How can operant conditioning be used in social institutions

So, whenever your child sees you come home with a baseball cap, he is excited because he has associated your baseball cap with a trip to the park. This learning by association is classical conditioning. Classical conditioning involves associating an involuntary response and a stimulus, while operant conditioning is about associating a voluntary behavior and a consequence. In a classroom setting, a teacher might utilize operant conditioning by offering tokens as rewards for good behavior.

You can apply this theory to yourself by finding positive pairings that enhance behavioral change, or by removing negative associations that reinforce bad habits. Operant Conditioning is another type of learning process that uses reinforcement or punishment to shape desired behavior.

Negative punishment is an important concept in B. In behavioral psychology, the goal of punishment is to decrease unwanted behavior. In the case of negative punishment, it involves taking something good or desirable away to reduce the occurrence of a particular behavior.

With positive punishment, you add something unpleasant in response to a behavior. For example, a child chews gum in class, which is against the rules. The punishment is the teacher disciplining them in front of the class. The child stops chewing gum in glass. Continuing to be on time at work helps to increase the chances of receiving a raise or recognition.

This is positive reinforcement. Negative reinforcement is a bit more nuanced. There are five basic processes in operant conditioning: positive and negative reinforcement strengthen behavior; punishment, response cost, and extinction weaken behavior.

Operant conditioning, also known as instrumental conditioning, is a method of learning normally attributed to B. Skinner, where the consequences of a response determine the probability of it being repeated. Although, for obvious reasons, he is more commonly known as B. Pavlov showed that when a bell was sounded each time the dog was fed, the dog learned to associate the sound with the presentation of the food.

In respondent conditioning, the US could be an appetitive or aversive stimulus. For instance, in appetitive conditioning, the US would be something desirable such as candy which makes us happy. Other examples could include water, food, sex, or drugs. The research on operant conditioning was almost exclusively done with animals- rats, pigeons, dogs, and so on.

One fundamental assumption of the model was that these principles would also apply to humans. Second, I am not saying that operant conditioning does not work, because it certainly does work. Classical conditioning is strongest if the CS and US are intense or salient.

An example of positive reinforcement is: A child receives money for doing chores. Negative reinforcement is where instead of being rewarded with an item for making positive choices, and item or stimulus is removed after a specific behavior is shown. Deciding to take an antacid before you indulge in a spicy meal is an example of negative reinforcement.

You engage in an action in order to avoid a negative result. One of the best ways to remember negative reinforcement is to think of it as something being subtracted from the situation. Skip to content What are the four types of operant conditioning?

What is positive punishment in operant conditioning? What is the best example of operant conditioning? What is the main idea of operant conditioning?

What does operant conditioning focus on? Which reinforcement schedule is best? What is reinforcement type? What is an example of classical conditioning in everyday life? Our paychecks are rewards, as are high grades and acceptance into our preferred school. Positive reinforcement as a learning tool is extremely effective.

It has been found that one of the most effective ways to increase achievement in school districts with below-average reading scores was to pay the children to read. The result was a significant increase in reading comprehension Fryer, What do you think about this program? If Skinner were alive today, he would probably think this was a great idea. In fact, in addition to the Skinner box, he also invented what he called a teaching machine that was designed to reward small steps in learning Skinner, —an early forerunner of computer-assisted learning.

If students answered questions correctly, they received immediate positive reinforcement and could continue; if they answered incorrectly, they did not receive any reinforcement. The idea was that students would spend additional time studying the material to increase their chance of being reinforced the next time Skinner, In negative reinforcement , an undesirable stimulus is removed to increase a behavior.

The annoying sound stops when you exhibit the desired behavior, increasing the likelihood that you will buckle up in the future. Negative reinforcement is also used frequently in horse training. Riders apply pressure—by pulling the reins or squeezing their legs—and then remove the pressure when the horse performs the desired behavior, such as turning or speeding up.

The pressure is the negative stimulus that the horse wants to remove. Many people confuse negative reinforcement with punishment in operant conditioning, but they are two very different mechanisms. Remember that reinforcement, even when it is negative, always increases a behavior. In contrast, punishment always decreases a behavior. In positive punishment , you add an undesirable stimulus to decrease a behavior.

An example of positive punishment is scolding a student to get the student to stop texting in class. In this case, a stimulus the reprimand is added in order to decrease the behavior texting in class. In negative punishment , you remove a pleasant stimulus to decrease a behavior.

