Abstract The purpose of this paper is to explore the examined effects of the subjects' behavior change as a function of a schedule. Rat participants were placed in an operant chamber for sessions of habituation, magazine training, and shaping on a fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement. These rats did not have any previous exposure to the operant conditioning chamber, or any training. These rats were to press a lever for reinforcement on a fixed ratio schedule of four presses by the end of the experiment. The data showed that there was a significant difference in the means. The main effect of fixed ratio reinforcement schedules in conjunction with the means suggests that behavior does in fact change as a function of schedule demands. The rate of lever presses increased as the ratio of fixed lever presses increased. Fixed Ratio Schedule Training: Training Laboratory Rats Animals can learn interesting and complex behaviors through the means of conditioning and other training methods. The two types of conditioning are classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Conditioning incorporates both reinforcement and punishment. Reinforcement will increase the likelihood or a behavior, where punishment, and extinction will decrease it. Lee and Belfiore stated that “reinforcement is one of the most misused and misunderstood terms in the analysis of behavior” (1997). Along with these types of conditioning are other factors that help one train an organism. Habituation, magazine training, shaping, and different schedules of reinforcement help one reach the desired behavior. All these factors are part of training an organism to reach a desired behavior. Classical conditioning was made famous by... ... middle of paper ... ...7). The role of preliminary magazine training in acquisition of the autoshaped key peck. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 28(2), 99-106. Hollis, K. (1997). Contemporary research of Pavlovian conditioning: A new functional analysis. American Psychologist, 52. 956-965. Lee, D. L., & Belfiore, P. J. (1997). Enhancing classroom performance: A review of reinforcement schedules. Journal of Behavioral Education, 7(2), 205-217. Pavlov, I. P. (1927). Conditional reflexes: An investigation of the physiological activity of the cerebral cortex. Oxford, England: Oxford Univ. Press. Retrieved from www.csa.com Reynolds, G. S. (1961). Relativity of response rate and reinforcement frequency in the multiple schedule. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 4, 179-184. Skinner, B. F. (1951). How to teach animals. Scientific American, 185(6), 26-29.
In this experiment, we explore the effects of extinction on the subject. In previous exercises, the subject received a food pellet whenever it pressed the bar. However, in this experiment, the operant chamber is modified so that no food pellet will be delivered regardless of any bar pressing that may occur. Additionally, the pellet dispenser will also be muted so there will be no magazine sound that accompanies bar pressing. Therefore, both the primary reinforcer (food) and secondary reinforcer (magazine sound) are removed. For these experiments, the independent variable is the schedule of reinforcement and the dependent variable is the extinction rate. The schedule of reinforcement refers to the schedule that the reinforcer is provided, which in this case is never and the extinction rate refers to the time it takes for an operant response to be extinguished after the reinforcer is no longer provided. We considered extinction to be reached when the subject presses the bar no more than twice in a 5-minute period, as shown in the cumulative
Watson, John B.; R Rayner, (March 2000) Conditioned emotional reactions, American Psychologist, Vol 55(3), 313-317.
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.
