module 21

Fixed-ratio schedules reinforce behavior after a set number of responses.

Coffee shops may reward us with a free drink after every 10 purchased. Once conditioned, rats may be reinforced on a fixed ratio of, say, one food pellet for every 30 responses. Once conditioned, animals will pause only briefly after a reinforcer before returning to a high rate of responding

reinforcement schedules

a pattern that defines how often a desired response will be reinforced.

stimuli

any event or situation that evokes a response.

fixed-ration schedule

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses.

reinforcing a desired response only some of the times it occurs is called ---- reinforcement

partial (intermittent)

summary:Negative reinforcement

Remove an aversive stimulus example: Take painkillers to end pain; fasten seatbelt to end loud beeping.

law of effect

Thorndike's principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely

operant behavior

behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences.

More than 50 years ago, Skinner and others worked toward a day when "machines and textbooks" would shape learning in small steps,

by immediately reinforcing correct responses.

punished behavior is less likely to

recur.

Parents of delinquent youths are often unaware of how to achieve desirable behaviors without

screaming, hitting, or threatening their children with punishmen

Imagine that you wanted to condition a hungry rat to press a bar. Like Skinner, you could tease out this action with

shaping

Training programs can help transform dire threats

("You clean up your room this minute or no dinner!") into positive incentives ("You're welcome at the dinner table after you get your room cleaned up")

Using Thorndike's law of effect as a starting point

, Skinner developed a behavioral technology that revealed principles of behavior control. By shaping pigeons' natural walking and pecking behaviors, for example, Skinner was able to teach them such unpigeon-like behaviors as walking in a figure 8, playing Ping-Pong, and keeping a missile on course by pecking at a screen target.

positive punishment

Administer an aversive stimulus. example: Spray water on a barking dog; give a traffic ticket for speeding.

Punishment teaches discrimination among situations.

In operant conditioning, discrimination occurs when an organism learns that certain responses, but not others, will be reinforced. Did the punishment effectively end the child's swearing? Or did the child simply learn that while it's not okay to swear around the house, it's okay elsewhere?

For his pioneering studies, Skinner designed an operant chamber, popularly known as a Skinner box

The box has a bar (a lever) that an animal presses—or a key (a disc) the animal pecks—to release a reward of food or water. It also has a device that records these responses. This creates a stage on which rats and other animals act out Skinner's concept of reinforcement: any event that strengthens (increases the frequency of) a preceding response. What is reinforcing depends on the animal and the conditions. For people, it may be praise, attention, or a paycheck. For hungry and thirsty rats, food and water work well. Skinner's experiments have done far more than teach us how to pull habits out of a rat. They have explored the precise conditions that foster efficient and enduring learning.

operant conditioning

a type of learning in which a behavior becomes more likely to recur if followed by a reinforcer or less likely to recur if followed by a punisher.

respondent behavior

behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus.

Acquisition

classical conditioning: Associating events; NS is paired with US and becomes CS. operant conditioning: Associating a response with a consequence (reinforcer or punisher).

Extinction

classical conditioning: CR decreases when CS is repeatedly presented alone. operant conditioning: Responding decreases when reinforcement stops.

response

classical conditioning: Involuntary, automatic. operant conditioning: Voluntary, operates on environment.

a restaurant is running a special deal. after you buy 4 meals at full price, your 5th meal will be free. this is an example of a ------ schedule reinforcement

fixed ratio

operant chamber

in operant conditioning research, a chamber (also known as a Skinner box) containing a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer; attached devices record the animal's rate of bar pressing or key pecking.

variable-ratio schedule

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses.

