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Similarities between classical and operant conditioning
Similarities between classical and operant conditioning
Differential reinforcement theory
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Two basic concepts in behavioural learning are classical and operant conditioning. Classical conditioning is the most basic way animals learn about their environment and associates stimuli with that environment while operant conditioning has shown how animals learn to associate actions (behaviours) with outcomes (consequences) (Bouton, 2007). Within operant conditioning came Thorndike’s The Law of Effect, which states that stimuli can have multiple responses and from those responses the ones that produce the most agreeable outcome tend to be occur more frequently while the others responses are reduced (Thorndike, 1911). In other words, these outcomes are motivating to the animal causing an increase in behaviour.
From this the idea of reinforcement was developed. Positive reinforcement occurs when a behaviour is rewarded increasing the likelihood of that behaviour being repeated, while negative reinforcement occurs when an aversive stimuli is removed when an action is performed (Bouton, 2007).
At this point in history reinforcement was seen to happen between a behaviour and a stimul...
If a behavior is desirable, consequences called reinforcers are used to encourage the behavior in the future, via the process of reinforcement. Reinforcement can be positive (presenting reinforcing stimulus) or negative (removing a negative stimulus). However, if a behavior is undesired, a negative consequence can be used to discourage the behavior, through the process of either positive or negative punishment. In positive punishment, a negative consequence is presented after the undesired behavior occurs. When negative punishment it used the idea is the same “to discourage future display of undesired behavior,” but instead of presenting a negative stimulus, a desired stimulus is removed following the behavior.
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).
Hence, in his experiment, Skinner placed rats in the Skinner box and observed its’ behaviors. Initially, these rats would be randomly moving around exploring, and would usually press the bar accidently. At this point, a food pellet would drop into the tray. He observed that if a hungry rat receives a pellet of food when it presses a lever after, maybe 2 minutes have elapsed since the last pellet, then its response rate increases with the passage of time. In other words, after the first incident of the food pellet dropping into the tray, the rate of the rats pressing the bar rises dramatically and remains high until the rats hunger were satisfied. Thus, this study showed a clear association made between the behavior and the consequence of that behavior. In this case, the consequence of a behavior encouraged the repetition of that behavior also known as positive reinforcement.
According to Skinner’s theories, “Reinforcement does not strengthen the response instance that produces the reinforcer.” Rather, reinforcement can increase the likelihood that a comparable response may occur within the future. For one bottom-line, “behavior is not caused by something that has not yet happened.” Similar to operant conditioning, “the emission of a response reflects past conditioning, so the response occurs because similar responses were reinforced earlier, not because it will be reinforced later.” Skinner agreed that the “initial high response rate seen in extinction sessions exemplified this important aspect of operant conditioning” (Iversen, 1992, pp. 1325-1327). Theoretically, Skinner identified two aspects of reinforcement, one is the “pleasing effect of reinforcing stimuli, the other is their strengthening action.” Furthermore, Skinner emphasized that “feeling pleased by an event does not necessarily make a person want to repeat the respons...
Positive reinforcement works by presenting something positive to the person after a desired behavior is exhibited, making the behavior more likely to happen in the future (McAdams, 2009). An example of this could be when a child helps their mother with the dishes and the mothers rewards the child with ice cream. Negative reinforcement, is when a behavior is strengthened by stopping, removing or avoiding a negative outcome or aversive stimulus (McAdams, 2009). An example of this could be when the light goes green at a traffic light, the car in front of a person does not move. The person hates when this happens and from experience knows that honking the car’s horn gets cars that are in front of them to go
Skinner argues that ‘learning is accelerated by reinforcement: a stimulus that increases the probability of a response’ called ‘operant conditioning’ and it is not reliant on what triggered the response but...
B.F Skinner developed operant conditioning."The consequences of behavior determine the probability that the behavior will occur again" (Skinner). It's the theory that behavior is determined by the consequences following afterward, making it more or less likely that the behavior will occur again. For example a young boy hitting a younger sibling repeatedly without consequences , would cause the behavior to become a habit. If the boy faced consequences he would be less likely to repeat the
Positive reinforcement is a method of presenting to children the appropriate behavior from the inappropriate behaviors. This is done by pointing out the correct behavior and giving some form of encouraging reward. The idea is that all behaviors
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).
Reinforcement is a motivation which depends upon a performance and increases the chance of a performance being frequent. Positive reinforcement can increase the chance of not only necessary behavior but also unwanted behavior. For example, if a student complaints in order to get attention and is successful in getting it, the attention helps as positive reinforcement which increases the possibility that the student will remain to complain. Positive reinforcement is one of the important ideas in behavior inquiry and it is something like rewards, or things usually work to get (Fahimafridi, 2016).
Negative reinforcement is removing something that is not enjoyable as the result of the behavior that is acceptable example is in Skinners box experiment, a loud noise continuously rang until the rat did what Skinner wanted the rat to do (Cervone, Pervin, Cervone, & Professor of Psychology Lawrence A Pervin, 2013). Positive punishment is used to eliminate a certain behavior and is giving something unenjoyable after the behavior. Negative punishment is used to eliminate a behavior and eliminating something you enjoy after the
Learning through operant conditioning allows a conditioned behaviour to increase or decrease in the presence of reinforcement or punishment. However, this process can be affected by instinctive behaviours that would disrupt the conditioned behaviour. According to a study conducted by Breland and Breland (1961) they tried to condition a raccoon to pick up coins and drop them into a container. The raccoon however spent time rubbing the coins together and rubbing the coin on the inside of the container before finally dropping it in and receiving its food reinforcement. Even after conditioning, the raccoon’s need to rub the coins together became worse as he spent more and more time just rubbing the coins. This is known as instinctive drift where the raccoon’s instinctive behaviours limited its ability to perform the conditioned response. Therefore the raccoon failed to learn due to its innate tendencies that acted as a biological constraint and operant conditioning failed in teaching the raccoon through reinforcement.
Levine, A. (1999). What is negative reinforcement? Negative Reinforcement University. Retrieved on November 14, 2003 from http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/proj/nru/index.html
In general, a stimulus is that evokes a physiological response in an organism. In terms of this theory the stimuli are certain external events that will alter or change the behavior of a person. Rewarding stimuli are connected with ones wants, likes and the need of satisfaction. This acts as a positive reinforcer. However reinforcement only occurs if there is a significant change in one’s behavior. A stimulus can cause either a positive reinforcement or a negative one. Positive reinforcer can be some stimuli event for which one works in order that they may gain it.
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.