Operant Conditioning: Key Concepts and Examples for Psychology

What is the Law of Effect?

Behaviors with less favorable consequences occur less frequently, while behaviors followed by favorable consequences occur more frequently.

Who proposed the Law of Effect?

Edward Thorndike

What is operant conditioning?

A type of learning where the frequency of behavior depends on the consequences that follow it.

Define operant behavior.

Behavior that operates on the environment to produce rewarding or punishing stimuli.

What is instinctual drift?

The tendency of trained animals to revert back to instinctual behaviors despite training.

Give an example of instinctual drift.

A dog trained to fetch the newspaper starts tearing it apart instead of bringing it back.

What is shaping in operant conditioning?

A technique where successive approximations of a behavior are reinforced until the target behavior is performed.

How does positive reinforcement work?

It occurs when a desired stimulus follows a behavior, increasing the likelihood of that behavior being repeated.

Provide an example of positive reinforcement.

Doing the dishes and receiving $10 from parents.

What is negative reinforcement?

It occurs when an undesired stimulus is prevented or eliminated following a behavior.

Give an example of negative reinforcement.

Doing the dishes to stop parents from nagging.

What is positive punishment?

It occurs when an undesired stimulus follows a behavior.

Provide an example of positive punishment.

Not doing the dishes and being made to wash the car.

What is negative punishment?

It involves withdrawing a desirable stimulus following a behavior.

Give an example of negative punishment.

Not doing the dishes and having your cell phone taken away for the weekend.

What is chaining in operant conditioning?

Involves reinforcing individual responses occurring in a sequence to form a complex behavior.

How does shaping differ from chaining?

Shaping reinforces successive approximations of a behavior, while chaining involves learning individual responses that form a complex behavior.

What are primary reinforcers?

Unlearned and innately satisfying stimuli, such as food, air, sleep, and water.

Provide an example of a primary reinforcer.

Parents feeding you when you are hungry.

What are secondary (or conditioned) reinforcers?

Learned associations with primary reinforcers, such as money or grades.

Give an example of a secondary reinforcer.

Parents giving you money to buy food when you are hungry.

What is extinction in operant conditioning?

It results when a response is no longer reinforced, leading to a decrease in that behavior.

Provide an example of extinction.

Parents stop giving money for doing dishes, leading to the child stopping doing the dishes.

What is generalization in operant conditioning?

A behavior may be performed in more than one similar situation.

Give an example of generalization.

Doing the dishes at a neighbor's house hoping to get money.

What is discrimination in operant conditioning?

Learning that a behavior will be rewarded in one situation but not in another.

Provide an example of discrimination.

Knowing that only your parents will give you money for doing the dishes.