understanding of operant conditioning
Operant Conditioning
Operant response - a response or behaviour of an organism that is
voluntary and not associated with a particular stimulus. This response acts on
or modifies the environment. For example, e.g. a person picking up a book to
read.
Example: A child voluntarily switching off the lights before leaving a room to save electricity, without
being asked.
1-Reinforcer - the reward given for a response in order to strengthen
it and increase the likelihood of the
response occurring again.
Example: A fitness app sends a congratulatory badge and a discount code for completing a 30-day
workout challenge, encouraging the user to maintain their exercise routine.
Example: A student gets a chance to sit in a special "comfort chair" in the classroom for consistently completing their homework on time.
Example: A gardening enthusiast sees their flowers blooming beautifully after consistently watering
and caring for them, motivating them to continue.
Example: A person receives a surprise upgrade to first-class on a flight after frequently traveling with
the same airline.
I-Positive reinforcer - a reward which strengthens a response by providing a pleasurable consequence
such as praise or a chocolate bar.
Example: A teacher gives a student a “golden pass” to skip a test for achieving perfect attendance in
the semester.
Example: A manager praises an employee in front of the entire team for coming up with an innovative
idea during a meeting.
II-Negative reinforcer - a reward which strengthens a response by removing or reducing an unpleasant stimulus such as taking away a house chore or homework.
Example: A parent stops reminding a teenager to clean their room after the teenager starts doing it
regularly.
Example: A company removes mandatory overtime for employees who consistently meet their project
deadlines.
Schedules of Reinforcement
This refers to the frequency in which a response is reinforced in operant conditioning. There are different schedules of reinforcement within this type of learning.
1-Continuous reinforcement - when a satisfying response is reinforced every time.
Example: A dog gets a treat every time it sits on command.
Example: An app gives a notification every time a user completes a daily task, like a streak reminder.
2-Partial reinforcement - reinforcement which does not occur continuously. The reinforcement may
be administered in the following ways:
I-Fixed ratio schedule - a satisfying response is reinforced after a set number of responses have been made.
Example: A factory worker gets paid after assembling 10 products.
Example: A coffee shop gives a free drink after every 5 purchases through a loyalty card.
II-Fixed interval schedule - a satisfying response is reinforced at regular time intervals.
Example: A TV show airs a new episode every Friday at 8 PM, reinforcing viewers to tune in weekly.
Example: A student gets a 10-minute break after every 2 hours of focused study during exams.
III-Variable ratio schedule - a satisfying response is reinforced at irregular intervals, but the average number of responses is fixed.
Example: A gamer earns a rare item in a video game after defeating a random number of enemies.
Example: A street performer receives tips from the audience at unpredictable times but continues performing because it averages out to consistent earnings.
3-Variable interval schedule - a satisfying response is reinforced at random intervals within a fixed length of time.
Example: A fisherman catches fish at random intervals, sometimes after 10 minutes, sometimes after 30 minutes.
Example: A quality control inspector checks products at random times during the day, ensuring workers maintain consistent quality.
Punishment
Punishment differs from negative reinforcement in that it aims to
decrease the likelihood of the response occurring. Punishment is the
introduction of an unpleasant stimuli such as a hit or yell, whereas negative
reinforcement is taking away the unpleasant stimulus to increase the
probability of the response occurring.
Potential punishers are any consequences which might lead to a
decrease in the response. Some consequences may be punishers for some people
but not others.
Side-effects of punishment include aggression, frustration,
avoidance learning, escape learning and learned helplessness. The punishment
may not decrease the behaviour at all but teach the child to be aggressive or
avoid the punisher. Sometimes the punishment ends up being positive
reinforcement or only serves to satisfy the frustration of the punisher.
Effective punishment should address the person's actions and not
the person's character. It should be related to the undesirable behaviour and
it should consist of penalties or response cost (the removal of a reinforcer)
rather than psychological or physical pain.
Negative Effects of Punishment
Major Components of Operant Conditioning
Here we are describe the main principles of Operant Conditioning are as follows:
Extinction occurs when a behavior that was
previously reinforced no longer receives reinforcement, causing the frequency
of that behavior to gradually decrease. Over time, as the organism stops receiving
rewards for the behavior, the behavior becomes less frequent and eventually
fades away. Extinction highlights the importance of consistent reinforcement
for maintaining behavior.
Example: A teacher used to
praise a student every time they gave a correct answer in class. However, when
the teacher stopped praising the student, their enthusiasm for participating in
class decreased, and they started participating less. This is an example of
extinction, where the behavior (participation) gradually fades away because
reinforcement (praise) was stopped.
2. Stimulus Generalisation
Stimulus
generalisation happens when an organism responds to a new stimulus in the same
way it responds to a previously reinforced stimulus. This occurs because the
organism has learned to associate a specific response with a certain stimulus,
and it extends this learned response to similar stimuli. Stimulus
generalisation helps the organism apply learned behaviors in new, but similar,
situations.
Example: A child learned to
give the command "sit" to their dog, and the dog would sit and
receive a treat. Later, the child tried the same command with another dog, and
that dog also expected a treat. This is an example of stimulus generalisation,
where the learned behavior (the dog sitting) is applied to similar stimuli
(another dog).
3. Stimulus Discrimination
Stimulus discrimination occurs when an organism learns to respond
to a specific stimulus and not to other similar stimuli. This process involves
differentiating between stimuli that are associated with reinforcement and
those that are not. The organism becomes selective, responding only to the
stimulus that reliably signals reinforcement.
Example: A dog was trained to sit when it heard a
specific bell sound, and it would receive a treat. However, when it heard other
bell sounds, it did not respond. The dog learned that only a particular bell
sound led to reinforcement. This is an example of stimulus discrimination,
where the dog responded only to a specific stimulus (the particular bell sound)
and ignored others.
