Learning Behavior
Psychologists have preformed many studies and proposed many theories regarding learning. Learning can be defined as a relatively permanent change in behavior that is due to past experience. John B. Watson was an early psychologist that didn't agree with many other psychologist's ideas about learning only relating to consciousness and thought processes. As the founder of behaviorism, Watson studied learning in a behavioral perspective, an approach that emphasizes the relationship between outwardly observable behaviors and environmental events, rather than mental processes. Classical conditioning is a process of learning associations between stimuli used by Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist. In
…show more content…
Skinner believed that classical conditioning was limited to behaviors that are reflexively elicited. An operant describes behaviors that are "operate upon the environment to generate consequences." Reinforcement follows an operant and increases the likelihood of the operant being repeated. There are two forms of reinforcement: positive and negative reinforcement. When an event occurs producing a positive effect, it is considered positive reinforcement. Negative reinforcement involves the removal of a stimulus increasing the likelihood of a positive effect. An example of this would be to take two aspirins to remove the pain from a headache. Punishment is a process that decreases the likelihood of a behavior to occur again. This is not to be confused with negative reinforcement because it doesn't increase the likelihood of an occurrence. There are drawbacks to punishment. It doesn't teach an appropriate behavior to replace an inappropriate one. Also, intense punishment can lead to results such as passivity, fear, anxiety, or hostility. Finally, effects of punishment are sometimes temporary. An alternative to punishment is trying to change the behavior of others. First, stop reinforcing the problem behavior by identifying the reinforcer and eliminating it. When it is not possible to eliminate the reinforcement, remove the opportunity to obtain positive reinforcement. An example of this would be time-out for a child because he or she is no longer
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.
A fundamental tenet of Skinner's radical behaviorism is that the probability of a behavior is related directly to the nature of the environmental consequences that follow performance of that behavior. From this basic tenet he derived a set of procedures for modifying behavior by a method called operant conditioning. Specifically, behavior is strengthened, or increased in frequency, when followed by either a positive consequence (positive reinforcement) or removal of a negative consequence (negative reinforcement). Behavior is weakened, or decreased
Extinction is removing something in order to decrease a behavior. Restriction is the most obvious form of extinction. Punishment is “adding something aversive in order to decrease a behavior”. (CITATION) Most have experienced punishment either as a receiver or a giver. Corporal punishment is considered to be a form of punishment. As a result of a certain behavior, a spanking is added to the situation in order to decrease that behavior. It is thought that black families are known for using corporal punishment in excess. Besides the fact that by the time they reach the age of 13 spankings become redundant, this does not seem to be the answer. “Punishment can also invoke other negative responses such as anger and resentment.” (CITATION)So this tells us that solely using one of the four approaches to learning is not the answer to this particular issue. Perhaps a more enhanced prevention of criminal behavior should be put in place. Rather than just using a punishment or extinction mechanism such as incarceration, the utilization of some sort of positive reinforcement in conjunction, or in some cases in replacement of the lone punishment and extinction, will decrease the cycle of African-American males ending up in the prison system.
With discipline is all about reinforcing positive behaviors. One example can be to give out praises when a positive social behavior has been shown and encourage to continue the behavior. As the previous example that I used, if the parents had explained that it is not appropriate to hit or throw things at people. Then the child would have learned that what he did was wrong and would likely learn not to do it again if he is given an acceptable consequence to his behavior. When disciplining a child they must receive a consequence that is appropriate for his or her age.
Classical conditioning was a theory developed by a Russian psychologist called Ivan Pavlov. He was working with dogs to investigate their
Punishment is a form of reprimand that is meant to suppress or decrease a behavior by adding a consequence or removing the stimulus.
Classical conditioning refers to the learning through association. It involves learning a new behavior through the process of association
The usage of punishment is more suitable in a case of modifying behavior excess, in comparison to modifying a behavior deficit. Punishment can be applicable in the treatment of behavior excess because punishment decreases unwanted behaviors. When a behavior occurs in excess, punishment creates an aversive stimulus, thus discouraging the behavior.. In contrast to treating a behavior deficit, where punishment would not be a wise treatment plan. If a person is punished for not reforming a behavior enough, the behavior is less likely to persists once the behavior plan stops. Through the usage of punishment, the person will not develop intrinsic motivation, nor will the punishment become a naturally occurring within the clients environment. Punishment
Punishment is a penalty inflicted for a given behavior. Punishment can include a whole list of things such as: spanking, grounding, sending to room, removal of privileges, time out, etc. However this paper is going to focus on one punishment, and that is spanking. To
An example of positive reinforcement is in Skinner’s Box experiment. A rat received food as a reward for his behavior of pressing a lever. In this experiment, they keep the rat in a box, which is different from its random experiment, and in order for the rat to eat, he had
For example, let’s say that you are having some issues with your puppy’s behavior. Every time you let him outside in the yard, he digs holes underneath the fence and escapes. Your goal is to keep him in your yard and teach him to quit digging holes. He is just a few weeks old so you are hoping you can quit his bad behavior before it becomes a permanent habit. You start off using negative punishment by tying him up to a leash outside every time he gets out of the fence. This is negative punishment because you are looking to decrease his behavior by taking away his freedom of roaming around and being loose in the yard. You then use positive reinforcement by giving him a treat every time he stays inside the fence and does not dig any holes. You are using positive reinforcement because you are adding a stimulus, the treat, hoping he will increase his good behavior. To be more specific this is a primary reinforcer, which is a reinforcer that is innately satisfying and it does not take any learning to make it pleasurable (King, 2014). Common primary reinforcers include food and water (King,
The reason "reinforcement" is used over "punishment" because "reinforcement" is the process by which a stimulus increases the probability that a positive behavior/outcome will occur instead of "punishment" which is a stimulus that deceases the probably of negative behavior/outcomes but it also does not guarantee that a positive behavior/outcome will occur . For example, a Teacher can give out candy to students who perform well on a test which is a positive reinforcement because if you reward the students for doing good on a test it will result in students repeating that behavior/outcome and might even encourage other students to do well on a
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. There are four different types of operant conditioning
Operant conditioning is a behavior teaching technique where a person is exposed to a stimulus, followed by some type of response (Commons & Giri, 2016). The response is then met by some type of consequence, either reinforcement or punishment (Commons & Giri, 2016). Reinforcement is when the response of the person rewarded, increasing the chances that the behavior will occur again. While punishment is when the response of the person results in them being punished, decreasing the chances the behavior occurs again. Within the two types of operant conditioning, there are both positive and negative aspects of both. Positive reinforcement is rewarding a behavior by adding something to the environment, i.e. candy, hug, compliment, etc. Negative reinforcement is rewarding a behavior by taking something away like pain. Positive punishment is adding something to the environment to discourage a behavior like spanking or a fine and negative punishment is taking something away to get the same effect
What is the purpose of punishment? We take our lead from one mayor source, our parents—and they no waver took their guidance from their own parents. When your junior lass emulates what he orderly decree in a Rambo movie, you give him a stern lecture about what is real and what is not, what is acceptable in genuine life and what is not. When your bairn strive some rickety acrobatic move off a part of coverlet and hurts himself, you might spank him to be sure that he remembers never to do it again.