Is the Addition of Something That Increases the Likelihood of a Behavior Occuring Again

Learning Objectives

Past the end of this department, y'all volition be able to:

Define operant conditioning
Explain the difference between reinforcement and penalization
Distinguish betwixt reinforcement schedules

The previous section of this chapter focused on the type of associative learning known equally classical conditioning. Recollect that in classical conditioning, something in the environment triggers a reflex automatically, and researchers train the organism to react to a different stimulus. At present we plow to the second type of associative learning, operant conditioning. In operant workout, organisms larn to associate a behavior and its upshot ([link]). A pleasant consequence makes that behavior more probable to be repeated in the future. For example, Spirit, a dolphin at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, does a flip in the air when her trainer blows a whistle. The consequence is that she gets a fish.

Classical and Operant Conditioning Compared
	Classical Conditioning	Operant Workout
Conditioning approach	An unconditioned stimulus (such as nutrient) is paired with a neutral stimulus (such equally a bell). The neutral stimulus somewhen becomes the conditioned stimulus, which brings about the conditioned response (salivation).	The target behavior is followed past reinforcement or punishment to either strengthen or weaken it, and so that the learner is more likely to exhibit the desired behavior in the hereafter.
Stimulus timing	The stimulus occurs immediately before the response.	The stimulus (either reinforcement or punishment) occurs soon after the response.

Psychologist B. F. Skinner saw that classical conditioning is limited to existing behaviors that are reflexively elicited, and it doesn't account for new behaviors such as riding a bike. He proposed a theory about how such behaviors come about. Skinner believed that behavior is motivated by the consequences we receive for the behavior: the reinforcements and punishments. His idea that learning is the result of consequences is based on the law of outcome, which was beginning proposed by psychologist Edward Thorndike. According to the law of effect, behaviors that are followed past consequences that are satisfying to the organism are more likely to exist repeated, and behaviors that are followed past unpleasant consequences are less likely to be repeated (Thorndike, 1911). Substantially, if an organism does something that brings almost a desired effect, the organism is more than likely to do it over again. If an organism does something that does not bring almost a desired issue, the organism is less probable to do information technology again. An instance of the law of consequence is in employment. One of the reasons (and often the main reason) we show up for work is because we go paid to do and so. If we stop getting paid, we volition likely stop showing up—even if we love our job.

Working with Thorndike's law of consequence as his foundation, Skinner began conducting scientific experiments on animals (mainly rats and pigeons) to determine how organisms acquire through operant conditioning (Skinner, 1938). He placed these animals inside an operant conditioning sleeping accommodation, which has come up to be known as a "Skinner box" ([link]). A Skinner box contains a lever (for rats) or disk (for pigeons) that the animal can press or peck for a food advantage via the dispenser. Speakers and lights can be associated with certain behaviors. A recorder counts the number of responses made past the brute.

A photograph shows B.F. Skinner. An illustration shows a rat in a Skinner box: a chamber with a speaker, lights, a lever, and a food dispenser.

Link to Learning

Watch this cursory video clip to learn more about operant workout: Skinner is interviewed, and operant conditioning of pigeons is demonstrated.

In discussing operant conditioning, nosotros use several everyday words—positive, negative, reinforcement, and punishment—in a specialized manner. In operant conditioning, positive and negative do not mean good and bad. Instead, positive ways you are adding something, and negative means y'all are taking something away. Reinforcement means you are increasing a behavior, and penalisation means you are decreasing a behavior. Reinforcement tin be positive or negative, and penalisation tin can also be positive or negative. All reinforcers (positive or negative) increment the likelihood of a behavioral response. All punishers (positive or negative) subtract the likelihood of a behavioral response. Now let'due south combine these four terms: positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, and negative penalty ([link]).

Positive and Negative Reinforcement and Punishment
	Reinforcement	Penalisation
Positive	Something is added to increase the likelihood of a beliefs.	Something is added to decrease the likelihood of a behavior.
Negative	Something is removed to increase the likelihood of a behavior.	Something is removed to decrease the likelihood of a behavior.

REINFORCEMENT

The most effective way to teach a person or animate being a new behavior is with positive reinforcement. In positive reinforcement, a desirable stimulus is added to increment a behavior.

