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The important concepts of operant conditioning
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Basic Principles of Operant Conditioning
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Pavanya Mantena Intro to Psychology Paper Operant conditioning is a type of learning in that an act is strengthened when followed by an incentive, whereas a behavior will be enfeeble when followed by a punishment. Operant conditioning is based on a simple theory that behavior is directly correlated by the consequences that follow it. Operant conditioning is broken into two parts of schedules of reinforcement: continuous and partial. Continuous schedules of reinforcement mean that every time a behavior is presented there is some kind of reinforcement that follows it. On the other hand, partial schedules of reinforcement occasionally provide some form of reinforcement …show more content…
When repeating this action several times it helps humans to stay engaged in the cycle of the new behavior because they receive motivation and feedback continuously. My personal experiences have amplified the credibility of operant conditioning because throughout the experiment, I have personally seen the evolution of the student. The change wasn’t obvious in the beginning, but surely after a couple of times they change gradually took place. This is a reflection of empirical theory, which is a theory defined as knowledge derived from surrounding environment and experience, according to webster 's dictionary, because the student is learning from experience that if he learns to distribute his time he will be able to sleep more the night before and still be able to get 90 or above on the tests. Likewise operant condition is also heightened by behaviorism, the study of observable and quantifiable aspects of behavior according to the dictionary, because it showcases how people constantly keep learning and modifying existing behaviors to better themselves. Furthermore giving him/her an encouragement to start the process will only amplify the quickness of his the wanted results. Overall the hypothesis for my experiment is that if I give my …show more content…
When the recipient acknowledges that they will be reviewing a reinforcement after a certain behavior they are very likely to increase the behavior due to the incentive. Furthermore looking at particular study habits, distributed studying is very potent and vital because it allows students to organize their study time over a week 's period without cramming all of the material the night before. Distributed studying also is very powerful in aiding the long term memory because it helps rehearse the information more than 2-3 times and understanding small portions of data throughout the week is a lot more efficient than memorizing a huge chunk of info the night before and expecting to fully memorize the whole thing for the exam. Not only is distributed study imperative with retaining a subject material but also sleep is a very crucial component of learning. According to med.harvard.edu it has been suggested that the quantity and the quality of sleep have a profound impact on learning and memory. First of all it is shown that when a person is sleep deprived it will very hard for them to concentrate and retain information at a higher rate. Secondly sleep itself has been shown to have a direct correlation with memory which is an essential key to learning new material. Therefore,
The two main forms of conditioning, are classical conditioning (learning by association), and operant condition (learning from consequences).Classical conditioning, is the learning process in which one is conditioned (learns) to respond to a neutral stimulus as if it were a meaningful stimulus. In operant conditioning, learning occurs through associations made between a behavior and the consequence that follows.
“Operant conditioning is a method of learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for behavior. Through operant conditioning, an association is made between a behavior and a consequence for that behavior” (Cherry). Positive reinforcement which is praising a person for doing something good verses negative reinforcement which is an unpleasant remark a punishment. B.F. Skinner did an experiment on a rat, the rat was taught to push two buttons, one to receive food and the other was a light electric shock. The rat tried both buttons and realized which button was good and which one was bad. This experiment goes to show that upon the rewards and punishment system one can learn their rights from their wrongs through a series of lessons. Kincaid and Hemingway both use operant conditioning to show human behavior under stimulus control.
Since the arrival of our twins undesirable behavior has manifested in one of our 11 yr. old. While initially very conscienscious in helping attend to the infants & her ordinary duties, she has become accustomed to playing with them mostly now. This play in itself is great, except they no longer get the changing & feeding expected. Furthermore she uses them as an excuse now to put off doing the minimal domestic maintenance formerly performed. She is generally unresponsive to negative reinforcement options. Past experience shows she responds best to tactile & humanistic behaviorist techniques, backed up by specific instruction from our sacred texts observed in our household.
This video demonstrates one of the two types of associative learning: Operant (Instrumental) Conditioning. This is a method of learning that occurs through the association made between a behavior and a consequence for that behavior. The subject can either be rewarded or punished for its behavior. The subject is more prone to repeat the actions that are followed by desirable outcomes than the ones with undesirable ones.
