Operant Conditioning Flashcards
What is Operant Conditioning?
Operant conditioning is a process by which humans and animals learn to behave through the idea of reinforcement and punishment.
What is skinner’s box? (study name, the box, what the box does)
Skinner (1948) carried out much of his research on animals using an operant chamber (a skinner box).
The box contained food pellets that could be released as reinforcers when the animal learned to do something (e.g. operate a lever). Some also included an electrified floor which can be used to punish behaviour.
By using reinforcement and punishment skinner could train the animals to perform certain behaviours.
What is reinforcement? (what classifies as it, the two types)
Reinforcement is normally pleasant, but anything that makes the behaviour more likely is reinforcement.
There are two types of reinforcement.
Positive reinforcement is something pleasant coming after the behaviour (like giving food).
Negative reinforcement is removing something unpleasant (like turning off the electric floor).
Hint: reinforcement is always good. The word at the start says if it gives or takes away to cause reinforcement (positive = give something. Negative = take something!).
What are primary and secondary reinforcers?
Primary reinforcers are rewards that have biological significance (like food, water, and shelter). We need these things to survive.
Secondary reinforcers are rewards that are associated with primary reinforcers (like money, which can buy food and shelter).
What is punishment? (what is it, what does it do, and the two types)
Punishment occurs when an undesired behaviour is shown. It is used to deter it.
There are two types of punishment.
Positive punishment is something unpleasant coming after the behaviour (like an electric shock).
Negative punishment is removing something pleasant (like removing food).
Hint: Punishment is always bad. The word at the start says if it gives or takes away to cause punishment (positive = give something. Negative = take something!).
What is a strength of operant conditioning? (hint: many studies!)
A strength of operant conditioning is that it has support from human and animal studies.
Skinner has conducted hundreds of lab experiments showing operant conditioning on animals (with consistent findings about how reinforcement and punishment can modify behaviour).
This means that there is a firm evidence base supporting the idea of operant conditioning.
What is a weakness of operant conditioning? (hint: impartial explanation)
A weakness of operant conditioning is that it is an incomplete explanation.
Operant conditioning can explain a wider range of behaviours than classical conditioning, but it fails to explain the acquisition of all new behaviours.
For example, it cannot account for the learning of new behaviours that the animal had never performed before.
This shows that operant conditioning is only a partial explanation of learning behaviour. It can only show how existing behaviours are encouraged or discouraged, not how they originate.
[Also teaching an animal to peck an ‘x’ is easy as it is something a pigeon naturally does. it is harder to get a pigeon to do something like…]