For instance, you lot tell your five-year-old son, Jerome, that if he cleans his room, he will get a toy. Jerome quickly cleans his room considering he wants a new art set. Allow's pause for a moment. Some people might say, "Why should I reward my kid for doing what is expected?" Merely in fact we are constantly and consistently rewarded in our lives. Our paychecks are rewards, as are loftier grades and acceptance into our preferred schoolhouse. Being praised for doing a practiced chore and for passing a driver'southward test is as well a reward. Positive reinforcement every bit a learning tool is extremely effective. Information technology has been found that ane of the most effective ways to increment achievement in school districts with below-boilerplate reading scores was to pay the children to read. Specifically, 2nd-form students in Dallas were paid $2 each fourth dimension they read a book and passed a brusque quiz about the volume. The result was a pregnant increase in reading comprehension (Fryer, 2010). What practice you think about this program? If Skinner were alive today, he would probably think this was a cracking idea. He was a strong proponent of using operant conditioning principles to influence students' beliefs at schoolhouse. In fact, in improver to the Skinner box, he also invented what he chosen a education machine that was designed to reward small steps in learning (Skinner, 1961)—an early on precursor of estimator-assisted learning. His pedagogy machine tested students' knowledge equally they worked through various schoolhouse subjects. If students answered questions correctly, they received immediate positive reinforcement and could continue; if they answered incorrectly, they did non receive any reinforcement. The idea was that students would spend additional time studying the material to increment their hazard of being reinforced the side by side time (Skinner, 1961).

In negative reinforcement, an undesirable stimulus is removed to increase a behavior. For example, machine manufacturers employ the principles of negative reinforcement in their seatbelt systems, which go "beep, beep, beep" until you fasten your seatbelt. The annoying audio stops when yous exhibit the desired behavior, increasing the likelihood that you will buckle up in the future. Negative reinforcement is likewise used ofttimes in horse training. Riders apply pressure—past pulling the reins or squeezing their legs—and then remove the pressure when the equus caballus performs the desired behavior, such as turning or speeding upward. The pressure is the negative stimulus that the horse wants to remove.

Punishment

Many people confuse negative reinforcement with punishment in operant workout, just they are ii very different mechanisms. Remember that reinforcement, even when it is negative, always increases a beliefs. In contrast, penalty always decreases a behavior. In positive penalisation, you lot add an undesirable stimulus to subtract a beliefs. An instance of positive punishment is scolding a student to get the educatee to end texting in class. In this case, a stimulus (the reprimand) is added in gild to decrease the behavior (texting in class). In negative punishment, you remove a pleasant stimulus to decrease a behavior. For case, a driver might blast her horn when a light turns green, and continue blasting the horn until the car in front moves.

Punishment, especially when it is firsthand, is i style to decrease undesirable behavior. For case, imagine your four-yr-old son, Brandon, runs into the busy street to get his ball. You lot give him a time-out (positive penalization) and tell him never to become into the street once more. Chances are he won't echo this beliefs. While strategies like time-outs are common today, in the past children were ofttimes subject to physical punishment, such as spanking. It'south important to be enlightened of some of the drawbacks in using physical punishment on children. Showtime, punishment may teach fear. Brandon may get fearful of the street, but he also may become fearful of the person who delivered the punishment—yous, his parent. Similarly, children who are punished past teachers may come up to fear the teacher and try to avoid school (Gershoff et al., 2010). Consequently, most schools in the United states of america accept banned corporal punishment. Second, punishment may crusade children to become more aggressive and prone to antisocial behavior and malversation (Gershoff, 2002). They see their parents resort to spanking when they go angry and frustrated, then, in turn, they may act out this same behavior when they become angry and frustrated. For example, considering you spank Brenda when you are angry with her for her misbehavior, she might outset hitting her friends when they won't share their toys.

While positive penalty can exist effective in some cases, Skinner suggested that the apply of penalisation should be weighed against the possible negative effects. Today's psychologists and parenting experts favor reinforcement over punishment—they recommend that yous take hold of your child doing something good and reward her for it.

Shaping

In his operant conditioning experiments, Skinner frequently used an approach called shaping. Instead of rewarding but the target behavior, in shaping, we advantage successive approximations of a target behavior. Why is shaping needed? Retrieve that in order for reinforcement to piece of work, the organism must first display the beliefs. Shaping is needed because it is extremely unlikely that an organism volition display anything but the simplest of behaviors spontaneously. In shaping, behaviors are broken downward into many modest, achievable steps. The specific steps used in the process are the following:

Reinforce any response that resembles the desired behavior.
And then reinforce the response that more closely resembles the desired behavior. You volition no longer reinforce the previously reinforced response.
Next, begin to reinforce the response that even more closely resembles the desired beliefs.
Continue to reinforce closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior.
Finally, only reinforce the desired beliefs.