4. Spontaneous Recovery
Spontaneous
recovery refers to the reappearance of a previously extinguished behavior after
a period of time, without any reinforcement. Even though the behavior was
initially suppressed or stopped, it may resurface unexpectedly. This indicates
that the behavior was not fully forgotten, just temporarily inhibited, and can
return under certain conditions.
Example: A child stopped
putting away their toys after they no longer received rewards for doing so.
However, after a few months, the child started picking up and putting away
their toys again, even though no rewards were given. This is an example of
spontaneous recovery, where the extinct behavior (putting away toys) reappears
after a period of time without reinforcement.
5. Shaping
Shaping
is a process used to teach complex behaviors by reinforcing successive
approximations of the desired behavior. Instead of requiring the organism to
perform the full behavior right away, the process involves rewarding small
steps that gradually bring the organism closer to the final goal. Shaping
allows for the step-by-step development of complex behaviors by reinforcing
intermediate actions that are closer to the desired outcome.
Example: A dog trainer wanted
to teach a dog to "roll over." First, the trainer rewarded the dog
for simply lying down. Then, the trainer gradually guided the dog through the
steps, rewarding it each time it moved closer to rolling over. Eventually, the
dog learned the full "roll over" behavior. This is an example of shaping,
where behavior is taught through gradual steps, reinforcing closer
approximations of the desired behavior.
Operant Conditioning in
Practice use Examples
Examples of Operant
Conditioning in Practice:
1-Animal
Training
The
principle of shaping is often employed in animal training to teach animals
specific behaviors. In this process, animals are reinforced for behaviors that
progressively move closer to the desired goal.
For
instance,
during guide dog training, dogs are reinforced for small actions such as
sitting, staying, or following directions, and gradually, these small behaviors
build up to the complex tasks required for guiding people with visual
impairments.
2-Behavior
Modification
Behavior
modification involves using reinforcement (either positive or negative) to
encourage desirable behaviors while withdrawing reinforcement to eliminate
undesirable ones. This technique is commonly used in therapy and educational
settings to help individuals modify their behaviors.
For
example,
a child might be positively reinforced with praise for completing homework on
time, while inappropriate behaviors like interrupting others might be
discouraged by the withdrawal of attention.
3-Token
Economies
A
token economy is a system where individuals are rewarded for appropriate
behaviors with tokens, which can later be exchanged for privileges or rewards.
This method is often used in schools or therapeutic settings to encourage
positive behavior.
For example, in a primary school, children might receive gold stars as tokens for good behavior, and these stars can later be exchanged for rewards like extra computer time, additional playtime, or other privileges, reinforcing the importance of following rules and positive actions.
Classical Conditioning vs Operant Conditioning
The
differences between classical conditioning and operant conditioning are as
follows;
|
Elements |
Classical
Conditioning |
Operant
Conditioning |
|
Role
of learner |
Passive |
Active |
|
Timing
of stimulus and response |
Reinforcement
occurs before the response |
Reinforcement
occurs after the response |
|
Nature
of response |
Automatic; The Involuntary
Response (salivation) depends on a reinforcement (meat powder) being
presented |
Voluntary and Involuntary
Reinforcement (food pellet) depends on response (press lever) being made |
This resource introduces Psychology students to some of the concepts of learning theory. Start by reading Learning Theory, an article by Bob Boakes, McCaughey Professor of Psychology and current Head of the Department of Psychology at the University of Cambridge, UK and at Harvard University, USA (located in the resources section).
His main research interests at present concern nausea-based
conditioning in both rats and in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy, as
well as the history of psychology. His article will help you become
familiar with the terms used by Psychologists when discussing theories of
learning.
Learning by Insight
Learning in humans
appears to be more than a simple stimulus-response process. It involves
cognition or the processing of knowledge.
Learning by insight results in a cognitive change which involves the
recognition of previously unseen relationships. This can occur very quickly and
the solution is not easily forgotten.
The main stages of insight learning are:
- Preparation: This involves
formulating the problem and gaining information about it.
- Incubation: This is when
you leave the problem for a while and consider other things. There is a
pause in the learner's activity where the learner stops trying to complete
the task.
- Illumination: This involves
insight into the problem. It is often referred to as the 'Ah-Ha
experience' as the learner is suddenly able to carry out the task
following the confident recognition of the solution. It is as if the light
bulb is suddenly switched on.
- Verification: This is when
you test and evaluate possible solutions. If solutions do not work, you
may go back to the incubation or preparation stages.
·
Research into Learning by Insight
·
The earliest research on this type of learning involved a
chimpanzee called Sultan. Kohler (1925) locked Sultan in a cage and placed a
banana outside the cage just out of Sultan's reach. Inside the cage were two
hollow bamboo sticks, both too short to reach the banana.
Kohler observed Sultan trying to reach the banana, first with his arm then with
each stick. He observed Sultan becoming more and more frustrated. After a
while, Sultan began playing with the sticks and suddenly realised that they
could be joined together to create one stick, long enough to reach the banana.
Kohler concluded that Sultan had a flash of insight which lead him to the
solution. Therefore, after a temporary period of confusion and frustration, the
chimpanzee was able to recognise the solution and apply it to his problem.
Kohler then referred to this type of learning as insight learning. It is
also referred to as insight thinking.
Sultan fitting two sticks together
·
Learning Set
· 
·
Learning sets refers to the positive transfer of learning that
occurs from one learning situation to another similar learning situation.
As a result of solving previous problems, rules and habits are established
which help when tackling a new problem.
For example, a person learns how to play a particular card game which involves
certain skills and then decides to try to learn a similar game. Once the first
game is learned, the time taken to learn a new similar card game is faster as
the person can transfer skills they already have.
Mohopes
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