AP PSYCHOLOGY UNIT VI

Part Two: Operant Conditioning:

Reward and Punishment

Operant Conditioning

We learn to associate a response

and its consequence (what comes after)

Classical vs. Operant Conditioning

Classical Conditioning Operant ConditioningBehavior is determined by what PRECEDES it.

Behavior is determined by anticipation of what

FOLLOWS it.

Involuntary Voluntary

Dog salivates after a tone.

Dog sits in anticipation of getting a treat.

Operant vs Classical Conditioning

SOUTH TEACH: Explain (3) differences between

Classical Conditioning and Operant Conditioning

30 seconds…

Operant Conditioning

Operant Conditioningtype of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by reinforcement or diminished if followed by punishment

Law of EffectThorndike’s principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely

Operant Conditioning

B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)elaborated Thorndike’s Law of Effect

developed behavioral technology

Skinner box

Operant Chamber

Skinner Boxchamber with a bar or key that an animal manipulates to obtain a food or water reinforcer

contains devices to record responses

SKINNER BOX

• BF Skinner – “radical behavioralist”• Wanted to demonstrate that uniquely human

behaviors were the product of conditioning.• Starved 8 pigeons. Then rewarded them with

food every 15 s, no matter what they did.

http://youtu.be/I_ctJqjlrHA

• Results:• 6 of 8 bird developed superstitions

• Turning counter-clockwise in a circle• Thrusting head toward a specific corner of cage• “tossing” an imaginary ball with its head• Head bobbing with accompanying steps (2 birds)• “fake” pecking

Operant ConditioningReinforcer

any event that strengthens the behavior it follows

Shapingoperant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer approximations of a desired goal

http://youtu.be/BVbGSVhKGwA

REINFORCEMENT

Principles of Reinforcement We are rewarded (reinforced) by something we need or something we want related to what we need

1. Primary Reinforcer innately reinforcing stimulus i.e., satisfies a biological need

2. Conditioned/ Secondary Reinforcer stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association

with primary reinforcer

With your partners or trio, create examples of:1) Primary reinforcer2) Secondary reinforcer And relate each to a behavior

Schedules of Reinforcement

Continuous Reinforcementreinforcing the desired response every time it occurs

Partial (Intermittent) Reinforcement reinforcing a response only part of the timeresults in slower acquisitiongreater resistance to extinction **gambling**

How often should we reward behaviors? The frequency of reinforcement are called the schedules.

Reinforcement Schedules

• Fixed ratio – set number ($1 every 3 hands)

• Variable Ratio – unpredictable number of responses ($1/? of times)

• Fixed interval – set amount of time ($1/per hour of play)

• Variable interval – unpredictable amount of time ($1/ ? amount of time)

Schedules of Reinforcement

Fixed Ratio (FR) reinforces a response only after a specified number of

responses faster you respond the more rewards you get different ratios very high rate of responding like piecework pay

With your table, come up with one school-based example.

Schedules of Reinforcement

Variable Ratio (VR)reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses

average ratios like gambling, fishingvery hard to extinguish because of unpredictability

With your table, come up with one school-based example.

Schedules of Reinforcement

Fixed Interval (FI)reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed

response occurs more frequently as the anticipated time for reward draws near

With your table, come up with one school-based example.

Schedules of Reinforcement

Variable Interval (VI)reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals

produces slow steady respondingLike random employee bonuses

With your table, come up with one school-based example.

REINFORCEMENT: INCREASES BEHAVIOR

PUNISHMENT: DECREASES BEHAVIOR

OPERANT CONDITIONING

With your partners or trio, create an examples of a school-related reinforcer and school-related

punishment and connect them to behaviors

Punishment

Punishmentaversive event that decreases the behavior that it follows

powerful controller of unwanted behavior

With your table, share three examples of punishment that a boyfriend or girlfriend might use to decrease unwanted behavior in his/her partner

Choose one example shared by another table and identify whether it was positive or negative punishment

Problems with Punishment

• it models aggression as a way to solve problems

• breeds anger in the recipient

• doesn’t provide an alternative behavior. Therefore, the behavior only goes away when the punisher is around.

AP PSYCHOLOGY UNIT VI

Learning: Part III-

Observational Learning

(and other learning that can exist

without reward or punishment…)

Observational Learning

Observational Learning learning by observing others

Modeling process of observing and imitating a specific behavior

• Albert Bandura – Bobo doll experiment

• http://youtu.be/8ZXOp5PopIA

Three different groups of children watched different endings

Modeling

• Prosocial Behavior– positive and constructive behavior

• Antisocial Behavior– negative, unproductive or destructive behavior

With your table, come up with an example of each that has been modeled for you this week

Observational Learning

Mirror Neuronsfrontal lobe neurons that fire when performing certain actions or when observing another doing so

may enable imitation, language learning, and empathy

Cognition and Operant Conditioning

Cognitive Mapmental representation of the layout of one’s environment

*after exploring a maze, rats act as if they have learned a cognitive map of it• When/how might this be useful?

Latent Learning learning that occurs, but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it

* Example?

Cognition and Operant Conditioning

Overjustification Effectthe effect of promising a reward for doing what one already likes to dothe person may now see the reward, rather than intrinsic interest, as the motivation for performing the task

Where might we see this happen in the workplace?

Cognition and Operant Conditioning

Intrinsic MotivationDesire to perform a behavior for its own sake and to be effective

Extrinsic MotivationDesire to perform a behavior due to promised rewards or threats of punishments

Critique of Behavioralism

• Deemphasizes the role of internal thoughts and feelings in behavior; Presents humans as lacking free will

• Ignores biological predispositions:

Experiments with humans and animals both indicate that biological predispositions influence conditioning.a. Animal trainingb. Human societies built on behavioralist principles.