Shaping is often used in didactics a complex beliefs or concatenation of behaviors. Skinner used shaping to teach pigeons not only such relatively simple behaviors as pecking a disk in a Skinner box, but too many unusual and entertaining behaviors, such every bit turning in circles, walking in effigy eights, and fifty-fifty playing ping pong; the technique is commonly used by brute trainers today. An important part of shaping is stimulus discrimination. Recall Pavlov's dogs—he trained them to respond to the tone of a bong, and not to similar tones or sounds. This bigotry is also important in operant conditioning and in shaping beliefs.

Link to Learning

Here is a brief video of Skinner's pigeons playing ping pong.

It'southward easy to run into how shaping is effective in teaching behaviors to animals, but how does shaping work with humans? Allow's consider parents whose goal is to accept their child learn to clean his room. They use shaping to help him master steps toward the goal. Instead of performing the entire task, they ready up these steps and reinforce each footstep. First, he cleans up one toy. 2nd, he cleans up 5 toys. Third, he chooses whether to pick up ten toys or put his books and apparel away. Fourth, he cleans upwards everything except ii toys. Finally, he cleans his entire room.

Master AND SECONDARY REINFORCERS

Rewards such as stickers, praise, money, toys, and more tin can be used to reinforce learning. Let's go dorsum to Skinner's rats over again. How did the rats learn to printing the lever in the Skinner box? They were rewarded with food each fourth dimension they pressed the lever. For animals, food would be an obvious reinforcer.

What would be a good reinforce for humans? For your daughter Sydney, information technology was the promise of a toy if she cleaned her room. How almost Joaquin, the soccer player? If y'all gave Joaquin a piece of processed every fourth dimension he fabricated a goal, you would be using a primary reinforcer. Primary reinforcers are reinforcers that have innate reinforcing qualities. These kinds of reinforcers are not learned. Water, food, slumber, shelter, sexual practice, and touch, among others, are primary reinforcers. Pleasure is also a principal reinforcer. Organisms practice not lose their bulldoze for these things. For nigh people, jumping in a absurd lake on a very hot day would be reinforcing and the absurd lake would be innately reinforcing—the h2o would absurd the person off (a physical need), as well as provide pleasure.

A secondary reinforcer has no inherent value and only has reinforcing qualities when linked with a primary reinforcer. Praise, linked to amore, is one example of a secondary reinforcer, every bit when you called out "Swell shot!" every time Joaquin made a goal. Another example, money, is simply worth something when yous can use it to buy other things—either things that satisfy basic needs (food, water, shelter—all primary reinforcers) or other secondary reinforcers. If you were on a remote island in the centre of the Pacific Ocean and yous had stacks of money, the money would not be useful if you could non spend it. What about the stickers on the behavior chart? They also are secondary reinforcers.

Sometimes, instead of stickers on a sticker nautical chart, a token is used. Tokens, which are also secondary reinforcers, can so be traded in for rewards and prizes. Entire behavior management systems, known as token economies, are built around the utilize of these kinds of token reinforcers. Token economies have been found to exist very effective at modifying behavior in a variety of settings such every bit schools, prisons, and mental hospitals. For example, a study past Cangi and Daly (2013) found that use of a token economy increased appropriate social behaviors and reduced inappropriate behaviors in a group of autistic schoolhouse children. Autistic children tend to exhibit confusing behaviors such equally pinching and hit. When the children in the written report exhibited appropriate beliefs (not hit or pinching), they received a "placidity hands" token. When they striking or pinched, they lost a token. The children could then exchange specified amounts of tokens for minutes of playtime.

Everyday Connection: Behavior Modification in Children

Parents and teachers ofttimes utilise behavior modification to change a child'due south behavior. Beliefs modification uses the principles of operant conditioning to accomplish behavior change so that undesirable behaviors are switched for more socially acceptable ones. Some teachers and parents create a sticker chart, in which several behaviors are listed ([link]). Sticker charts are a form of token economies, as described in the text. Each time children perform the behavior, they get a sticker, and after a certain number of stickers, they get a prize, or reinforcer. The goal is to increase adequate behaviors and decrease misbehavior. Remember, it is all-time to reinforce desired behaviors, rather than to employ punishment. In the classroom, the teacher can reinforce a wide range of behaviors, from students raising their hands, to walking quietly in the hall, to turning in their homework. At dwelling house, parents might create a behavior nautical chart that rewards children for things such as putting away toys, brushing their teeth, and helping with dinner. In social club for behavior modification to be effective, the reinforcement needs to exist continued with the beliefs; the reinforcement must matter to the child and exist washed consistently.