The first systematic study regarding operant conditioning was taken place in the 1800’s by the Psychologist, Thorndike. Thorndike formally defined operant conditioning as a type of learning that is controlled by the consequences of an organism’s behavior. However according to lecture, operant conditioning can be simply thought as performing an action in order to receive a reward. Operant conditioning can be useful when trying to deal with procrastination, increase efficacy of teaching, or to improve motivation. Therefore, operant conditioning can be used as a behavioral modification program to devise a more specific weight loss program to increase the roommate’s chances of making it on the football team. The program will include the following
Operant conditioning is a kind of conditioning, which examines how often a behavior will or occur depending on the effects of the behavior (King, 2016, pg. ). The words positive and negative are used to apply more significance to the words reinforcement or punishment. Positive is adding to the stimulus, while negative is removing from the stimulus (King, 2016). For instance, with positive reinforcement, there is the addition of a factor to increase the number of times that the behavior occurs (King, 2016). An example of positive reinforcement is when a child is given an allowance for completing their household chores. The positive reinforcement is the allowance which helps to increase the behavior of doing chores at home. In contrast with negative
Learning is quite an influential aspect of every organism’s lifetime. We learn through experience, which over time allows for a certain amount of change in our behaviour. The process of learning influences and alters the way we act, interpret, and perceive, and may effectively adjust our views on numerous subjects. If we are trained or become accustomed into acting a certain way, our behaviour may alter to allow for this new change in perception. The field of psychology is full of previous and recent studies which revolve around conditioning a subject. This method of conditioning is a learning process through which an organism relates a stimulus to another simultaneously occurring event. This process has been used for a very large number of studies with different topics and objectives, one of these topics being alcohol and drinking behaviour. The two following studies incorporate and test different conditioning techniques related to altering attitudes toward drinking behaviour. The objective of both studies is to determine whether alcoholism and drinking behaviour can be influenced either positively or negatively through conditional learning.
Most of the things we daily perform are due to habits. Experts in psychology have suggested several theories to explain the process in which humans and animals shape such habits. Among those theories are classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning. As humans it is almost inevitable to fall into bad habits, either consciously or unconsciously. Fortunately science has demonstrated that we can change or modifying unwanted behaviors through conditioning, (Whitbourne, 2012). Operational conditioning underlines how a behavior is strengthened or weakened by the use of rewards or punishments; shaping, modeling, and extinction are some of the techniques utilized to achieve these behavioral alterations, (Cherry, n.d.). Key points to consider for effective behavior modification are: clear identification of behavior to change, the use self-control, and punishments or reinforcements, (Cherry, n.d.; Selig, 2012). This paper shows how operant conditioning has been effective modifying behaviors either by rewards, extinction, or shaping.
Out of the several behaviors that are performed daily, there are some that become bad habits and are hard to break. There are various behavior modification techniques, or treatment approaches based on the principles of operant conditioning, that can be used to eliminate these problems. Operant conditioning is controlling and manipulating one's behavior through reinforcement and punishment to help one understand their behavior, and to try and correct it. Not only can some of these behaviors be frustrating, they can also be unhealthy, and finding an approach to break the habit is needed.
Applying Operant Conditioning to Human Behaviour Operant conditioning is when a way of learning by consequence. To put it basic, an action which is rewarded is more likely to be repeated, along with an action that is punished is less likely to be repeated. To apply this to an example of human behaviour, young children may have shaped behaviour due to operant conditioning; where desireable behaviour is rewarded (e.g. by giving a toy) the behaviour is being positively reinforced and is likely to occur. If a young child behaves in an undesirable way, then they may be punished (e.g. a toy being taken away from them) therefore this behaviour is negatively reinforced and is less likely to reoccur. A dentist tried to soothe the fears of his young patients by showing them cartoons whilst drilling their teeth.
Operant conditioning was found by B. F Skinner who believed in changing behaviour with the use of positive and negative reinforcement (McLeod, 2007). This conditioning was founded by Skinner after he wanted to discover the behaviour pattern of animals with the use of ‘Skinner boxes’ which would dish out food and electric shocks to which he believed it could be applied to human behaviour (NIU, 2014). This conditioning can be related to the rewarding
Operant conditioning is a way of learning in which behaviors are modified with consequences. B.F. Skinner, a psychologist known as the father of operant conditioning theorized that when observable behaviors are shadowed with a reinforcement the behavior is more likely to occur as where if the behavior is shadowed with a punishment the behavior will less likely occur. ("Basic Principles of Operant Conditioning: Skinner - Boundless Open Textbook", 2016) “Behavior which is reinforced tends to be repeated (i.e. strengthened); behavior which is not reinforced tends to die out-or be extinguished (i.e. weakened).” (Mcleod, 2015).
- Operant conditioning is the form of learning associated with changes in an individuals behavior due to consequences of the behavior.
Operant conditioning is a process in which behavior is modified by its consequences (Powell, Honey, & Symbaluk, 2013). In operant conditioning, learning is produced through rewards and punishments. Reoccurrence of a behavior is determined if rewards or punishments follow the behavior. There are four consequences produced by operant conditioning: positive and negative reinforcement; positive and negative punishment. A reinforcement is classified as something that increases behavior; A punishment is classified as something that decreases behavior. The addition of a stimulus is what makes a consequence positive and on the other hand, the removal of a stimulus is what makes a consequence negative (Powell et al., 2013).
Operant conditioning is a system of learning that transpires through punishment and rewards for behaviors (Kalat, 2011). Through this, a connection linking a behavior and a consequence is made. For instance a kid could be told that she will not get recess privileges if she talks in class. This possibility of being punished leads to decrease in disruptive behaviors from her. The major components of operant condition are punishment and reinforcement (Kalat, 2011).