skinner's work elaborated on what psychologist Edward L. Thorndike (1874-1949) called the

law of effect

salivating in response to a tone paired with food is an ------ behavior; pressing a bar to obtain food is an --------

respondent operant

one way to change behavior is to reward a natural behavior in small steps, as organism gets closer and closer to desired behavior. this process is called

shaping

thorndike's law of effect was basis for ----- work on operant conditioning and behavior control

skinner

people who send spam e-mail are reinforced by which schedule? home bakers checking the oven to see if the cookies are done on which schedule? sandwich shops that offer a free sandwich after every 10 sandwiches purchased are using which reinforcement schdule?

spammers are reinforced on a variable-ration schedule(after sending a varying number of e-mails) cookies checkers are reinforced on a fixed-interval schedule. sandwich shop programs use fixed-ratio schedule

By rewarding successive approximations,

you reinforce responses that are ever closer to the final desired behavior, and you ignore all other responses. By making rewards contingent on desired behaviors, researchers and animal trainers gradually shape complex behaviors.

how could your psychology instructor use negative reinforcement to encourage your attention behavior during class?

your instructor could reinforce you attentive behavior by taking away something you dislike. for example, your instructor could offer to shorten the length of an assigned paper or replace standard lecture time with an interesting in-class activity. in both cases, the instructor would remove something aversive to negatively reinforce your focused attention

Psychologists apply operant conditioning principles to help people with a variety of challenges,

from moderating high blood pressure to gaining social skills. Reinforcement techniques are also at work in schools, sports, workplaces, and homes, and these principles can support our self-improvement as well

desired and given

positive reinforcement

Punishment tells you what not to do;reinforcement tells you what to do.

Thus, punishment trains a particular sort of morality—one focused on prohibition (what not to do) rather than positive obligations (Sheikh & Janoff-Bulman, 2013).

What is operant conditioning?

Operant conditioning is a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher.

Knowing that reinforcers influence productivity, many organizations have invited employees to share the risks and rewards of company ownership.

Others focus on reinforcing a job well done. Rewards are most likely to increase productivity if the desired performance is both well defined and achievable. The message for managers? Reward specific, achievable behaviors, not vaguely defined "merit."

Whether it works by reducing something aversive, or by providing something desirable

reinforcement is any consequence that strengthens behavior.

continuous reinforcement

reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs.

To disrupt this cycle, parents should remember that basic rule of shaping:

Notice people doing something right and affirm them for it. Give children attention and other reinforcers when they are behaving well. Target a specific behavior, reward it, and watch it increase. When children misbehave or are defiant, don't yell at them or hit them. Simply explain the misbehavior and take away the iPad, remove a misused toy, or give a brief time-out.

undesired and taken away

negative reinforcement

your dog is barking so loudly that it is making your ears ring, you clap your hands, the dog stops barking, your ears stop ringing, and you think to yourself, "i'll have to do that when he barks again." the end of the barking was fro you a

negative reinforcement

undesired and given

positive punishment

type of punsiment

positive punishment negative punishment

Physical punishment may increase aggression by modeling violence as a way to cope with problems.

Studies find that spanked children are at increased risk for aggression (MacKenzie et al., 2013). We know, for example, that many aggressive delinquents and abusive parents come from abusive families (Straus & Gelles, 1980; Straus et al., 1997).

Variable-ratio schedules provide reinforcers after a seemingly unpredictable number of responses.

This unpredictable reinforcement is what slot-machine players and fly fishers experience, and it's what makes gambling and fly fishing so hard to extinguish even when they don't produce the desired results. Because reinforcers increase as the number of responses increases, variable-ratio schedules produce high rates of responding.

partial (intermittent) reinforcement schedules

reinforcing a response only part of the time; results in slower acquisition of a response but much greater resistance to extinction than does continuous reinforcement.

Conditioned reinforcers, also called

secondary inforcers, a stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with a primary reinforcer; also known as a secondary reinforcer.

type of reinforcers

- positive reinforcement -negative reinforcement

Classical conditioning and operant conditioning are both forms of associative learning, yet their differences are straightforward:

-Classical conditioning forms associations between stimuli (a CS and the US it signals). It also involves respondent behavior—automatic responses to a stimulus (such as salivating in response to meat powder and later in response to a tone). -In operant conditioning, organisms associate their own actions with consequences. Actions followed by reinforcers increase; those followed by punishments often decrease. Behavior that operates on the environment to produce rewarding or punishing stimuli is called operant behavior.

