Operant Conditioning

Steps to analyze examples: 5

1) Identify the behavior 2) Identify the consequence 3) Was there anything BEFORE the behavior? If YES, that is an example of TAKE AWAY (NEGATIVE) 4) If there was nothing before the behavior, and the behavior caused something to occur, to be ADDED → ----> POSITIVE 5) Did/would the behavior INCREASE or DECREASE in the future? INCREASE = REINFORCEMENT DECREASE = PUNISHMENT

Ways to Learn: 3

1) Learning from the consequences of our actions (Operant conditioning) 2) Learning because of an association between stimuli; learning to respond the same way to a new stimulus (Classical or Pavlovian conditioning) 3) Learning from someone else's experience: Observational learning

Technical Terms of Consequences: 4

1) Type of consequence: something is ADDED = POSITIVE (+) 2) Type of consequence: something is REMOVED = NEGATIVE (-) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3) Behavior INCREASES in frequency in the future = REINFORCEMENT 4) Behavior DECREASES in frequency in the future = PUNISHMENT

Practice Example 5

A parent screams at a child for pestering him, and the child stops immediately. In the future, the child will pester less often. Consider the child's behavior. Identify the behavior. Identify the consequence. Is this a case of "Get" or "take away"? Positive or negative ? Will /did the action occur more or less often in the future? This is an example of Now let's look at the parent's behavior. Identify the behavior. Identify the consequence. Is this a case of "Get" or "take away"? Positive or negative? Will /did the action occur more or less often in the future? This is an example of

Operant Conditioning: Two types of behavior changes

As a result of the consequence, the behavior INCREASES in frequency. As a result of the consequence, the behavior DECREASES in frequency EXAMPLES

Operant Conditioning: Two types of Consequence

Consequence is what happens immediately after the behavior. 1) Something is ADDED, i.e., something that was not there before the behavior is caused by and/or follows the behavior - EXAMPLES 2) Something is REMOVED, or TAKEN AWAY, i.e., something that was there before the behavior is removed by the behavior. - EXAMPLES

Practice Example 1

Grant liked Alma a lot. She rarely did favors for him, like opening doors, offering him a cigarette, and so on. So, he decided to say "Thank you" with a smile immediately after she did him a favor. Alma began to do favors for him more often. Consider Alma's behavior. Identify the behavior. Identify the consequence. Is this a case of "Get" or "take away"? Positive or negative ? Will/did the action occur more or less often in the future? This is an example of

Practice Example 2

Joe's TV set went blank during the NFL playoffs. He then tapped it with the palm of his hand. Immediately, the problem stopped and the TV started working again. Now, whenever the TV set goes blank, he taps the set. Consider Joe's behavior. Identify the behavior. Identify the consequence. Is this a case of "Get" or "take away"? Positive or negative? Will /did the action occur more or less often in the future? This is an example of

Operant Conditioning

Learning from the consequences of one's actions. Four basic procedures of operant conditioning: Two types of consequence Two types of behavioral change

Practice Example 3

Marty was in second grade. One day during spelling, he laid his head on the desk. The teacher asked him what was the matter, and he said: "I have a horrible headache!" The teacher then soothed him by saying: "Poor Marty! Why don't you just put your head down until it feels better?" After that, Marty frequently complained of headaches, even though he had never had any before. Marty's rate of complaining about headaches (increased/decreased). Identify the consequence of Marty's complaining. Is this a case of "get" or "take away"? Positive or negative? This is an example of

Practice Example 4

When 4-year-old Mary got out of bed on a cold morning, she "froze" her feet. She then put on her slippers. Consider Mary's behavior of putting on the slippers. Identify the behavior. Identify the consequence. Is this a case of "Get" or "take away"? Positive or negative? Will/did the action occur more or less often in the future? This is an example of After doing what is described above many times, Mary finally began to put on her slippers before she put her feet on the floor. In this way, she did not even feel the cold on her feet. This is an example of

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When the procedure is negative (take away) reinforcement (increase), there are 2 new technical terms: Escape = same as negative reinforcement (a situation occurs and then behavior eliminates it) Avoidance = after several instances of escape, behavior occurs BEFORE situation and prevents it from happening.