OPERANT CONDITIONING

What are the main features/ideas of operant conditioning

Learning through consequence

When a behaviour leads to a positive reward like food it is more likely to be repeated however when it leads to a negative consequence such as a shock then. We are less likely to repeat it eg pushing a button or pulling a lever

What is meant by discrimination / give an example

The behaviour only repeated when a specific consequence happens such as a bid learning to discriminate between a green and red light when they only receive food when they press a green lever

What is meant by generalisation

Extending a behaviour to a range of similar consequences like a bird trying out different similar coloured lights if a yellow one produces food

What did THORNDIKE say

Law of effect-When a behaviour leads to a positive reward like food it is more likely to be repeated however when it leads to a negative consequence such as a shock then. We are less likely to repeat it eg pushing a button or pulling a lever

What was the purpose of the Skinner box

To test the idea of operant conditioning on animals more objectively

What is meant by reinforcement

A consequence of a behaviour used to encourage repetition

What is meant by punishment

A consequence of a behaviour to discourage repetition

What does positive mean in terms of OC

Adding something (person gains something)

What does negative mean in terms of OC

Removing something (person loses something)

Evaluate operant conditioning

+skinner pigeon study shows pigeons can be conditioned to have superstition in believing they will only be fed when they perform a certain behaviour when given food at regular intervals

-not the only behaviour explanation SLT says we learn by imitation

+apply to schools to encourage good behaviour etc

-Pavlov dogs- learned by association so doesn’t explain all behaviour -reductionist

+many supporting studies try to generalise animals to human behaviour which isn’t correct

Describe skinner pigeon study

Skinner wanted to see if pigeons could be conditioned to think and behave suspiciously when given food a regular intervals

He placed hungry pigeons in cages and they had all been reduced to 75% of their normal weight

For few mins everyday a mechanism fed them at regular intervals

¾ of the pigeons seemed to learn and behave superstitiously thinking they would only be fed if they performed a specific action that they happened to be ding at the time of the feed. For example one pigeon thought that food would only appear if they turned round in the cage three times anticlockwise.

So it was found that pigeons can be conditioned to act superstitiously and learn by consequence which was the food

Evaluate skinner pigeon study

-can’t generalise animals to humans

+lab procedure standardised removing EVs

-not only explanation -SLT etc

What is meant by primary reinforcers

Meet basic human needs eg food

What is meant by secondary reinforcers

Help achieve a primary reinforcer such as praise or money etc

What is the name for the pattern where consequences of behaviour may occur every time the action is performed or only sometimes

Schedules of reinforcement

How would you define behaviour shaping

When the desired behaviour is shaped in the human or animal in stages along the way