For example, a driver might blast her horn when a light turns green, and continue blasting the horn until the car in front moves. Punishment, especially when it is immediate, is one way to decrease undesirable behavior.

For example, imagine your four-year-old son, Brandon, runs into the busy street to get his ball. You give him a time-out positive punishment and tell him never to go into the street again. While strategies like time-outs are common today, in the past children were often subject to physical punishment, such as spanking. First, punishment may teach fear. Brandon may become fearful of the street, but he also may become fearful of the person who delivered the punishment—you, his parent.

Similarly, children who are punished by teachers may come to fear the teacher and try to avoid school Gershoff et al. Consequently, most schools in the United States have banned corporal punishment.

Second, punishment may cause children to become more aggressive and prone to antisocial behavior and delinquency Gershoff, They see their parents resort to spanking when they become angry and frustrated, so, in turn, they may act out this same behavior when they become angry and frustrated. While positive punishment can be effective in some cases, Skinner suggested that the use of punishment should be weighed against the possible negative effects. In his operant conditioning experiments, Skinner often used an approach called shaping.

Instead of rewarding only the target behavior, in shaping , we reward successive approximations of a target behavior. Why is shaping needed? Remember that in order for reinforcement to work, the organism must first display the behavior. Shaping is needed because it is extremely unlikely that an organism will display anything but the simplest of behaviors spontaneously. In shaping, behaviors are broken down into many small, achievable steps.

The specific steps used in the process are the following: Reinforce any response that resembles the desired behavior. Then reinforce the response that more closely resembles the desired behavior. You will no longer reinforce the previously reinforced response.

Next, begin to reinforce the response that even more closely resembles the desired behavior. Continue to reinforce closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior. Finally, only reinforce the desired behavior. Shaping is often used in teaching a complex behavior or chain of behaviors. Skinner used shaping to teach pigeons not only such relatively simple behaviors as pecking a disk in a Skinner box, but also many unusual and entertaining behaviors, such as turning in circles, walking in figure eights, and even playing ping pong; the technique is commonly used by animal trainers today.

An important part of shaping is stimulus discrimination. This discrimination is also important in operant conditioning and in shaping behavior. They use shaping to help him master steps toward the goal. Instead of performing the entire task, they set up these steps and reinforce each step.

First, he cleans up one toy. Second, he cleans up five toys. Third, he chooses whether to pick up ten toys or put his books and clothes away. Fourth, he cleans up everything except two toys. Finally, he cleans his entire room. Rewards such as stickers, praise, money, toys, and more can be used to reinforce learning.

How did the rats learn to press the lever in the Skinner box? They were rewarded with food each time they pressed the lever. For animals, food would be an obvious reinforcer. What would be a good reinforce for humans? For your daughter Sydney, it was the promise of a toy if she cleaned her room. How about Joaquin, the soccer player? If you gave Joaquin a piece of candy every time he made a goal, you would be using a primary reinforcer.

Primary reinforcers are reinforcers that have innate reinforcing qualities. These kinds of reinforcers are not learned. Water, food, sleep, shelter, sex, and touch, among others, are primary reinforcers. Pleasure is also a primary reinforcer. Organisms do not lose their drive for these things. For most people, jumping in a cool lake on a very hot day would be reinforcing and the cool lake would be innately reinforcing—the water would cool the person off a physical need , as well as provide pleasure.

A secondary reinforcer has no inherent value and only has reinforcing qualities when linked with a primary reinforcer.

Another example, money, is only worth something when you can use it to buy other things—either things that satisfy basic needs food, water, shelter—all primary reinforcers or other secondary reinforcers. If you were on a remote island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and you had stacks of money, the money would not be useful if you could not spend it.

What about the stickers on the behavior chart? They also are secondary reinforcers. Sometimes, instead of stickers on a sticker chart, a token is used.

Tokens, which are also secondary reinforcers, can then be traded in for rewards and prizes. Entire behavior management systems, known as token economies, are built around the use of these kinds of token reinforcers. Token economies have been found to be very effective at modifying behavior in a variety of settings such as schools, prisons, and mental hospitals. For example, a study by Cangi and Daly found that use of a token economy increased appropriate social behaviors and reduced inappropriate behaviors in a group of autistic school children.

Autistic children tend to exhibit disruptive behaviors such as pinching and hitting. When they hit or pinched, they lost a token. The children could then exchange specified amounts of tokens for minutes of playtime. Behavior modification uses the principles of operant conditioning to accomplish behavior change so that undesirable behaviors are switched for more socially acceptable ones.