Habituation is an example of conditioning. Most behavioral modification relies on conditioning of one form or another, whether by pairing a desired result with a reward, or by discouraging an unwanted behavior by removing a reward (typically attention of one form or another). Reinforcement of conditioning is accomplished through consistent reaction to behavior either rewarding or discouraging behaviors that are desirable or undesirable. Desensitization takes this technique to its extreme by flooding the animal with the stimulus in increasing stages until it stops
Allen, C. T., & Madden, T. J. (1985). A Closer Look At Classical Conditioning. Journal of
Alternately, a reinforcement schedule is a pattern of provided reinforcement to an organism following a specified amount of time between receiving reinforcement. For example, a mouse with a fixed ratio schedule will receive a piece of cheese for every time the mouse performs a trick. Similarly, the roommate will be rewarded with a single choice of an unhealthy meal once a week for every successful week he only eats healthy food. The reward for the roommate is the reinforcement; the once a week opportunity to receive the reward is the pattern, as well as the specified amount of time between receiving reinforcement; and lastly the target behavior is the response. However, when comparing and contrasting the roommate and mouse, it is important to understand the roommate’s pattern of reinforcement is considered a fixed interval schedule, and the mouse’s is a fixed ratio schedule. This is because there 's a finite amount of time between when the roommate can receive the reward, whereas the mouse can perform as many responses in order to receive an equal amount of
Behavior modification is based on the principles of operant conditioning, which were developed by American behaviorist B.F. Skinner. In his research, he put a rat in a cage later known as the Skinner Box, in which the rat could receive a food pellet by pressing on a bar. The food reward acted as a reinforcement by strengthening the rat's bar-pressing behavior. Skinner studied how the rat's behavior changed in response to differing patterns of reinforcement. By studying the way the rats operated on their environment, Skinner formulated the concept of operant conditioning, through which behavior could be shaped by reinforcement or lack of it. Skinner considered his discovery applicable to a wide range of both human and animal behaviors(“Behavior,” 2001).
Fear is a vital response for survival, in the face of threats and is also an important component of behavioural defence systems in mammals. Ivan Pavlov (1920’s) introduced the concept of classical conditioning. Classical conditioning can be used to learn various emotions including fear; this is known as a conditioned emotional response (Carlson, 2010, p.g 369). In this essay, Pavlovian (cued) fear conditioning and contextual fear conditioning will be discussed, and then the neural mechanisms underlying fear conditioning will be evaluated using various studies carried out on animals and humans.
Classical conditioning refers to a type of learning in which a previously neutral stimuli took on the ability to stimulate a conditioned response in an individual (Gormezano & Moore, 1966). To prove that environment was more impactful than genetics, Watson conducted an experiment on an infant, little Albert. Initially, Albert showed little fear towards rats. When Watson repeatedly exposed Albert to the rat accompanied by a loud noise, the latter began to develop fear towards not just the rat but also other furry animals. Watson successfully showed that the acquisition of a phobia can be explained by classical conditioning (Watson & Watson, 1921). Regardless of their genes, the associations of the right stimuli can result in the development of a new behaviour in any individual.
This essay will first explore what classical conditioning is by using Ivan Pavlov’s famous experiment with dogs to explain how it works. It will then go on to describe how classical conditioning led to more research by Edward L. Thorndike and B.F. Skinner in the study of instrumental behaviour (Gleitman et al. 2011). It will also mention briefly what similarities can be found between operant and classical conditioning before explaining in detail what operant conditioning is (Skinner’s experiment with the operant
Watson, J. B. (1920). Conditioned emotional reactions. The American Psychologist, 55(3), 313-317. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/
Regarding punishment in the two-factor theory, this Pavlovian conditioning must bring about fear within the subject. When the punished response is made the subject will experience fear, however, should the subject experience any response other than the punishment res...
In my reaction paper I will discuss B.F. Skinners theory operant conditioning and the ways he tested it out on animals, how it relates to humans, and how I can relate operant conditioning to my own personal life.
This experiment was based on rats and pigeons and wanted B.F Skinner wanted to make them learn fast. Schedules of Reinforcement is how often a response happens from either a reinforcement or punishment. He used different schedules to figure out the best way. The two schedules used are: The first schedule is continuous reinforcement. This is when Reinforcement and punishment are giving all the time, instead of some of the time. The second schedule is partial reinforcement. This is when Reinforcement and punishment are given some of the time, instead of all the time. There are four types of partial reinforcement and this is focused on either ratio or interval. There are also fixed or variable, that are subtypes of ratio and schedules.
From the time humans are born, they begin the process of learning and trying to understand the world. Conditioning is one way of learning in which a response becomes more frequent as a result of reinforcement. We can also learn through associations and punishments. There are two types of conditioning that will be discussed within this paper, classical conditioning and operant conditioning. I will further discuss how both classical and operant conditioning are prevalent within my article claims and then explain why both conditioning methods are important in everyday life.