Real life rarely provides continuous reinforcement.

. Salespeople do not make a sale with every pitch. But they persist because their efforts are occasionally rewarded. This persistence is typical with partial (intermittent) reinforcement schedules,

To reinforce your own desired behaviors (perhaps to improve your study habits) and extinguish the undesired ones (to stop smoking, for example), psychologists suggest taking these steps:

1-State a realistic goal in measurable terms and announce it. 2-Decide how, when, and where you will work toward your goal. 3-Monitor how often you engage in your desired behavior. 4-Reinforce the desired behavior. 5-Reduce the rewards gradually.

How do different reinforcement schedules affect behavior?

A reinforcement schedule defines how often a response will be reinforced. In continuous reinforcement (reinforcing desired responses every time they occur), learning is rapid, but so is extinction if rewards cease. In partial (intermittent) reinforcement (reinforcing responses only sometimes), initial learning is slower, but the behavior is much more resistant to extinction. Fixed-ratio schedules reinforce behaviors after a set number of responses; variable-ratio schedules, after an unpredictable number. Fixed-interval schedules reinforce behaviors after set time periods; variable-interval schedules, after unpredictable time periods.

Who was Skinner, and how is operant behavior reinforced and shaped?

B. F. Skinner was a college English major and aspiring writer who later entered psychology graduate school. He became modern behaviorism's most influential and controversial figure. Expanding on Edward Thorndike's law of effect, Skinner and others found that the behavior of rats or pigeons placed in an operant chamber (Skinner box) can be shaped by using reinforcers to guide successive approximations of the desired behavior

Let's return to the imaginary shaping experiment in which you were conditioning a rat to press a bar.

Before performing this "wanted" behavior, the hungry rat will engage in a sequence of "unwanted" behaviors—scratching, sniffing, and moving around. If you present food immediately after any one of these behaviors, the rat will likely repeat that rewarded behavior. But what if the rat presses the bar while you are distracted, and you delay giving the reinforcer? If the delay lasts longer than about 30 seconds, the rat will not learn to press the bar. It will have moved on to other incidental behaviors, such as scratching, sniffing, and moving, and one of these behaviors will instead get reinforced.

Why did Skinner's ideas provoke controversy, and how might his operant conditioning principles be applied at school, in sports, at work, in parenting, and for self-improvement?

Critics of Skinner's principles believed the approach dehumanized people by neglecting their personal freedom and seeking to control their actions. Skinner replied that people's actions are already controlled by external consequences, and that reinforcement is more humane than punishment as a means for controlling behavior. Teachers can use shaping techniques to guide students' behaviors, and use interactive media such as online adaptive quizzing to provide immediate feedback. (The Learn-ingCurve system available with this text provides such feedback, and allows students to direct the pace of their own learning.) Coaches can build players' skills and self-confidence by rewarding small improvements. Managers can boost productivity and morale by rewarding well-defined and achievable behaviors. Parents can reward desired behaviors but not undesirable ones. We can shape our own behaviors by stating realistic goals, planning how to work toward those goals, monitoring the frequency of desired behaviors, reinforcing desired behaviors, and gradually reducing rewards as behaviors become habitual.

Aren't many threats of punishment just as forceful, and perhaps more effective, when rephrased positively?

Thus, "If you don't get your homework done, there'll be no car" could be phrased more positively as

gradually guiding the rat's actions toward the desired behavior.

First, you would watch how the animal naturally behaves, so that you could build on its existing behaviors. You might give the rat a bit of food each time it approaches the bar. Once the rat is approaching regularly, you would give the food only when it moves close to the bar, then closer still. Finally, you would require it to touch the bar to get food.

