Explain How Operant Conditioning In Animal Training

Operant conditioning is a theory put forward by Thorndike. This theory waits for a desired behaviour to occur and then rewards it. It builds somewhat on the work done by Watson regarding trial and error learning. Perhaps the most prominent or influential behaviourist work is that done by Skinner. Skinner adopted an operant approach to behaviourism and famously conducted experiment using rats in specially designed boxes. Skinner’s ideas revolved around the presence of a reinforcer to cause a desired behaviour to be repeated. This could be in the form of a primary reinforcer (a basic need like food) or a secondary reinforcer (such as money or praise). In the case of his rats, Skinner effectively trained them to pull certain levers to release food. Initially, the release was accidental but after a while, the rats learned to associate the arrival of food with the pressing of a lever. Skinners work revolved heavily around the need for reinforcement, reward, punishment and feedback. The scheduling and delivery of these things was also important to Skinner who suggested the timing of something like a reward was paramount to its success at brining about long term changes in behaviour. Similarly, he suggested giving punishment should occur immediately after the event in question and in a consistent manner. Also, it was skinner who introduced the concept of successive approximations – small

1. Operant conditioning is a type of behavioral learning developed by made famous by psychoanalysis B.F. Skinner in the late 1930’s. Operant conditioning is the act of learned behavior through consequences. Types of operant conditioning are positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, and negative punishment.

Operant conditioning is a theory that was pioneered by Skinner, and it is a theory that is based on the type of consequence that is given following a particular behaviour. Skinner divided the consequences of actions into three groups, positive rein forcers, negative reinforcers and punishers. Skinner looked at what would happen to behaviour if giving positive reinforcers at different intervals. Most professionals and practitioners will use this theory in one way or another such as giving rewards for good behaviour or sanctions for bad behaviour so the theory is well used in today’s frameworks and practices.

Operant conditioning according to Walker et al (2007) pg 86 refers to learning that involves changes in voluntary responses those over which we normally have conscious control. Operant conditioning was developed largely by B.F. Skinner (1974,1989). According to Bastable (2003) pg 57 chap 3 operant conditioning focuses on the behaviour of the organism and reinforcement that occurs after the response. A reinforcer is a stimulus or event applied after a response that strengthens the probability that the response will be performed again. Skinner (1974) suggested that giving positive reinforcement i.e. (reward) greatly enhances behaviour and the likelihood that a response will be repeated in a similar circumstance. A second way to increase behaviour is by applying

Operant conditioning (sometimes referred to as instrumental conditioning) is a method of learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for behavior. Through operant conditioning, an association is made between a behavior and a consequence for that behavior.

Learning can happen in numerous ways, but all fall under the category of being either classical conditioning or operant conditioning when we are dealing with Psychology terms. These two habituation methods are very comparable in nature, but do possess very specific distinctions in their differences. The major difference between classical and operant conditioning is the type of behaviors being conditioned. Classical is focused more on reflex and automatic actions whereas operant deals more with voluntary actions. Classical and operant conditioning are also different in the way they are taught. Classical conditioning involves introducing the subject to a neutral signal before reaction. Classical conditioning has four basic principles

Operant conditioning is a type of learning which occurs through either receiving reinforcement or punishment for a behavior. This type of learning creates an association between a behavior and consequence for that behavior. The four types of operant conditioning are positive reinforcement, positive punishment, negative reinforcement, and negative punishment. If operant conditioning was used properly it could be used to solve a variety of social and resource dilemmas; especially in the case of the cattle ranchers and overgrazing.

Skinner and his colleagues (Gass & Larry, 2008), learning or a change of behaviour on the part of the learner, is brought about by a process known as 'operant conditioning' which is the result of repeated training. Operant means 'voluntary behaviour' which is the result of learner's own free-will and is not forced by any outsider or thing (Ortega, 2009). The learner will demonstrate the new behaviour first as a response to a system of a reward or punishment, and finally it will become an automatic response.

Leon Festinger created the cognitive dissonance theory as an attempt to explain why people desire to have consistency between their behaviors and actions. Cognitive dissonance is the distressing mental state people feel when they find themselves doing things that don’t fit with what they know, or having opinions that do not fit with other opinions they hold (Festinger, 1957; as cited in Griffin, 2009). Thus, people are motivated to change either their behavior or their belief when feelings of dissonance arise.

Operant conditioning focuses on a system of reinforcement and punishers where actions will have a consequence (Skinner, 2016). In operant conditioning, behaviour that is reinforced will be strengthened while behaviour that is not reinforced will weaken with time (Skinner, 2016). There are three types of operants. The neutral operants that will neither increase nor decrease the chances of repeating a behaviour (Skinner, 2016). The reinforcers will increase the chances of repeating a behaviour (Skinner, 2016). The punishers will decrease the chances of repeating a behaviour (Skinner, 2016). Positive reinforcement strengthens a behaviour as an individual gains rewards through it (Skinner, 2016). Negative reinforcement strengthens the behaviour by removing an unpleasant consequence

Operant Conditioning Theory by B.F. Skinner is a psychological manipulation using rewards and punishments to enforce positive behavior. It uses an individual person’s response to events or stimulus. When a particular Stimulus-Response pattern is rewarded, the individual is conditioned to respond. The distinctive characteristic of operant conditioning is related to previous forms of behaviorism. The Operant Conditioning theory comprises of neutral operants, positive/negative reinforcers, and positive/negative punishers. Through these factors, we get the desired behavior of our subject because they do not want to be punished for under performing so they do what they’re told to or do more of what they were assigned to to receive positive stimulus

Operant conditioning, is defined as an organism developing a link between its behaviors and consequences that follow those behaviors. The goal of operant conditioning is to develop a desired behavior in response to a given stimulus. When teaching a dog to roll over, the trainer wants the dog to rollover in response to his command. In this way the dog rolling onto its back is the

Skinner’s reinforcement experiments conducted on rats showed the principles of operant conditioning. While working with rats, Skinner would place them in a Skinner box with a lever attached to a feeding tube. After multiple trials, rats learned the connection between the lever and food, and started to spend more time in the box procuring food than performing any other action. He used positive reinforcement, and negative reinforcement to produce or inhibit specific target behaviors. Therefore, if a specific behavior is reinforced then the probability of that behavior occurring again is increased. Based on Skinner’s view, this theory can be applied to learning because learning is nothing more than a change in behavior. Operant conditioning encourages positive reinforcement, which can be applied in the classroom environment to get the good behavior you want and need from students. One of the ways of reinforcing a student’s behavior is through praise. Also teachers can build operant conditioning techniques into their lesson plans to teach children possible skills as well as good behaviors. For example: to give a smiley face, or motivational stamps to encourage children to perform correctly and encourage them to repeat such action again.

Operant conditioning developed by Skinner is one of the learning methods according to which the likelihood of behavior is increased or decreased by the use of reinforcement or punishment. In case of positive reinforcement a certain behavior becomes stronger by the effect of experiencing some positive condition. In case of negative reinforcement a certain behavior becomes stronger by the outcome of stopping or staying away from some negative condition. In case of extinction a certain behavior is becomes weaker by the outcome of avoiding to experiencing some positive condition or stopping some negative condition.

And example of operant conditioning is the training of rats to press a lever in order to obtain a food reward. The pressing of the lever (conditioned response) is associated with the food reward (unconditioned stimulus). After a training period, the rat will show the conditioned response of pressing the lever even without the presence of the unconditioned stimulus of the food.