Introduction

Burrhus Frederic Skinner

•was an American psychologist, behaviorist, inventor, and social

philosopher.

•(March 20, 1904 – August 18, 1990)

- According to Skinner, there are two types of behaviors, namely respondent

behavior and operant behavior.
• Operant Conditioning

- is a learning process where behaviors are shaped and modified by their

consequences.

- If a behavior is followed by something good (like a reward), they are more

likely to do it again. If it’s followed by something bad (like a punishment),
they are less likely to repeat it.

•It was developed by B.F. Skinner, an American psychologist, in the early 20 th

century

Historical Background

-Edward Thorndike: His work on the “Law of Effect” laid the groundwork for
operant conditioning.
> The Core Principle: Thorndike observed that behaviors followed by
satisfying consequences are more likely to be repeated, while those followed
by unpleasant consequences are less likely to occur again. He termed this
the “Law of Effect”.

-B.F. Skinner built on Thorndike’s ideas by studying how rewards and

punishments affect behavior.

Key Concepts of Operant Conditioning

•Reinforcement is a way to make someone more likely to do something

again. It works by giving a reward or taking away something unpleasant after
they do the behavior. It can be positive (adding a desirable stimulus) or
negative (removing an aversive stimulus).

-Positive reinforcement: You do something, and you get a reward, so you

want to keep doing it.

Ex: if you score a basket in basketball and the coach gives you a high-five or
praise, you feel good and want to score more baskets to get more praise.

Example: Giving a dog a treat for sitting on command.

-Negative reinforcement: You do something, and something annoying or bad

goes away, so you want to keep doing it to avoid the bad thing.

Ex: In practice, every time you miss a shot, you have to do extra push-ups.
But if you make the shot, no push-ups! So, you want to make more shots to
avoid doing push-ups.

Example: Taking an aspirin to relieve a headache.

•Punishment is used to make someone stop doing a certain behavior by

adding something unpleasant or taking away something they like. The idea is
that the behavior becomes less likely to happen again because of the
negative consequence. It can also be positive (adding an aversive stimulus)
or negative (removing a desirable stimulus).

-Positive punishment: This is when you do something wrong, and something

bad happens to you.
Sport example: If a player misbehaves in practice, the coach makes them do
extra push-ups. The player doesn’t like push-ups, so they’ll behave better
next time to avoid them.

-Negative punishment: This is when you do something wrong, and something

good gets taken away.

Sport example: If a player is late to practice, the coach might take away their
chance to play in the game. The player doesn’t want to miss the game, so
next time they’ll show up on time.

•Extinction happens when a behavior that used to get a reward no longer

does. Because the reward stops, the behavior starts to happen less often and
eventually goes away.

Ex:Imagine a kid who gets candy every time they clean their room.

They clean their room regularly because they want the candy.

But if the candy stops coming when they clean, they will clean their room
less and less, and eventually, they might stop cleaning altogether.

Imagine you’re teaching a dog a trick. If you give it a treat every time it
does the trick (reinforcement), it’ll learn quickly. But if you stop giving treats,
the dog will eventually stop doing the trick because there’s no reward
anymore. That’s extinction.

In school, if a student acts up to get attention, and the teacher stops giving
them attention, the student will likely stop acting up because it’s no longer
working. That’s extinction too. It’s about removing the reward to make a
behavior disappear. It’s important to be consistent; if you sometimes give
the reward, it won’t work as well.

• Schedules of Reinforcement: These are rules that determine when and how
often reinforcement is delivered. Different schedules have different effects on
learning and behavior.

-Continuous reinforcement means you get a reward every time you do

something.
Ex: Imagine every time you clean your room, you get a candy. Because you
always get a candy, you’ll quickly learn to clean your room more often.

-Partial reinforcement means you get a reward sometimes, but not every
time you do something.

Ex: Imagine you only get a candy sometimes when you clean your room. You
won’t know exactly when you’ll get it, so you keep cleaning, hoping for a
reward.

>fixed-ratio schedule means you get a reward after doing something a set
number of times.

Ex: If you get a candy after every 3rd time you clean your room, that’s a fixed
ratio. No matter what, after you clean 3 times, you get the reward.

>Variable-ratio schedule means you get a reward, but you don’t know
exactly when—it happens after a random number of times you do something.

Ex: you clean your room, but you might get a candy after the 2 nd, 5th, or 10th
time. You never know when the next reward is coming, so you keep cleaning,
hoping the next time will get you the candy.

>Fixed-interval schedule means you get a reward after a set amount of time,
as long as you do the behavior during that time.

Ex: Imagine you can get a treat for cleaning your room, but only once every
week. Even if you clean your room a lot during the week, you’ll only get the
treat after that week is over.

>Variable-interval schedule means you get a reward after a random amount

of time has passed.

Ex: Think about how you wait for the bus. Sometimes the bus comes after 5
minutes, sometimes after 10 minutes, and sometimes after 15 minutes.

