Module 22: Operant

ConditioningUnit 7: Learning

AP PsychologyMr. Ng

Classical vs. Operant»Classical conditioning involves

respondent behavior (automatic response to stimuli).

»Operant Conditioning: learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher. (B.F. Skinner)

B.F. Skinner »B.F. Skinner (1904 – 1990)»Behaviorist, author, inventor, etc.»Harvard professor.

Thorndike’s Instrumental Conditioning

» E.L. Thorndike experimented with hungry cats.

»He put them in “puzzle boxes” and placed a fish outside.

» To get the fish, the cats stepped on a pedal, which opened the door.

» The cats clawed at the door at first until they accidently stepped on the pedal.

» The time it took the cats to escape gradually fell.

Thorndike’s Puzzle Box

» Instrumental learning: learning in which a behavior becomes more or less probable depending on its consequences.

» Law of Effect: behaviors followed by positive consequences are strengthened while behaviors followed by negative consequences are weakened.

Thorndike’s Instrumental Conditioning

B.F. Skinner» Skinner designed an Operant

Chamber (Skinner Box).» The box had a bar that an animal

presses to release a reward (food).

B.F. Skinner»Other variables were often used:

electric grid, lights, images, sound… as part of the experiment.

»He experimented with pigeons, rats, and other animals.

Operant Conditioning» Shaping: the use of rewards to

guide behavior toward the desired behavior.

» Sometimes we reinforce behavior unintentionally.

Operant Conditioning» Jim hates school, so he acts out. »He gets suspended.»He continues to act out to get out of

going to school.» Jim is reinforced because he doesn’t

have to go to school.» Teachers are reinforced because Jim

isn’t causing them problems.» Suspensions aren’t always the

answer.

Operant Conditioning»Reinforcement: any event that

strengthens a preceding response.» Positive reinforcement: using

positive stimuli to strengthen a response.

»Occurs after a desired response.» Ex. Give candy for correct answer.» Ex. Give money for work done.» Ex. Rub belly of obedient dog.

Operant Conditioning»Negative reinforcement: removing

a negative stimuli to strengthen a response.

» This is NOT punishment.» Ex. Turning off alarm clock.» Ex. Taking aspirin to relieve pain.» Ex. Putting on seat belt to stop

annoying buzzer.

Operant Conditioning» Primary Reinforcers: an innately

(inborn) reinforcing stimulus.» Ex. Food, sleep, oxygen, etc.»Conditioned Reinforcers: learned

reinforcers. » Ex. Money, grades, points, etc.

Operant Conditioning» Token Economy: an operant

training system where tokens are given to positively reinforce desired behavior and can be spent later.

» Ex. Titan Bucks»Used extensively in mental

hospitals and jails.

Operant Conditioning»Continuous Reinforcement:

reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs.

» Ex. If I gave you a Starburst everyday for wearing your ID.

» Learning happens quickly if continuously reinforced.

» Extinction also happens quickly if when reinforcement stops.

Operant Conditioning» Partial (intermittent) reinforcement:

responses are sometimes reinforced and sometimes not.

» Learning is slower, but extinction is also slower.

» Ex. Playing a slot machine.

Operant Conditioning» Fixed-ratio schedule: reinforce

behavior after a set number of responses.

» Ex. Get a piece of candy for every 5 correct answer.

»Variable-ratio schedule: reinforce after an unpredictable number of responses.

» Ex. Slot machines

Operant Conditioning» Fixed-interval schedule: reinforce

the first response after a fixed time period.

» Ex. Checking for mail at same time every day.

»Variable-interval schedule: reinforce the first response after an unpredictable amount of time.

» Ex. Checking for ACT scores online.

Operant Conditioning» Punishment: an event that

decreases the behavior it follows.»Opposite of reinforcement.»Reinforcement increases a

behavior, punishment decreases it.» Ex. Suspension, jail, parking ticket,

etc.

Operant Conditioning»Critics of punishment:˃Behavior is suppressed, not

eliminated. Do it again when safe.˃May breed aggressiveness.˃Creates fear of punisher & behavior.˃Does not guide to correct behavior.

» Punishment along with reinforcement is more effective!

Operant Conditioning»Cognitive Map: a mental

representation of one’s environment.

» Ex. After exploring a maze, rats act as if they have learned a map of it.

» Latent Learning: demonstrate learning only when there is incentive to demonstrate it.

» Ex. Don’t do homework, but pass all tests.

Operant Conditioning» Intrinsic Motivation: a desire to

perform a behavior for its own sake.

» Ex. Getting good grades for yourself, not your parents.

» Extrinsic Motivation: a desire to perform a behavior due to promised rewards or punishment.

» Ex. Money for good grades or spanking for poor grades.

Operant Conditioning» Learned Helplessness: the feeling of

futility and passive resignation that results from the inability to avoid repeated aversive events.»Meaning: you give up and accept the

results because you feel you can’t control it.» Ex. Dog being shocked no matter what

it does and just lays there.» Ex. Not studying for Psych tests

because you accept failing them.

Operant vs. Classical» Similarities:»Both forms of associative learning.»Both include acquisition, extinction,

spontaneous recovery, generalization, and discrimination.

»Differences:»Classical – automatic responses.»Operant – rewards & punishments

to “train” responses.

ObservationalLearning

Unit 7: LearningAP Psychology

Mr. Ng

Observational Learning »Observational Learning: learning by

watching others.» Ex. Copying dance moves.»Modeling: observing and imitating a

specific behavior.» Ex. “I do, you do”, Math examples»We imitate so much in modern

society, we gave it a name: memes.» Fashion, music, foods, technology…

Observational Learning »Albert Bandura: psychologist

responsible for famous “Bobo Doll” experiment.

»Recent survey ranked him 4th most frequently cited psychologist behind Skinner, Freud, and Piaget.

»Considered the greatest living psychologist and one of most influential psychologists of all time.

Observational Learning

»Bobo Doll Experiments»Bandura studied children’s

behavior after watching an adult model aggression (beat up) towards a Bobo doll.

»Results were that children exposed to aggressive models were more likely to act in physically aggressive ways.

Observational Learning »Children observing adult behavior

are influenced to think their behavior is acceptable, good or bad.

»Conclusion: we are especially likely to imitate people we perceive as similar to ourselves, as successful, or as admirable.

»Unfortunately, people copy bad behavior…do you????

Observational Learning » Extending Bandura’s research…» Just like imitating bad behavior, we

imitate good behavior.» Prosocial (positive) models can

have huge effects as well.» Ex. Dr. King, Gandhi, Mandela, etc.»Are you going to be a prosocial

model for your child? What about your peers?

Observational Learning

Bandura and Television»Most children in developed

countries spend more time watching TV than in school.

» In US, 9 in 10 teens watch TV daily.» 2/3 of US homes have 3+ TVs.»Over 1,000,000,000 TVs sets in the

world.» TV reaches almost all people!

Observational Learning » In the real world, 87% of crimes are

nonviolent. »On TV, 13% of crime is nonviolent.» 74% of TV crimes went unpunished» 58% did not show victim’s pain

»Does watching TV violence translate to real world violence?

Observational Learning

Results of studies:»Correlational studies do link

viewing violence with violent behavior.

»Kids: More hours of TV violence = more fights.

»Homicide rates doubled with the introduction of TV in US, Canada, and South Africa.

Observational Learning »APA says no doubt it that watching

violence on TV leads to acceptance of violent behaviors.

»Violence stems from imitation (Bandura experiment) of acts seen on TV.

» Prolonged exposure to violence desensitizes viewers to real life violence and it becomes more accepted.