A photograph shows a child placing stickers on a chart hanging on the wall.

Time-out is some other pop technique used in behavior modification with children. Information technology operates on the principle of negative penalization. When a child demonstrates an undesirable beliefs, she is removed from the desirable activity at hand ([link]). For instance, say that Sophia and her brother Mario are playing with building blocks. Sophia throws some blocks at her brother, so yous give her a warning that she volition go to time-out if she does information technology again. A few minutes after, she throws more than blocks at Mario. You lot remove Sophia from the room for a few minutes. When she comes back, she doesn't throw blocks.

There are several important points that you should know if y'all plan to implement time-out as a beliefs modification technique. First, make sure the child is existence removed from a desirable activity and placed in a less desirable location. If the activity is something undesirable for the child, this technique will backfire because it is more than enjoyable for the child to be removed from the action. Second, the length of the time-out is important. The general rule of thumb is one minute for each year of the kid's historic period. Sophia is v; therefore, she sits in a time-out for five minutes. Setting a timer helps children know how long they take to sit in time-out. Finally, equally a caregiver, keep several guidelines in mind over the grade of a time-out: remain at-home when directing your child to time-out; ignore your kid during time-out (because caregiver attending may reinforce misbehavior); and requite the child a hug or a kind word when time-out is over.

Photograph A shows several children climbing on playground equipment. Photograph B shows a child sitting alone at a table looking at the playground.

REINFORCEMENT SCHEDULES

Call back, the best mode to teach a person or animate being a behavior is to use positive reinforcement. For example, Skinner used positive reinforcement to teach rats to press a lever in a Skinner box. At outset, the rat might randomly hit the lever while exploring the box, and out would come a pellet of food. After eating the pellet, what practise you lot recall the hungry rat did next? Information technology hit the lever again, and received another pellet of food. Each time the rat hit the lever, a pellet of food came out. When an organism receives a reinforcer each fourth dimension it displays a behavior, it is called continuous reinforcement. This reinforcement schedule is the quickest manner to teach someone a behavior, and it is especially effective in training a new behavior. Allow's look back at the dog that was learning to sit earlier in the chapter. Now, each fourth dimension he sits, you give him a care for. Timing is important hither: you volition be most successful if you present the reinforcer immediately after he sits, so that he can brand an association betwixt the target behavior (sitting) and the consequence (getting a care for).

Link to Learning

Watch this video prune where veterinarian Dr. Sophia Yin shapes a canis familiaris's behavior using the steps outlined above.

One time a beliefs is trained, researchers and trainers often turn to another type of reinforcement schedule—partial reinforcement. In fractional reinforcement, also referred to as intermittent reinforcement, the person or animal does not get reinforced every time they perform the desired beliefs. In that location are several different types of partial reinforcement schedules ([link]). These schedules are described every bit either stock-still or variable, and as either interval or ratio. Fixed refers to the number of responses betwixt reinforcements, or the amount of time betwixt reinforcements, which is ready and unchanging. Variable refers to the number of responses or corporeality of fourth dimension between reinforcements, which varies or changes. Interval means the schedule is based on the fourth dimension betwixt reinforcements, and ratio means the schedule is based on the number of responses between reinforcements.

Reinforcement Schedules
Reinforcement Schedule	Clarification	Issue	Example
Fixed interval	Reinforcement is delivered at predictable fourth dimension intervals (due east.g., afterwards v, 10, 15, and twenty minutes).	Moderate response rate with significant pauses after reinforcement	Hospital patient uses patient-controlled, doctor-timed pain relief
Variable interval	Reinforcement is delivered at unpredictable fourth dimension intervals (eastward.g., later five, 7, ten, and xx minutes).	Moderate yet steady response charge per unit	Checking Facebook
Fixed ratio	Reinforcement is delivered after a predictable number of responses (e.grand., afterward ii, 4, 6, and eight responses).	High response rate with pauses subsequently reinforcement	Piecework—factory worker getting paid for every x number of items manufactured
Variable ratio	Reinforcement is delivered afterward an unpredictable number of responses (e.one thousand., later 1, 4, 5, and 9 responses).	Loftier and steady response rate	Gambling

