This might explain why some people turn to crime or develop musical talent without being reinforced.

Question 4

DIFFERENCES - CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

Answer 4

• Operant Conditioning has many similarities withClassical Conditioning.
• Both were based onlab studies done on animals– dogs for Pavlov, rats for Skinner.
  Both thengeneralisethe conclusions about learning to human beings. Both of them have produced effective treatments for problem behaviours –aversion therapyandsystematic desensitisationfor Classical Conditioning.

Question 5

DIFFERENCES - SLT

Answer 5

• Social learning theory is quite different to operant conditioning.
• For one thing, it includescognitionsas well as behaviours. SLT explains a child learning to talk by watching and imitating adults, whereas Operant Conditioning suggests the child needs to have each word or phrase rewarded with praise or attenti
• SLT seems more realistic, because children learn to speak quickly and their parents don’t pay attention to everything they say.

Question 6

APPLICATIONS - Systematic desensitisation

Answer 6

• Operant Conditioning has always had huge applications for therapy, especially the treatment of more deliberate problems like addictions and crime.
• Systematic desensitisationworks by positively reinforcing early behaviours in the direction of the feared object, then graduallyshapingbehaviour through positive reinforcement.
• Eventually, the patient will be able to handle something they used to have a phobia about.

Question 7

APPLICATION - TEPs

Answer 7

• Token Economy Programmes (TEPs)use positive reinforcement to modify behaviour in a closed setting like a school, hospital or prison.
• Mestel & Concar (1994)reported a successful programme to reward cocaine addicts who stayed ‘clean’ with vouchers for local shops.
• They may also be used with addicts or mental health patients, so long as the patient agrees to the TEP and has a say in what the tokens are acquired for and what they can be spent on.