The key to shaping behavior in athletic performance, as elsewhere, is first reinforcing small successes and then gradually increasing the challenge.

Golf students can learn putting by starting with very short putts, and then, as they build mastery, stepping back farther and farther. Novice batters can begin with half swings at an oversized ball pitched from 10 feet away, giving them the immediate pleasure of smacking the ball. As the hitters' confidence builds with their success and they achieve mastery at each level, the pitcher gradually moves back and eventually introduces a standard baseball. Compared with children taught by conventional methods, those trained by this behavioral method have shown faster skill improvement (Simek & O'Brien, 1981, 1988).

B. F. Skinner stirred a hornet's nest with his outspoken beliefs. He repeatedly insisted that external influences, not internal thoughts and feelings, shape behavior.

He argued that brain science isn't needed for psychological science, saying that "a science of behavior is independent of neurology" (Skinner, 1938/1966, pp. 423-424). And he urged people to use operant conditioning principles to influence others' behavior at school, work, and home. Knowing that behavior is shaped by its results, he argued that we should use rewards to evoke more desirable behavior.

Operant conditioning also reminds us that reinforcement should be immediate.

IBM legend Thomas Watson understood this. When he observed an achievement, he wrote the employee a check on the spot (Peters & Waterman, 1982). But rewards need not be material, or lavish. An effective manager may simply walk the floor and sincerely affirm people for good work, or write notes of appreciation for a completed project. As Skinner said, "How much richer would the whole world be if the reinforcers in daily life were more effectively contingent on productive work?"

Sometimes negative and positive reinforcement coincide

Imagine a worried student who, after goofing off and getting a bad exam grade, studies harder for the next exam. This increased effort may be negatively reinforced by reduced anxiety, and positivelyreinforced by a better grade. We reap the rewards of escaping the aversive stimulus, which increases the chances that we will repeat our behavior.

How does operant conditioning differ from classical conditioning?

In operant conditioning, an organism learns associations between its own behavior and resulting events; this form of conditioning involves operant behavior (behavior that operates on the environment, producing rewarding or punishing consequences). In classical conditioning, the organism forms associations between stimuli—events it does not control; this form of conditioning involves respondent behavior (automatic responses to some stimulus).

Punishment can teach fear.

In operant conditioning, generalization occurs when an organism's response to similar stimuli is also reinforced. A punished child may associate fear not only with the undesirable behavior but also with the person who delivered the punishment or where it occurred. Thus, children may learn to fear a punishing teacher and try to avoid school, or may become more anxious (Gershoff et al., 2010). For such reasons, most European countries and 31 U.S. states now ban hitting children in schools and child-care institutions (EndCorporalPunishment.org). As of 2017, 51 countries outlaw hitting by parents. A large survey in Finland, the second country to pass such a law, revealed that children born after the law passed were, indeed, less often slapped and beaten (Österman et al., 2014).

As we have seen, parents can learn from operant conditioning practices.

Parent-training researchers remind us that by saying, "Get ready for bed" and then caving in to protests or defiance, parents reinforce such whining and arguing (Wierson & Forehand, 1994). Exasperated, they may then yell or gesture menacingly. When the child, now frightened, obeys, that reinforces the parents' angry behavior. Over time, a destructive parent-child relationship develops.

Some researchers question this logic.

Physically punished children may be more aggressive, they say, for the same reason that people who have undergone psychotherapy are more likely to suffer depression—because they had preexisting problems that triggered the treatments (Ferguson, 2013a; Larzelere, 2000; Larzelere et al., 2004). So, does spanking cause misbehavior, or does misbehavior trigger spanking? Correlations don't hand us an answer.

How does punishment differ from negative reinforcement, and how does punishment affect behavior?

