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.