The Importance Of Operant Conditioning

Slater describes how Skinner expanded on Pavlov’s findings about classical conditioning, which showed how a reflex could be conditioned to happen in response to a different stimulus (Slater 10). Skinner felt that it wasn’t just reflexes that could be conditioned but other behaviors as well. He studied animal’s behaviors after they were given a reward or consequence. His famous box studies involved him training rats to be rewarded with food in fixed-ratio schedules,

Thereby, Skinner produced experiments whereby rats would navigate through mazes to achieve the goal of a box containing food. His interest was the behaviour of the rat, taking the right turn to achieve the desired result, food. To begin with the rats would take the wrong turn but with experience, they became more skilful. The rats learning behaviour was measured in two ways, firstly the length of time it took from start to end and secondly, the reduction in errors. This was a lengthy experiment which led Skinner to produce ‘the Skinner box’. Whereby, rats learnt to press a lever and pigeons learnt to peck a key in order to attain food, also known as behaviour shaping. This experiment lacks ecological validity as the animals are kept in a controlled environment which is dissimilar to their natural habitat. However, the results which were attained could not have been possible in natural circumstances. Skinner wanted to observe if behaviour could be learned through reaching a desired outcome such as positive reinforcement which needed to be

Classical and operant conditioning are two important concepts central to behavioral psychology. While both result in learning, the processes are quite different. In order to understand how each of these behavior modification techniques can be used, it is also essential to understand how classical conditioning and operant conditioning differ from one another. Both classical and operant learning are psychological processes that lead to learning. Here learning refers to the process by which changes in behavior, including actions, emotions, thoughts, and the responses of muscles and glands,

Background (key works): Reinforcement theory is rooted in theory of operant conditioning based primarily on the work of the American behavior scientist B.F. Skinner (Borkowski, 2011). In contrast to Ivan Pavlov’ respondent conditioning controlled by

B.F. Skinner’s theory of Operant Conditioning has at its foundation a desire to demonstrate a “cause and

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

Operant conditioning has made a significant contribution into the development of psychology. However, as with most psychological theories, this theory it has its strengths and weaknesses. Nevertheless, operant conditioning, with both its positive and negative aspects, is very important in promoting learning of desirable behaviors or removal of undesirable

However, operant behavior, though defined by Skinner as behavior “controlled by its consequences” is in practice little different from what had previously been termed “instrumental learning.” (Staddon & Cerutti, 2003). There are four different techniques that can be executed in operant conditioning, which are positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment, and extinction; nevertheless, positive reinforcement will be the technique used in the research experiment. Positive reinforcement training ( PRT) teaches animals to voluntarily perform desired behaviors, can be applied to improve behavior and reactivity (Gillis, Janes, & Kaufman, 2012). The essential objective for this research experiment is to use operant conditioning technique, positive reinforcement, to train a pre-adult monkey analyze diverse environmental settings and return to the portal as the alarm go

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

Skinner had directed few experiments with mice and pigeons to demonstrate that the behaviours could be altered or moulded through reinforcements; nevertheless there has been an argument of advantages and disadvantages of operant conditioning – some psychologists debated that it is inappropriate to generalize

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.

Operant conditioning plays a large role in our everyday life. Throughout the history of time people has been using this same technique in order to function in every day society. Some people may use this to their advantage and others as a disadvantage. This type of conditioning can be used in a positive or negative way.

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.

Since the beginning of time people have wanted to control others behaviors and this want is still prevalent in the world. One way people can achieve this is through operant conditioning. Experiments that worked with controlling behavior by awarding or removing a reinforcement or punishment were conducted over one hundred years ago (Chance 1999). Unlike some psychological theories that become irrelevant after further research, operant conditioning aspects are still used to influence behavior today. Operant conditioning is not only being used in experiments conducted by psychologists, but also by many businesses. E.L. Thorndyke’s and B.F. Skinner’s experiments shed light on operant conditioning and their research findings are still applicable.

Classical and Operant conditioning are behavioral attributes that will ultimately be demonstrated on behalf of the organism being conditioned. Both conditions can be manipulated and learned. The ultimate goal of these two conditions is to identify how and if the organism being tested has the ability to associate, identify and learn a responsive behavior to various