Operant Conditioning Flashcards
What is Operant Conditioning?
Conscious
OC suggests that an organism will repeat a behaviour that has desirable consequences
An organism willnotto repeat a behaviour that has undesirable consequences
A response that occurs with NO stimulus
How does Operant Conditioning work?
A person will make a decision to do something
The person will carry out the action
The outcome of the action can be positive/negative and impact the action being repeated in the future
e.g. A person will walk into the wrong bathroom and get embarrassed, then consciously avoid repeating that action in the future
When was the term ‘Operant Conditioning’ first used?
The term operant conditioning was first used in the 1930s by American psychologist Burrhus Frederic Skinner
Is operant conditioning a conscious or unconscious process?
Conscious
Operants are…
A response that occurs with NO stimulus
Operants can happen randomly and can be controlled by the organism
Operants are greatly influenced by their consequences
consequences occur in the environment, the environment determines whether or not the operant occurs
What are the Operant Conditioning ABC’s?
A- Antecedent
B- Behaviour
C- Consequence
Negative/Positive Reinforcement is…
Increase/Encourage behaviour
Negative reinforcement- remove stimulus to increase behaviour
Positive reinforcement- add pleasant stimulus to encourage behaviour
Punishment is…
Decrease/Discourage behaviour
Negative Punishment- taking something good away to discourage
Positive punishment- adding something disliked to discourage
Antecedent (What happens before)
the first behaviour or action made
Behaviour (What happens)
a voluntary action in response to an antecedent
Consequence (What happens after)
The event following the action that increases or decreases the likelihood of them doing it again
Positive Reinforcement is…
Increasing the likelihood of repeating the action again
Positive reinforcement is the better behaviour shaper
Derives from a positive outcome (rewards, pleasant feelings)
Negative Reinforcement is…
Decreases the likelihood of repeating the action again
Derives from a negative outcome (punishment, taking something away)
What is ‘Shaping’?
Shaping is a process where something is conditioned to perform a desired outcome
E.g. Skinner trained or shaped a pigeons behaviour to his desired outcome (spinning in circle)
