Module 6: Operant Conditioning

A comprehensive vocabulary review of Module 6: Operant Conditioning covering foundational theories, behavioral contingencies, reinforcers, schedules of reinforcement, behavioral modification techniques, and punishment.

Law of Effect

Edward Thorndike's principle stating that behaviors producing a positive outcome will be repeated, while behaviors leading to a negative outcome will not be repeated.

Trial-and-Error Learning

A learning process where an organism makes responses randomly until a solution is found, exemplified by cats escaping a puzzle box faster on successive trials until learning the exact actions needed.

Operant Conditioning

A form of learning defined by B.F. Skinner in which organisms learn to associate their voluntary behavior with consequences.

Stimulus (Antecedent)

Whatever environmental cue or condition comes immediately before a behavior.

Response (Behavior)

A voluntary behavioral action emitted by an organism.

Consequence

The outcome resulting from a behavior.

Positive Reinforcement (PR)

A behavioral contingency in which a favorable stimulus is given or added following a behavior, causing that behavior to increase (e.g., praise or rewards).

Negative Reinforcement (NR)

A behavioral contingency in which an unpleasant stimulus is removed following a behavior, causing that behavior to increase (e.g., taking Tylenol to make a headache go away).

Positive Punishment (PP)

A behavioral contingency in which an unpleasant stimulus is given or added following a behavior, causing that behavior to decrease (e.g., spanking).

Negative Punishment (NP)

A behavioral contingency in which a favorable stimulus is taken away following a behavior, causing that behavior to decrease (e.g., taking away a phone).

Primary (Unconditioned) Reinforcers

Stimuli with innate reinforcing qualities whose value does not need to be learned, such as food, water, temperature, and sex (or extreme temperatures, pain, and punches as punishers).

Secondary (Conditioned) Reinforcers

Stimuli with no inherent value whose reinforcing value must be learned through experience, such as praise, money, grades, stickers, and points (or speeding tickets, loss of privileges, ridicule, and late fees as punishers).

Discriminative Stimulus ($S^D$)

An antecedent stimulus that signals whether a specific reinforcement will or will not occur.

Stimulus Control

The phenomenon occurring when an antecedent has been consistently linked to a behavior in the past, thereby gaining control over the occurrence of that behavior.

Generalization

The tendency of a behavior to occur in the presence of novel stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus.

Discrimination

The process of reinforcing a behavior exclusively when a specific antecedent is present, and only when it is present.

Continuous Reinforcement

A schedule where an organism receives a reinforcer each time it displays a behavior; it is the quickest way to teach a behavior and requires precise timing (e.g., giving a dog a treat every time it sits when told).

Fixed Ratio (FR) Schedule

A schedule in which reinforcement is delivered after a set, predictable number of responses.

Variable Ratio (VR) Schedule

A schedule in which reinforcement is delivered after an unpredictable, changing number of responses.

Fixed Interval (FI) Schedule

A schedule in which reinforcement is delivered after a predictable, set amount of time has elapsed.

Variable Interval (VI) Schedule

A schedule in which reinforcement is delivered at unpredictable, changing time intervals.

Shaping

Molding a new behavior by reinforcing successive approximations toward the target behavior, rewarding movements progressively closer to the final goal.

Prompting

Adding an auxiliary stimulus to a situation to increase the likelihood that the desired response will be emitted when needed.

Fading

The gradual removal of prompts once the desired behavior reliably occurs in the presence of the discriminative stimulus ($S^D$).

Extinction

The decline and eventual disappearance of a conditioned response that occurs when a behavior, speech, thought, or feeling has not been reinforced for some time.

Spontaneous Recovery

The reappearance of an extinguished response, demonstrating that extinction is not merely forgetting how to make the response and that the learning remains accessible.

Time-Out

A disciplinary procedure where an individual is removed from an activity because they are engaging in undesirable or problem behavior.

Response Cost

A type of negative punishment in which a specified amount of a reinforcer is taken away when an undesirable or problem behavior is displayed.

Problems with Punishment

The limitations and drawbacks of punitive techniques: they are often administered inappropriately, evoke anxiety, fear, or rage in the recipient, produce temporary suppression, are difficult to apply immediately, and convey little information about correct behavior.