Experiments done by Skinner’s related to Operant Conditioning

His most famous experiment involved the Skinner box, a controlled

environment used to study animal behavior.

•The Skinner Box: The Skinner box typically contained a lever or key that an
animal could press or peck. When the animal performed the desired
behavior, it received a reward, such as food or water. Skinner used this
apparatus to study how different schedules of reinforcement affected
learning and behavior.

•Shaping Skinner also developed the technique of shaping, is a way of

teaching a complex behavior by rewarding small steps that lead to the final
goal.

Ex:

Experiments:

1. Experiments with Rats

Setup:

A rat was placed in a Skinner Box equipped with a lever.

The box also contained a food dispenser.

Procedure:

At first, the rat would randomly press the lever.

Skinner would provide a food pellet as a reward whenever the rat pressed
the lever.

Findings:

Learning: The rat quickly learned to press the lever to get food,
demonstrating the principle of positive reinforcement—the reward (food)
encouraged the behavior (lever pressing).

Reinforcement Schedules: Skinner experimented with different schedules of

reinforcement:
Continuous Reinforcement: The rat received food every time it pressed the
lever, leading to rapid learning.

Fixed-Ratio Schedule: The rat had to press the lever a specific number of
times to get food, which resulted in a burst of responses as the reward was
approached.

Variable-Ratio Schedule: The rat received food after an unpredictable number

of lever presses, resulting in very high rates of pressing because it kept
hoping for the next reward.

2. Experiments with Pigeons

Setup:

Pigeons were placed in a Skinner Box with a disk to peck.

Procedure:

The pigeons would peck at the disk, and Skinner would dispense food as a
reward for pecking.

Findings:

Learning: Like the rats, the pigeons learned that pecking the disk led to food.

Superstitious Behavior: Skinner also observed that pigeons developed

superstitious behaviors. If a pigeon received food after performing a random
behavior (like turning in circles), it might repeat that behavior, mistakenly
believing it caused the reward.

Summary:

Skinner’s experiments showed that rewards influence behavior and that

different ways of giving those rewards can change how quickly someone
learns. By reinforcing small steps toward a bigger behavior, he demonstrated
how we can shape actions over time. His findings are essential for
understanding how learning works in both animals and humans

Applications of Operant Conditioning

Education

-In education, teachers use operant conditioning to motivate students and

shape their behavior. They give rewards for good performance, like praise or
good grades, to encourage positive actions. Teachers also use consequences
for disruptive behavior, such as losing recess time, to teach students what is
acceptable. This helps create a supportive learning environment where
students understand the impact of their behavior.

Therapy:

Behavioral therapists apply operant conditioning to help treat mental health

conditions like anxiety disorders, phobias, and substance abuse. They use
techniques such as token economies, where patients earn tokens for positive
behaviors that can be exchanged for rewards, to encourage good habits.
Shaping is also used to gradually reinforce desired behaviors, helping clients
overcome fears or harmful habits by rewarding small steps toward their
goals. By focusing on reinforcement and modifying maladaptive behaviors,
therapists create a structured approach that promotes positive change and
recovery.

Parenting:

Parents use operant conditioning to teach their children appropriate

behavior. Rewards for good behavior, time-outs for misbehavior, and ignoring
unwanted behaviors are all examples of operant conditioning principles at
work.

Workplace:
 Organizations use operant conditioning to motivate employees and improve
productivity. Performance-based bonuses, recognition programs, and
consequences for poor performance are all examples of operant conditioning
principles in the workplace.

Criticism and Limitations of Operant Conditioning

While operant conditioning is a powerful tool for understanding and shaping

behavior, it has limitations:

- Oversimplification:

Critics of operant conditioning argue that it oversimplifies human behavior

by only focusing on external rewards and punishments. They believe this
approach ignores the complex internal processes—like thoughts and
emotions—that also play a significant role in shaping how people act.
Understanding behavior fully requires considering both external and internal
factors.

- Ethical Concerns:
Ethical concerns about punishment in operant conditioning focus on its
potential to cause fear, promote aggression, and lead to other negative
consequences. Critics argue that these outcomes can be harmful,
highlighting the need for careful consideration when using punishment
as a behavior modification tool.

- Individual Differences:
Individual differences highlight that people do not respond the same
way to reinforcement and punishment. What reinforces or discourages
one person may not have the same effect on another due to personal
preferences, experiences, and cultural influences.

- Complexity of Behavior:

Complexity of behavior shows that many actions are influenced by

different factors, making it tough to change specific behaviors using
operant conditioning alone. This suggests that we need to consider
emotions, social situations, and other influences when trying to
understand or change behavior.

Conclusion
Operant conditioning is a useful way to understand how behaviors are
learned and changed. Its principles can be applied in many areas,
including education, therapy, parenting, and animal training. However,
it’s important to recognize its limitations and use it carefully.
Understanding the complexity of human behavior and considering
ethical issues are crucial when applying these principles to ensure
positive and effective outcomes.