Punishment administers an undesirable consequence (such as spanking) or withdraws something desirable (such as taking away a favorite toy) to decrease the frequency of a behavior (a child's disobedience). Negative reinforcement (taking an aspirin) removes an aversive stimulus (a headache). This desired consequence (freedom from pain) increases the likelihood that the behavior (taking aspirin to end pain) will be repeated. Punishment can have undesirable side effects, such as suppressing rather than changing unwanted behaviors; encouraging discrimination (so that the undesirable behavior appears when the punisher is not present); creating fear; teaching aggression; and fostering depression and feelings of helplessness.

How do positive and negative reinforcement differ, and what are the basic types of reinforcers?

Reinforcement is any consequence that strengthens behavior. Positive reinforcement adds a desirable stimulus to increase the frequency of a behavior. Negative reinforcement reduces or removes an aversive stimulus to increase the frequency of a behavior. Primary reinforcers (such as receiving food when hungry or having nausea end during an illness) are innately satisfying—no learning is required. Conditioned (or secondary) reinforcers (such as cash) are satisfying because we have learned to associate them with more basic rewards (such as the food or medicine we buy with them). Immediate reinforcers (such as a purchased treat) offer immediate payback; delayed reinforcers (such as a paycheck) require the ability to delay gratification.

Intermittent reinforcement schedules

Skinner's (1961) laboratory pigeons produced these response patterns to each of four reinforcement schedules. (Reinforcers are indicated by diagonal marks.) For people, as for pigeons, reinforcement linked to number of responses (a ratio schedule) produces a higher response rate than reinforcement linked to amount of time elapsed (an interval schedule). But the predictability of the reward also matters. An unpredictable (variable) schedule produces more consistent responding than does a predictable (fixed)schedule.

Skinner might be pleased to know that many of his ideals for education are now possible.

Teachers used to find it difficult to pace material to each student's rate of learning, and to provide prompt feedback. Online adaptive quizzing, such as the LearningCurve system available with this text, does both. Students move through quizzes at their own pace, according to their own level of understanding. And they get immediate feedback on their efforts, including personalized study plans.

Punished behavior is suppressed, not forgotten. This temporary state may (negatively) reinforce parents' punishing behavior.

The child swears, the parent swats, the parent hears no more swearing and feels the punishment successfully stopped the behavior. No wonder spanking is a hit with so many parents—with 60 percent of children around the world spanked or otherwise physically punished (UNICEF, 2014).

If a rat in a Skinner box learns that a light reliably signals a food delivery, the rat will work to turn on the light

The light has become a conditioned reinforcer. Our lives are filled with conditioned reinforcers—money, good grades, a pleasant tone of voice—each of which has been linked with more basic rewards. If money is a conditioned reinforcer—if people's desire for money is derived from their desire for food—then hunger should also make people more money hungry, reasoned one European research team (Briers et al., 2006). Indeed, in their experiments, people were less likely to donate to charity when food deprived, and less likely to share money with fellow participants when in a room with hunger-arousing aromas.

What punishment often teaches, said Skinner, is how to avoid it.

What punishment often teaches, said Skinner, is how to avoid it.

negative punishment

Withdraw a rewarding stimulus. example: Take away a misbehaving teen's driving privileges; revoke a rude person's chat room access.

Both involve classical and operant conditioning include

acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization, and discrimination.

Variable-interval schedules reinforce the first response

after varying time intervals. At unpredictable times, a food pellet rewarded Skinner's pigeons for persistence in pecking a key. Like the longed-for message that finally rewards persistence in checking our phone, variable-interval schedules tend to produce slow, steady responding. This makes sense, because there is no knowing when the waiting will be over

punishment

an event that tends to decrease the behavior that it follows.

primary reinforcers

an innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological need; unlearned

shaping

an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior

That is especially so if physical punishment is used only as a backup for milder disciplinary tactics,

and if it is combined with a generous dose of reasoning and reinforcing.

Both classical and operant conditioning are forms of

associative learning.

