Operant & Classical Conditioning PDF

Operant & Classical Conditioning Classical conditioning involves respondent behavior that occurs as an automatic response to a certain stimulus. Operant conditioning involves operant behavior, a behavior that operates on the environment, producing rewarding or punishing stimuli....

Operant & Classical Conditioning Classical conditioning involves respondent behavior that occurs as an automatic response to a certain stimulus. Operant conditioning involves operant behavior, a behavior that operates on the environment, producing rewarding or punishing stimuli. 1 Law of Effect If a response is followed by a pleasurable consequence, it will tend to be repeated. If a response is followed by an unpleasant consequence, it will tend not to be repeated. 2 Thorndike’s puzzle box 3 Skinner’s Experiments Skinner’s experiments extend Thorndike’s thinking, especially his law of effect. This law states that rewarded behavior is likely to occur again. Yale University Library 4 Operant Chamber Using Thorndike's law of effect as a starting point, Skinner developed the Operant chamber, or the Skinner box, to Edition by Michael P. Domjan, 2005. Used with permission study operant conditioning. From The Essentials of Conditioning and Learning, 3rd by Thomson Learning, Wadsworth Division Walter Dawn/ Photo Researchers, Inc. 5 Operant Chamber The operant chamber, or Skinner box, comes with a bar or key that an animal manipulates to obtain a reinforcer like food or water. The bar or key is connected to devices that record the animal’s response. 6  Shaping Shaping is the operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior towards the desired target behavior through successive approximations. Khamis Ramadhan/ Panapress/ Getty Images Fred Bavendam/ Peter Arnold, Inc. A rat shaped to sniff mines. A manatee shaped to discriminate objects of different shapes, colors and sizes. 7 Types of Reinforcers Reinforcement: Any event that strengthens the behavior it follows. A heat lamp positively reinforces a meerkat’s behavior in the cold. Reuters/ Corbis 8 Primary & Secondary Reinforcers 1. Primary Reinforcer: An innately reinforcing stimulus like food or drink. 2. Conditioned Reinforcer: A learned reinforcer that gets its reinforcing power through association with the primary reinforcer. 9 Immediate & Delayed Reinforcers 1. Immediate Reinforcer: A reinforcer that occurs instantly after a behavior. A rat gets a food pellet for a bar press. 2. Delayed Reinforcer: A reinforcer that is delayed in time for a certain behavior. A paycheck that comes at the end of a week. We may be inclined to engage in small immediate reinforcers (watching TV) rather than large delayed reinforcers (getting an A in a course) which require consistent study. 10 Reinforcement Schedules 1. Continuous Reinforcement: Reinforces the desired response each time it occurs. 2. Partial Reinforcement: Reinforces a response only part of the time. Though this results in slower acquisition in the beginning, it shows greater resistance to extinction later on. 11 Ratio Schedules 1. Fixed-ratio schedule: Reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses. e.g., piecework pay. 2. Variable-ratio schedule: Reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses. This is hard to extinguish because of the unpredictability. (e.g., behaviors like gambling, fishing.) 12 Interval Schedules 1. Fixed-interval schedule: Reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed. (e.g., preparing for an exam only when the exam draws close.) 2. Variable-interval schedule: Reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals, which produces slow, steady responses. 13 Schedules of Reinforcement 14 Punishment An aversive event that decreases the behavior it follows. 15 Punishment Although there may be some justification for occasional punishment (Larzelaere & Baumrind, 2002), it usually leads to negative effects. 1. Results in unwanted fears. 2. Conveys no information to the organism. 3. Justifies pain to others. 4. Causes unwanted behaviors to reappear in its absence. 5. Causes aggression towards the agent. 6. Causes one unwanted behavior to appear in place of another. 16 Extending Skinner’s Understanding Skinner believed in inner thought processes and biological underpinnings, but many psychologists criticize him for discounting them. 17 Cognition & Operant Conditioning Evidence of cognitive processes during operant learning comes from rats during a maze exploration in which they navigate the maze without an obvious reward. Rats seem to develop cognitive maps, or mental representations, of the layout of the maze (environment). 18 Latent Learning Such cognitive maps are based on latent learning, which becomes apparent only when an incentive is given (Tolman & Honzik, 1930). 19 Latent Learning Learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it. 20  Intrinsic Motivation Intrinsic Motivation: The desire to perform a behavior for its own sake. Extrinsic Motivation: The desire to perform a behavior due to promised rewards or threats of punishments. 21  Biological Predisposition Biological constraints predispose organisms to learn associations that are naturally adaptive. Breland and Breland (1961) showed that Photo: Bob Bailey animals drift towards their biologically predisposed instinctive Marian Breland Bailey behaviors. 22 Skinner’s Legacy Skinner argued that behaviors were shaped by external influences instead of inner thoughts and feelings. Critics argued that Skinner dehumanized people by neglecting their free will..Falk/ Photo Researchers, Inc 23 Applications of Operant Conditioning Skinner introduced the concept of teaching machines that shape learning in small steps and provide reinforcements for correct rewards. In School LWA-JDL/ Corbis 24 Applications of Operant Conditioning Reinforcers affect productivity. Many companies now allow employees to share profits and participate in company ownership. At work 25 Applications of Operant Conditioning At Home In children, reinforcing good behavior increases the occurrence of these behaviors. Ignoring unwanted behavior decreases their occurrence. 26 Operant vs. Classical Conditioning 27  Learning by Observation Higher animals, especially humans, © Herb Terrace learn through observing and imitating others. The monkey on the ©Herb Terrace right imitates the monkey on the left in touching the pictures in a certain order to 28 29  Mirror Neurons active during observational learning. the brains of animals and humans that are Neuroscientists discovered mirror neurons in 30 Reprinted with permission from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Subiaul et al., Science 305: 407-410 (2004) © 2004 AAAS.  apart. Learning by month-old child TV in pulling a toy observation begins early in life. This 14- imitates the adult on Imitation Onset 31 Meltzoff, A.N. (1998). Imitation of televised models by infants. Child Development, 59 1221-1229. Photos Courtesy of A.N. Meltzoff and M. Hanuk. Bandura's Experiments Bandura's Bobo doll study (1961) indicated that individuals (children) learn through Courtesy of Albert Bandura, Stanford University imitating others who receive rewards and punishments. 32 33  Applications of Observational Learning Unfortunately, Bandura’s studies show that antisocial models (family, neighborhood or TV) may have antisocial effects. 34 Positive Observational Learning Fortunately, prosocial (positive, helpful) models may have prosocial effects. Bob Daemmrich/ The Image Works 35 Television and Observational Learning Gentile et al., (2004) shows that children in elementary school who are exposed to violent television, videos, and video games express Ron Chapple/ Taxi/ Getty Images increased aggression. 36 Modeling Violence Research shows that viewing media violence leads to an increased expression of aggression. Bob Daemmrich/ The Image Works Glassman/ The Image Works Children modeling after pro wrestlers 37