Now let'due south combine these four terms. A fixed interval reinforcement schedule is when behavior is rewarded later on a set amount of time. For example, June undergoes major surgery in a hospital. During recovery, she is expected to feel hurting and volition crave prescription medications for pain relief. June is given an IV baste with a patient-controlled painkiller. Her doctor sets a limit: one dose per hour. June pushes a button when pain becomes hard, and she receives a dose of medication. Since the reward (pain relief) only occurs on a fixed interval, there is no betoken in exhibiting the beliefs when it volition non exist rewarded.

With a variable interval reinforcement schedule, the person or brute gets the reinforcement based on varying amounts of fourth dimension, which are unpredictable. Say that Manuel is the manager at a fast-food eating house. Every once in a while someone from the quality command division comes to Manuel's eating place. If the eatery is clean and the service is fast, anybody on that shift earns a $20 bonus. Manuel never knows when the quality control person will show up, and then he always tries to keep the eatery clean and ensures that his employees provide prompt and courteous service. His productivity regarding prompt service and keeping a clean restaurant are steady considering he wants his crew to earn the bonus.

With a fixed ratio reinforcement schedule, at that place are a set number of responses that must occur before the behavior is rewarded. Carla sells glasses at an eyeglass store, and she earns a commission every time she sells a pair of glasses. She always tries to sell people more than pairs of spectacles, including prescription sunglasses or a fill-in pair, and so she tin can increase her commission. She does not care if the person actually needs the prescription sunglasses, Carla just wants her bonus. The quality of what Carla sells does not thing because her commission is not based on quality; information technology'due south only based on the number of pairs sold. This distinction in the quality of performance can help make up one's mind which reinforcement method is near advisable for a particular state of affairs. Stock-still ratios are better suited to optimize the quantity of output, whereas a fixed interval, in which the reward is not quantity based, can lead to a higher quality of output.

In a variable ratio reinforcement schedule, the number of responses needed for a advantage varies. This is the virtually powerful fractional reinforcement schedule. An example of the variable ratio reinforcement schedule is gambling. Imagine that Sarah—generally a smart, thrifty woman—visits Las Vegas for the starting time time. She is not a gambler, merely out of curiosity she puts a quarter into the slot machine, and then some other, and another. Nothing happens. 2 dollars in quarters later, her curiosity is fading, and she is just about to quit. Just then, the auto lights up, bells become off, and Sarah gets 50 quarters back. That's more like information technology! Sarah gets back to inserting quarters with renewed interest, and a few minutes afterward she has used up all her gains and is $10 in the hole. Now might be a sensible time to quit. And even so, she keeps putting money into the slot car because she never knows when the next reinforcement is coming. She keeps thinking that with the adjacent quarter she could win $50, or $100, or fifty-fifty more. Considering the reinforcement schedule in almost types of gambling has a variable ratio schedule, people keep trying and hoping that the next time they will win large. This is one of the reasons that gambling is so addictive—and then resistant to extinction.

In operant conditioning, extinction of a reinforced behavior occurs at some indicate after reinforcement stops, and the speed at which this happens depends on the reinforcement schedule. In a variable ratio schedule, the betoken of extinction comes very slowly, as described above. Only in the other reinforcement schedules, extinction may come apace. For example, if June presses the button for the pain relief medication before the allotted time her doctor has approved, no medication is administered. She is on a fixed interval reinforcement schedule (dosed hourly), then extinction occurs rapidly when reinforcement doesn't come at the expected time. Among the reinforcement schedules, variable ratio is the most productive and the most resistant to extinction. Fixed interval is the to the lowest degree productive and the easiest to extinguish ([link]).

Connect the Concepts: Gambling and the Encephalon

Skinner (1953) stated, "If the gambling establishment cannot persuade a patron to turn over money with no return, it may achieve the same effect by returning office of the patron's money on a variable-ratio schedule" (p. 397).