Criminal behavior, much of it impulsive, is also influenced more

by swift and sure punishers than by the threat of severe sentences (Darley & Alter, 2013). Thus, when Arizona introduced an exceptionally harsh sentence for first-time drunk drivers, the drunk-driving rate changed very little. But when Kansas City police started patrolling a high crime area to increase the swiftness and sureness of punishment, that city's crime rate dropped dramatically.

Generalization

classical conditioning: The tendency to respond to stimuli similar to the CS. operant conditioning: Responses learned in one situation occurring in other, similar situations.

basic idea

classical conditioning: Learning associations between events we do not control. operant conditioning: Learning associations between our behavior and its consequences.

Discrimination

classical conditioning: Learning to distinguish between a CS and other stimuli that do not signal a US. operant conditioning: Learning that some responses, but not others, will be reinforced.

Spontaneous recovery

classical conditioning: The reappearance, after a rest period, of an extinguished CR. operant conditioning: the reappearance, after a rest period, of an extinguished response.

In general, response rates are higher when reinforcement is linked to the number of responses (a ratio schedule) rather than to time (an interval schedule). But responding is more

consistent when reinforcement is unpredictable (a variable schedule) than when it is predictable (a fixed schedule). Animal behaviors differ, yet Skinner (1956) contended that the reinforcement principles of operant conditioning are universal. It matters little, he said, what response, what reinforcer, or what species you use. The effect of a given reinforcement schedule is pretty much the same: "Pigeon, rat, monkey, which is which? It doesn't matter . . . . Behavior shows astonishingly similar properties."

Skinner's critics objected, saying that he

dehumanized people by neglecting their personal freedom and by seeking to control their actions. Skinner's reply: External consequences already haphazardly control people's behavior. Why not administer those consequences toward human betterment? Wouldn't reinforcers be more humane than the punishments used in homes, schools, and prisons? And if it is humbling to think that our history has shaped us, doesn't this very idea also give us hope that we can shape our future?

summary :Positive reinforcement

description:Add a desirable stimulus example: Pet a dog that comes when you call it; pay someone for work done.

Such machines and textbooks, they said, would revolutionize education and free teachers to focus on

each student's special needs. "Good instruction demands two things," said Skinner (1989). "Students must be told immediately whether what they do is right or wrong and, when right, they must be directed to the step to be taken next."

summary of Ratio

fixed: Every so many: reinforcement after every nth behavior, such as buy 10 coffees, get 1 free, or pay workers per product unit produced variable: After an unpredictable number: reinforcement after a random number of behaviors, as when playing slot machines or fly fishing

summary of interval

fixed: Every so often: reinforcement for behavior after a fixed time, such as Tuesday discount prices variable: Unpredictably often: reinforcement for behavior after a random amount of time, as when checking our phone for a message

ethan constantly misbehaves at school even tho his teacher scold him repeatedly. why does ethan's misbehavior continue, and what can his teacher do to stop it?

if ethan is seeking attention the teacher scolding may be reinforcing rather than punishing. to change ethan's behavior, his teacher could offer reinforcement (such as praise) each time he behaves well. the teacher might encourage ethan toward increasingly appropriate Behavior through shaping, or rephrasing rules as rewards instead of punishments ( " you can have a snack if you play nicely with the other children" [reward] rather than " you will get s snack if you misbehave!" [punishment])

variable-interval schedules

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals.

fixed-interval schedules

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed.

reinforcement

in operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behavior it follows

positive reinforcement

increasing behaviors by presenting positive rein-forcers. A positive reinforcer is any stimulus that, when presented after a response, strengthens the response.; which strengthens responding by presenting a typically pleasurable stimulus immediately after a response.

Negative reinforcement

increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli. A negative reinforcer is any stimulus that, when removed after a response, strengthens the response. (Note: Negative reinforcement is not punishment.); strengthens a response by reducing or removing something negative.

