famous know as B. F.

Skinner

a leading American psychologist, Harvard

professor and proponent of the
behaviorist theory of learning.
learning is viewed as process of "conditioning" in an
environment of stimulus, reward, and punishment

explain difference between

informal learning
• which occurs naturally, and formal education, which depends on the
teacher creating optimal patterns of stimulus and response
• reward and punishment

• This model of behaviorist learning theory is famously known as

operant conditioning
OPERANT CONDITIONING
• OPERANT CONDITIONING - instrumental conditioning
• a method of learning where the consequences of a reponse
determine the probability of it being repeated
• behavior, which is reinforced, that is rewarded, will likely be repeated
• behavior which is punished will occurs less frequently
• by the 1920s

John B. Watson had keft academic

psychology, and other behaviorists were
becoming influential .

proposing new forms of learning other

than classical conditioning
Skinner's model of behaviorist learning
theory
Skinner's views were slightly less extreme than those of
Watson

Skinner believed that we do have such a thing as a mind

that it is simply more productive to study observable behavior
rather than internal mental events

SKINNER'S OPERANT CONDITIONING

The work of skinner was rooted in a view that
classical conditioning was far too simplistic to be
complete explanation of complex humN behavior
 He believed that the best way to understand behavior is to look
at the causes of an action and its consequences
he called this approach operant conditioning

At the core of Skinner's operant conditioning

the view that behavior that is followed bt pleasant
consequences is likely to be reapeated
while behavior followed bt unpleasant consequences is less
likely to be reapeated
this view was based on Edward Thorndike's Law of effect
Introduce a new term into the Law of Effect Reinforcement

a behavior which is which is reinforced

terns to be repeated
(that is, strengthened )

behavior which is not reinforced

tends to die out or be
extinguisheds
( that is, weakened)
Skinner studied operant conditioning by conducting experiments
using animals which he placed in a "Skinner Box"
similar to Thorndike's puzzle box
operant conditioning chamber

a device used to objectively record an animal's

behavior in a compressed time frame

An animal can be rewarded or punished for

engaging in certain behaviors
Through his experiment

Skinner was able to identify three types of responses,

or operant, that can follow behavior

1. Neutral operants

responses from the environment that neither

increase nor decrease the probability of a
behavior being repeated
Through his experiment
Skinner was able to identify three types of responses,
or operant, that can follow behavior
1.) Neutral operants
reponses from the environment that neither
increase nor decrease the probability of a
behavior being repeated

2.) Reinforcers
responses from the environment that neither
increase nor decrease the probability of a behavior
being repeated. Reinforcers can be either positive
or negative
3.) Punishers
responses from the environment that decrease the likelihood of a
behavior being repeated. Punishment weakens behavior

all think of examples of how our own

behavior has been affected by
reinforcers and punishers

As a child you probably tried out a number of

behaviors and learned from their consequences
For example
if when you were younger you tried smoking at school, and the
chief consequence was that you got in with the crowd you always
wanted to hang out with, you would have been positively
reinforced (that is, rewarded) and would be likely to repeat the
behavior

the main consequence was that you were caught,

caned, suspended from school and your parents
became involved, you would most certainly have been
punished, and you would consequently be much less
likely to smoke now
ON POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT Skinner

a response or behavior is strengthened by rewards, leading to

the repetition of desired behavior
the reward is a reinforcing stimulus

Skinner show how positive reinforcement worked by

pacing a hungry rat in his Skinner box
The box contained a lever on the side, and as the rat
moved about the box, it would accidentally knock the
lever
Immediately it did so a food pellet would
drop into a container next to the lever

The rats then quickly learned to go straight to the

lever after few times of being put in the box

The consequence of receiving food if they pressed the

lever ensured that they would repeat the action again
and again
 Positive reinforcement
strengthens a behavior by providing a consequence an
individual finds rewarding
if your teacher gives you chocolate each time you complete your
homework (that is, a reward) you will be more likely to repeat this
behavior in the future
strengthening the behavior of completing your homework

ON NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT
the termination of an unpleasant state following a
response
known as negative reinforcement because it is the removal of an
adverse stimulus which is "rewarding" to the animal or person
 Negative reinforcement strengthens behavior because it
stops or removes an unpleasant experience

For example
if you do not complete your homework, you give
your teacher chocolate

you will complete your homework to losing your chocolate

strengthening the behavior of completing your homework
Skinner showed how negative reinforcement worked by placing a rat in
his Skinner box and then subjecting it to an unpleasant electric current
which caused it some discomfort

As the rat move around the box it would accidentally knock

the lever

Immediately it did so the electric current

would be switched off
you will complete your homework to losing your chocolate
strengthening the behavior of completing your homework

Skinner showed how negative reinforcement worked by placing a rat

in his Skinner box and then subjecting it to an unpleasant electric
current which caused it some discomfort
As the rat moved around the box it would accidentally knock the lever

Immediately it did so the electric current would be switched off

the rat quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few

times of being out in the box
The consequence of escaping the electric current
ensured that they would repeat the action again and
again
Skinner even taught the rat to avoid the electric current by turning
on a light just before the electric current came on
The rat soon learned to press the lever when the light came on
because they knew that this would stop the electric current
being switched on
Escape Learning and Avoidance Learning
ON PUNISHMENT

defines punishment as the opposite of reinforcement

since it is designed to weaken or eliminate a
response rather than increase it

it is an aversive event that decreases the behavior

that it follows
 Like reinforcement
punishment can work either by directly applying an unpleasant
stimulus like a shock after a response or by removing a
potentially rewarding stimulus
deducting someone's pocket money to punish
undesirable behavior
Implication of Operant Conditioning on Education
In the conventional learning situation
operant conditioning applies largely to issues of the class and studen
management
rather than to learning content
It is very relevant to shaping skill performance
A simple way to shape behavior is to provide
feedback on learner performance

compliment encouragement

approval affirmation

A variable -ratio produces highest response rate for students

learning a new task, whereby initial reinforcement
praise, occurs at frequently intervals, and as the performance
improves, reinforcement occurs less frequently, until eventually
only exceptional outcomes are reinforced.
if a teacher wanted to encourage students to answer
questions in class
she should praise them for every attempt regardless of whether
their answer is correct
the teacher will only praise the students when their answer is correct, and over
tome only exceptional answer will be praised

unwanted behavior's
tardiness and dominating class discussion can be extinguished through
being ignored by the teacher rather than being reinforced by having
attention drawn to them

this is not an easy task, as the teacher may appear insincere if she
thinks to much about thw way to behave
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