Operant Conditioning Theory of Learning (B.F. Skinner)

 

 Operant Conditioning

Operant Conditioning is a type of learning when behaviors are either reinforced/rewarded or punished where the consequences of a certain response determine the likelihood of the behavior being repeated through reinforcement (reward), or the likelihood of the behavior being retained through punishment

 

When I suddenly close my eyes in response to a flash of light, it occurs by nature. So, this is called responding behavior and spontaneous response to stimuli. But not all my behaviors are being occured by nature becasue when I read a book, talk, walk, eat, sleep, work and so on. All those behaviors are emitted by me and are called operating behaviors

Therefore, every operant behavior is being learnt through this type of consequences. If the consequence is favorable and convenient, we tend to repeat that behavior and if the consequence is unfavorable and unpleasant, we tend stop doing it

 

Skinner's Box

Skinner's Box is a kind of laboratory for effective behavior acquisition. It is a box that Skinner used to adapt effective behavior in animals. This box has a button, or some kind of hardware button that has to be pressed to get some bonus. In his experiment, Skinner put a hungry mouse in the box. There was a button that released food after being pressed. At first, the mouse engaged in random behaviors such as walking, running, and scratching. Unfortunately, they did not help release food. Suddenly and at some point of time, the mouse hit the button by accident and food was released. For the hungry mouse, this was a really big reward. After several accidental strikes, the mouse began to spend more time near the button, then intentionally pressed the button whenever it felt hungry in order to obtain food. So now pressing the button is a new operant for the mouse

 

Skinner later noticed that if the button pressing no longer realease food, the operant behavior by the mouse would reduce and stop entirely. This is call experimental extinction of operant conditioning

 

By counting how many times the learnt behavior of operant conditioning occurs within a given time, Skinner used the cumulative frequency of the operant behavior. He noted the probability of the occurrence of that behaviour has actually increased over time

For instance, let's assume that the mouse accidently pressed the button three times in the first hour because it moved randomly. In the second hour, and because it received food every time it pressed the button, the mouse learnt a new behavior and then pressed the button three times more. In the third hour, it pressed the button some more times. Finally, the mouse would learn how to press the button intentionally several times in a short time

 

By pressing the button many times, the mouse demonstrated that it has learnt that behavior Skinner wanted it to learn which is pressing the button when hungry so as to satiate its hunger

Reinforcements in Operant Conditioning

Positive reinforcers and Negative reinforcers

Positive reinforcers are those favorable consequences that let the behavior occur some more times. Example, being praised by the teacher after being able to answer his/her question

 

Negative reinforcers are those unfavorable consequences due to not implementing the target behavior that makes it more probable. For example, the teacher asks you to answer a question and keeps looking at you with fiery eyes. He/she will keep doing so until you give the right answer. By answering the question, you end the negative reinforcer which is that fiery look

 

Primary and Secondary reinforcement

Reinforcement which are related to our basic needs are primary. They also can be secondary or conditioned, and acquiring their reinforcement value only by connecting them with the primary reinforcer. For example, food and air are primary reinforcers. Yet, if you make someone do something for money or for a reward, you are using the secondary or conditioned reinforcer. So, we all are reinforced by money or rewards due to their symbolic value by paring them to secondary reinforcement

Schedules of reinforcement

Reinforcement for operant conditioning might be Continuous or Intermittent. In continuous reinforcement, target behaviors are reinforced each time they occur like you are used to reward  your son when he behaves good. Unlike Intermittent or partial reinforcement, you only reinforce target behaviors from time time and not always

 

Interval reinforcement schedule

Example of interval reinforcement schedule: When you hear the bell after every one hour, and then you would be released for a break

Fixed interval reinforcement

Example of fixed interval reinforcement: As your daughter makes her bed by the time they wakes up, she gets a reward. If she doesn't or forgets to make her bed, she is she would get get any reward

Variable interval reinforcement

Example of variable interval reinforcement: Let's assume you love a certain teacher's class, but he used to take class once another teacher is absent. Yet, each week, they are two teachers who are absent, hence you get 2 or 3 weekly classes of your favorite teacher 

 

Fixed ratio reinforcement

Example of fixed ratio reinforcement: During the exam, you get a reward of 1 mark if you answer five questions and 0 even if you get one wrong answer

 

Variable ratio reinforcement

Example of variable ratio reinforcement: The most knowledgeable teacher at school sometimes would just nod if you give the correct answer. Sometimes, she would throw heaps of praise upon you. You really feel special while getting a word of appreciation from her since her praise means a lot to you and you never know which answer would satisfy her most, so you always try to give your best to her

 

Punishment

You remember each time you talked with your friend during the class, you would be required to remain standing for ten minutes as punishment. The teacher expected that this would reduce the probability of your chatting with your friend again as the class is going on. So, punishment is a forced consequent of undesired behavior

 

Exactly like reinforcement, punishment might be positive or negative. Positive punishment is that attitude when a presented thing as a consequence of certain behaviors minimize the probability of occurence of that behavior. Once you reprimand your child for his misbehavior, it is positive punishment. Negative punishment happens while withdrawing or removing an enjoyable thing as a consequence of certain behaviors minimize the probability of occurence of that behavior. If you do not smile at child your smiling he used to see because of his misbehavior, it is negative punishment

 

N.B

Negative reinforcement is used to educe desired and favorable behaviors while punishment is used to cease undesirable and unfavorable behaviors

 

Generalisation and Discrimination in Operant Conditioning

Generalisation: In your life, you have learned to always wash your hands before eating at home, and you generalised this at school, in the restaurant and elsewhere 

 

Discrimination: Unlike generalisation, you can simply talk and laugh in a teacher's class, but you think many times before making the slightest movement in another teacher's class

  

 

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