Some teachers and parents create a sticker chart, in which several behaviors are listed [link]. Sticker charts are a form of token economies, as described in the text. Each time children perform the behavior, they get a sticker, and after a certain number of stickers, they get a prize, or reinforcer. The goal is to increase acceptable behaviors and decrease misbehavior. Remember, it is best to reinforce desired behaviors, rather than to use punishment.

In the classroom, the teacher can reinforce a wide range of behaviors, from students raising their hands, to walking quietly in the hall, to turning in their homework. At home, parents might create a behavior chart that rewards children for things such as putting away toys, brushing their teeth, and helping with dinner. In order for behavior modification to be effective, the reinforcement needs to be connected with the behavior; the reinforcement must matter to the child and be done consistently.

Sticker charts are a form of positive reinforcement and a tool for behavior modification. Once this little girl earns a certain number of stickers for demonstrating a desired behavior, she will be rewarded with a trip to the ice cream parlor.

Time-out is another popular technique used in behavior modification with children. It operates on the principle of negative punishment. When a child demonstrates an undesirable behavior, she is removed from the desirable activity at hand [link]. For example, say that Sophia and her brother Mario are playing with building blocks. Sophia throws some blocks at her brother, so you give her a warning that she will go to time-out if she does it again.

A few minutes later, she throws more blocks at Mario. You remove Sophia from the room for a few minutes. There are several important points that you should know if you plan to implement time-out as a behavior modification technique.

First, make sure the child is being removed from a desirable activity and placed in a less desirable location. If the activity is something undesirable for the child, this technique will backfire because it is more enjoyable for the child to be removed from the activity.

Second, the length of the time-out is important. Sophia is five; therefore, she sits in a time-out for five minutes. Setting a timer helps children know how long they have to sit in time-out.

Finally, as a caregiver, keep several guidelines in mind over the course of a time-out: remain calm when directing your child to time-out; ignore your child during time-out because caregiver attention may reinforce misbehavior ; and give the child a hug or a kind word when time-out is over. Time-out is a popular form of negative punishment used by caregivers. When a child misbehaves, he or she is removed from a desirable activity in an effort to decrease the unwanted behavior. For example, a a child might be playing on the playground with friends and push another child; b the child who misbehaved would then be removed from the activity for a short period of time.

Remember, the best way to teach a person or animal a behavior is to use positive reinforcement. For example, Skinner used positive reinforcement to teach rats to press a lever in a Skinner box. At first, the rat might randomly hit the lever while exploring the box, and out would come a pellet of food. After eating the pellet, what do you think the hungry rat did next? It hit the lever again, and received another pellet of food. Each time the rat hit the lever, a pellet of food came out. When an organism receives a reinforcer each time it displays a behavior, it is called continuous reinforcement.

This reinforcement schedule is the quickest way to teach someone a behavior, and it is especially effective in training a new behavior. Now, each time he sits, you give him a treat. Timing is important here: you will be most successful if you present the reinforcer immediately after he sits, so that he can make an association between the target behavior sitting and the consequence getting a treat. Watch this video clip where veterinarian Dr. Once a behavior is trained, researchers and trainers often turn to another type of reinforcement schedule—partial reinforcement.

In partial reinforcement , also referred to as intermittent reinforcement, the person or animal does not get reinforced every time they perform the desired behavior. There are several different types of partial reinforcement schedules [link]. These schedules are described as either fixed or variable, and as either interval or ratio.

Fixed refers to the number of responses between reinforcements, or the amount of time between reinforcements, which is set and unchanging. Variable refers to the number of responses or amount of time between reinforcements, which varies or changes.

Interval means the schedule is based on the time between reinforcements, and ratio means the schedule is based on the number of responses between reinforcements. A fixed interval reinforcement schedule is when behavior is rewarded after a set amount of time. For example, June undergoes major surgery in a hospital. During recovery, she is expected to experience pain and will require prescription medications for pain relief.

June is given an IV drip with a patient-controlled painkiller. Her doctor sets a limit: one dose per hour. June pushes a button when pain becomes difficult, and she receives a dose of medication.

Since the reward pain relief only occurs on a fixed interval, there is no point in exhibiting the behavior when it will not be rewarded. With a variable interval reinforcement schedule , the person or animal gets the reinforcement based on varying amounts of time, which are unpredictable. Say that Manuel is the manager at a fast-food restaurant.