Skinner uses gambling equally an example of the power and effectiveness of conditioning beliefs based on a variable ratio reinforcement schedule. In fact, Skinner was so confident in his cognition of gambling addiction that he fifty-fifty claimed he could plow a pigeon into a pathological gambler ("Skinner'south Utopia," 1971). Beyond the power of variable ratio reinforcement, gambling seems to work on the brain in the same way equally some addictive drugs. The Illinois Constitute for Addiction Recovery (n.d.) reports evidence suggesting that pathological gambling is an addiction like to a chemical addiction ([link]). Specifically, gambling may activate the reward centers of the brain, much like cocaine does. Research has shown that some pathological gamblers have lower levels of the neurotransmitter (brain chemic) known as norepinephrine than do normal gamblers (Roy, et al., 1988). According to a written report conducted by Alec Roy and colleagues, norepinephrine is secreted when a person feels stress, arousal, or thrill; pathological gamblers employ gambling to increase their levels of this neurotransmitter. Another researcher, neuroscientist Hans Breiter, has washed extensive enquiry on gambling and its effects on the brain. Breiter (as cited in Franzen, 2001) reports that "Monetary reward in a gambling-like experiment produces brain activation very like to that observed in a cocaine aficionado receiving an infusion of cocaine" (para. one). Deficiencies in serotonin (another neurotransmitter) might as well contribute to compulsive behavior, including a gambling addiction.

It may exist that pathological gamblers' brains are different than those of other people, and perhaps this difference may somehow have led to their gambling addiction, as these studies seem to suggest. Still, it is very hard to ascertain the crusade because information technology is impossible to acquit a true experiment (it would be unethical to endeavour to turn randomly assigned participants into problem gamblers). Therefore, it may exist that causation actually moves in the reverse direction—perhaps the human action of gambling somehow changes neurotransmitter levels in some gamblers' brains. It also is possible that some overlooked factor, or confounding variable, played a role in both the gambling addiction and the differences in brain chemistry.

A photograph shows four digital gaming machines.

Cognition AND LATENT LEARNING

Although strict behaviorists such as Skinner and Watson refused to believe that cognition (such as thoughts and expectations) plays a role in learning, another behaviorist, Edward C. Tolman, had a different stance. Tolman's experiments with rats demonstrated that organisms can learn even if they practise not receive immediate reinforcement (Tolman & Honzik, 1930; Tolman, Ritchie, & Kalish, 1946). This finding was in conflict with the prevailing idea at the fourth dimension that reinforcement must be immediate in social club for learning to occur, thus suggesting a cerebral aspect to learning.

In the experiments, Tolman placed hungry rats in a maze with no advantage for finding their way through it. He likewise studied a comparison group that was rewarded with food at the end of the maze. Equally the unreinforced rats explored the maze, they developed a cerebral map: a mental flick of the layout of the maze ([link]). Subsequently 10 sessions in the maze without reinforcement, nutrient was placed in a goal box at the cease of the maze. Equally soon as the rats became enlightened of the food, they were able to notice their manner through the maze quickly, just as quickly as the comparison group, which had been rewarded with nutrient all along. This is known as latent learning: learning that occurs but is not appreciable in beliefs until at that place is a reason to demonstrate it.

An illustration shows three rats in a maze, with a starting point and food at the end.

Latent learning too occurs in humans. Children may acquire past watching the actions of their parents simply but demonstrate it at a afterward appointment, when the learned material is needed. For example, suppose that Ravi'south dad drives him to school every mean solar day. In this way, Ravi learns the route from his firm to his school, simply he's never driven there himself, so he has not had a take chances to demonstrate that he'southward learned the fashion. 1 forenoon Ravi'due south dad has to leave early for a meeting, and then he tin't drive Ravi to schoolhouse. Instead, Ravi follows the same route on his cycle that his dad would have taken in the machine. This demonstrates latent learning. Ravi had learned the road to school, merely had no need to demonstrate this knowledge earlier.

Everyday Connection: This Identify Is Like a Maze

Accept y'all always gotten lost in a building and couldn't detect your way dorsum out? While that tin can be frustrating, you're not alone. At one time or another we've all gotten lost in places like a museum, hospital, or university library. Whenever we become someplace new, nosotros build a mental representation—or cognitive map—of the location, equally Tolman'southward rats built a cognitive map of their maze. However, some buildings are confusing considering they include many areas that look alike or have short lines of sight. Considering of this, it's often difficult to predict what's around a corner or determine whether to plow left or correct to get out of a edifice. Psychologist Laura Carlson (2010) suggests that what nosotros place in our cognitive map can impact our success in navigating through the environment. She suggests that paying attention to specific features upon entering a edifice, such as a picture on the wall, a fountain, a statue, or an escalator, adds information to our cerebral map that can be used later to help notice our way out of the building.