With continuous reinforcement,

learning occurs rapidly, which makes it the best choice for mastering a behavior. But extinction also occurs rapidly.

associative learning

learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequence (as in operant conditioning).

desired and taken away

negative punishment

a medival proverb notes that " a burnt child dreads the fire" in operant Conditioning, the burning would be an example of a

punisher

in which responses are sometimes reinforced, sometimes not. Learning is slower to appear, but

resistance to extinction is greater than with continuous reinforcement. Imagine a pigeon that has learned to peck a key to obtain food. If you gradually phase out the food delivery until it occurs only rarely, in no predictable pattern, the pigeon may peck 150,000 times without a reward (Skinner, 1953). Slot machines reward gamblers in much the same way—occasionally and unpredictably. And like pigeons, slot players keep trying, time and time again. With intermittent reinforcement, hope springs eternal.

To our detriment,

small but immediate pleasures (the enjoyment of watching late-night TV, for example) are sometimes more alluring than big but delayed rewards (feeling rested for a big exam tomorrow). For many teens, the immediate gratification of risky, unprotected sex in passionate moments prevails over the delayed gratifications of safe sex or saved sex. And for many people, the immediate rewards of today's gas-guzzling vehicles, air travel, and air conditioning prevail over the bigger future consequences of global climate change, rising seas, and extreme weather.

with classical conditioning, we learn associations between events we ----- control. with operatn Conditioning, we learn associations between our behavior and ----- events

so not; resulting

When reinforcement stops—when we stop delivering food after the rat presses the bar—

the behavior soon stops (is extinguished).

Fixed-interval schedules reinforce

the first response after a fixed time period. Animals on this type of schedule tend to respond more frequently as the anticipated time for reward draws near. People check more frequently for the mail as the delivery time approaches. A hungry child jiggles the Jell-O more often to see if it has set. Pigeons peck keys more rapidly as the time for reinforcement draws nearer. This produces a choppy stop-start pattern rather than a steady rate of response

Unlike rats, humans do respond to delayed reinforcers:

the paycheck at the end of the week, the good grade at the end of the term, the trophy at the end of the sports season. Indeed, to function effectively we must learn to delay gratification. In one of psychology's most famous studies, some 4-year-olds showed this ability. In choosing a piece of candy or a marshmallow, these impulse-controlled children preferred having a big one tomorrow to munching on a small one right away. Learning to control our impulses in order to achieve more valued rewards is a big step toward maturity and can later protect us from committing an impulsive crime (Åkerlund et al., 2016; Logue, 1998a,b). Children who delay gratification have tended to become socially competent and high-achieving adults

learn

the process of acquiring through experience new and relatively enduring information or behaviors.

. But these two forms of learning also differ.

through classical (Pavlovian) conditioning, we associate different stimuli we do not control, and we respond automatically (respondent behaviors). Through operant conditioning, we associate our own behaviors—which act on our environment to produce rewarding or punishing stimuli (operant behaviors)—with their consequences.

Rewarded behavior tends to recur (, and punished behavior is less likely to recur. Using Thorndike's law of effect as a starting point, Skinner developed a behavioral technology that revealed principles of behavior control. By shaping pigeons' natural walking and pecking behaviors, for example, Skinner was able to teach them such unpigeon-like behaviors as walking in a figure 8, playing Ping-Pong, and keeping a missile on course by pecking at a screen target.

to recur

the partial reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after unpredictable time period is a ------ schdule

variable-interval

the desired response has been reinforced every time it occurs. But reinforcement schedules

vary

B. F. Skinner (1904-1990)

was a college English major and aspiring writer who, seeking a new direction, enrolled as a graduate student in psychology. He went on to become modern behaviorism's most influential and controversial figure.

If a normally dependable candy machine fails to deliver a chocolate bar twice in a row,we stop putting money into it (although a week later we may exhibit spontaneous recovery by trying again).

we stop putting money into it (although a week later we may exhibit spontaneous recovery by trying again).