Operant conditioning Flashcards
Operant conditioning
The basic idea behind Skinner’s theory of operant conditioning (Skinner, 1938) is that organisms spontaneously produce different behaviours and these behaviours produce consequences for that organism. Some of these consequences may be positive and some may be negative. If the consequence of a behaviour is positive then the behaviour is likely to be repeated. If the consequence is negative then the behaviour is much less likely to be repeated.
Operant conditioning is different to classical conditioning. Responses are reinforced in operant conditioning but not in classical conditioning. Classical conditioning explains the acquisition of a response (e.g. a phobia) while operant conditioning explains the maintenance of a response.
Reinforcement
Reinforcement is something in the environment that strengthens a particular behaviour (i.e. makes that behaviour more likely to happen). There are two types of reinforcement.
Negative reinforcement
Occurs when behaviour removes something aversive (unpleasant) and returns the organism to the pre-aversive state. For example, turning off the alarm clock allows a person to escape from the unpleasant noise.
Positive reinforcement
Occurs when behaviour produces a consequence that is satisfying or pleasant for the organism. For example, praising a child for doing their homework.
Punishment
Punishment occurs when a behaviour leads to an unpleasant consequence. This decreases the likelihood that the behaviour will occur again.
Positive punishment
This is when something unpleasant is added to a person’s life that was not there before. For example, such as giving a student detention.
Negative punishment
This is when something pleasant is removed from a person’s life. For example, confiscating a student’s mobile phone.
Skinner (1953)
Skinner conducted a study on rats in a device called the Skinner Box. The Skinner box was a cage which had speakers, lights, a lever, a door and a floor which could be electrified. One hungry rat at a time would be placed in the Skinner box and allowed to freely run round. The rat might accidentally press the lever and be rewarded by a food pellet which would drop into the Skinner box (positive reinforcement). The rat would then continue to press the lever in order to receive a food pellet in the future, as the rat soon learned that pressing the lever led to a reward. The rat could also learn that by pressing the lever they could avoid something unpleasant, by pressing the lever the rat could avoid receiving an electric shock (via the electrified floor). This is an example of negative reinforcement
Schedules of reinforcement
This means that there are different methods of reinforcement that might occur: some examples include:
· A) Continuous reinforcement: Every time the rat presses the lever they will always receive a food pellet
· B) Fixed Interval: The rat presses the lever and only receives a food pellet during a fixed time only, e.g. every 30 seconds
· C) Fixed ratio: The rat must press the lever for a fixed number of times and then it will receive the food pellet
Spontaneous recovery
Following extinction (see above), if the rat presses the lever and does then suddenly receive a food pellet, the rat will very quickly learn that pressing the lever results in a food pellet. The rat will learn this link very quickly and “spontaneously recover” what he had previously learnt
Continuous reinforcement
Every time the rat presses the lever they will always receive a food pellet
Fixed interval
The rat presses the lever and only receives a food pellet during a fixed time only, e.g. every 30 seconds
fixed ratio
The rat must press the lever for a fixed number of times and then it will receive the food pellet
Advantages of Operant conditioning
1) * There is research evidence to support the idea of operant conditioning in the real world. Token economy is used in institutions such as prisons and hospitals and acts as a form of behaviour modification. Token economy works by rewarding appropriate behaviour with tokens which can be exchanged for privileges. Research conducted by Paul and Lentz used token economy to treat patients who had schizophrenia, and it was found that their behaviour became more appropriate. (+)
3) A strength of the research conducted by Skinner using the Skinner box is that he relied on the experimental method. He used highly controlled conditions to discover the relationship between variables so that he could establish a cause and effect relationship, e.g. pressing the lever causes the rat to learn food will arrive (reward) (+)
4) The research by Skinner is on the nurture side of the nature/nurture debate. This would state that learning occurs due to environmental factors and external stimuli rather than due to nature and biology. Therefore by manipulating factors in the environment this can have an effect on learning and behaviour, and is supported by nurture (+)
Disadvantages of Operant conditioning
2) Skinner’s research involving the Skinner box can be criticised. Skinner ignores the concept of free will. He suggests that past experiences involving operant conditioning will affect future behaviour, and people/animals have no control over their actions or the behaviours they show. This is a deterministic view of behaviour which does not account for free will and the fact that a human/animal has a choice over how they behave. (-)
5) A problem of operant conditioning is that it is rooted in the behaviourist approach in Psychology and would ignore the biological approach. The biological approach would argue against the behavioural approach and would state that behaviour cannot be learnt, but instead behaviour is heavily influenced by the role of genes, hormones and biochemical/neural mechanisms. Therefore other approaches in psychology must also be considered when examining the influences upon behaviour, and operant conditioning/learning cannot explain all behaviours e.g. do people learn how to be aggressive, or could it be caused by genes and hormones? (testosterone) (-)
6) A disadvantage of operant conditioning it that its effectiveness in shaping learning and behaviour has been discussed compared to social learning theory and the cognitive approach. Operant conditioning might not be as successful as learning from others (social learning) or as successful as the internal mental processes that go into learning (cognitive approach) (-)
- The behaviourist approach has been criticised because it uses non-human
animals. Critics claim this tells us little about human behaviour because humans
have cognitive factors and emotional states that influence their behaviour.