Link to Learning

Watch this video to larn more about Carlson's studies on cognitive maps and navigation in buildings.

Summary

Operant conditioning is based on the work of B. F. Skinner. Operant conditioning is a form of learning in which the motivation for a behavior happens after the behavior is demonstrated. An brute or a man receives a issue later performing a specific beliefs. The consequence is either a reinforcer or a punisher. All reinforcement (positive or negative) increases the likelihood of a behavioral response. All penalty (positive or negative) decreases the likelihood of a behavioral response. Several types of reinforcement schedules are used to reward behavior depending on either a set or variable period of time.

Self Check Questions

Critical Thinking Questions

one. What is a Skinner box and what is its purpose?

2. What is the difference between negative reinforcement and punishment?

3. What is shaping and how would you use shaping to teach a dog to roll over?

Personal Application Questions

4. Explain the difference between negative reinforcement and punishment, and provide several examples of each based on your own experiences.

5. Remember of a behavior that you accept that you would like to alter. How could you utilize behavior modification, specifically positive reinforcement, to change your beliefs? What is your positive reinforcer?

Answers

i. A Skinner box is an operant conditioning sleeping room used to train animals such equally rats and pigeons to perform sure behaviors, like pressing a lever. When the animals perform the desired behavior, they receive a reward: food or water.

2. In negative reinforcement you are taking away an undesirable stimulus in guild to increase the frequency of a certain behavior (e.yard., buckling your seat belt stops the annoying beeping audio in your car and increases the likelihood that you will wearable your seatbelt). Punishment is designed to reduce a beliefs (e.grand., you lot scold your child for running into the street in order to decrease the unsafe behavior.)

3. Shaping is an operant workout method in which y'all reward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior. If yous want to teach your dog to ringlet over, y'all might reward him starting time when he sits, then when he lies downwardly, and and then when he lies downwardly and rolls onto his dorsum. Finally, you lot would reward him simply when he completes the entire sequence: lying down, rolling onto his back, then standing to roll over to his other side.

Glossary

cognitive map mental movie of the layout of the environment

continuous reinforcement rewarding a behavior every time it occurs

fixed interval reinforcement schedule behavior is rewarded later a ready corporeality of time

fixed ratio reinforcement schedule set number of responses must occur before a behavior is rewarded

latent learning learning that occurs, but information technology may non exist axiomatic until at that place is a reason to demonstrate information technology

law of effect behavior that is followed past consequences satisfying to the organism will be repeated and behaviors that are followed by unpleasant consequences will be discouraged

negative punishment taking away a pleasant stimulus to decrease or finish a behavior

negative reinforcement taking away an undesirable stimulus to increment a beliefs

operant conditioning form of learning in which the stimulus/experience happens after the beliefs is demonstrated

partial reinforcement rewarding beliefs only some of the time

positive punishment calculation an undesirable stimulus to stop or decrease a behavior

positive reinforcement adding a desirable stimulus to increase a behavior

primary reinforcer has innate reinforcing qualities (e.k., food, water, shelter, sex)

punishment implementation of a consequence in order to decrease a behavior

reinforcement implementation of a consequence in club to increment a behavior

secondary reinforcer has no inherent value unto itself and but has reinforcing qualities when linked with something else (e.g., coin, gold stars, poker fries)

shaping rewarding successive approximations toward a target beliefs

variable interval reinforcement schedule beliefs is rewarded later on unpredictable amounts of time have passed

variable ratio reinforcement schedule number of responses differ before a behavior is rewarded

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Source: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wsu-sandbox/chapter/operant-conditioning/

Is the Addition of Something That Increases the Likelihood of a Behavior Occuring Again

Learning Objectives

REINFORCEMENT

Punishment

Shaping

Link to Learning

Master AND SECONDARY REINFORCERS

REINFORCEMENT SCHEDULES

Cognition AND LATENT LEARNING

Everyday Connection: This Identify Is Like a Maze

Summary

Self Check Questions

Critical Thinking Questions

Answers

Glossary

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Is the Addition of Something That Increases the Likelihood of a Behavior Occuring Again

Learning Objectives

REINFORCEMENT

Punishment

Shaping

Link to Learning

Master AND SECONDARY REINFORCERS

REINFORCEMENT SCHEDULES

Cognition AND LATENT LEARNING

Everyday Connection: This Identify Is Like a Maze

Summary

Self Check Questions

Critical Thinking Questions

Answers

Glossary

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