Operant Conditioning

Question 1

Operant conditioning

Answer 1

• Learning that occurs when a behaviour is followed by an event, and the nature of this events increases or decreases the probability of the behaviour being repeated

Question 2

Reinforcement

Answer 2

• Takes place when a behaviour is followed by an event and this increases the probability of that behaviour being repeated

Question 3

Positive reinforcement

Answer 3

• Occurs when something nice is introduced to the individual following a behaviour increasing the probability of that behaviour being repeated

Question 4

Negative reinforcement

Answer 4

• Occurs when something unpleasant is removed from the individual following a behaviour, increasing the probability of that behaviour being repeated

Question 5

Punishment

Answer 5

• Takes place when an event follows a behaviour, and this decreases the probability that the behaviour is repeated

Question 6

Positive punishment

Answer 6

• Occurs when something unpleasant is introduced to the individual following a behaviour decreasing the probability of that behaviour being repeated

Question 7

Negative punishment

Answer 7

• Occurs when something nice is removed from an individual following a behaviour decreasing the probability of that behaviour being repeated

Question 8

Primary reinforcement

Answer 8

• Takes place when the thing that acts as a reinforcer has biological significance such as food

Question 9

Secondary reinforcement

Answer 9

• Takes place when the thing that acts as a reinforcer has become associated with something of biological significance such as money with is associated with being able to buy food

Question 10

The Skinner box

Answer 10

• The Skinner box contained a supply of food pellets that could be released as reinforcers when the animals learned to do something, for example operate a lever
• Some operate chambers contain electrified floors which could be used to punish behaviour
• Using reinforcement and punishment, the Skinner box could train animals to learn target behaviours

Question 11

Strength of Operant Conditioning

Answer 11

• One strength of operant conditioning is that it is supported by many studies conducted on both humans and animals
• Skinner and many others conducted hundred of lab experiments demonstrating operant conditioning in animals
• There are consistent finding regarding the ability to modify behaviour using reinforcement and punishment
• This means there is firm evidence base supporting the existence of operant conditioning in both humans and animal learning

Question 12

Weakness of Operant Conditioning

Answer 12

• One weakness of operant conditioning is that is can only explain how existing behaviours are strengthened or weakness, not where the behaviours originate from
• Operant conditioning can explain a much wider range of behaviour than classical conditioning, it is still incomplete as an explanation on how the behaviours are learnt which an animal has never performed before
• This shows that operant conditioning is only a partial explanation for learning of behaviour