Theories of Personality: B.F. Skinner

Biography

• 1904 - 1990
• Skinner’s life
  • Predetermined, lawful, and orderly
  • A product of past reinforcements
• 1925: Hamilton College (NY): degree in English, no courses in Psychology
• Read about Pavlov’s and Watson’s experimental work
• 1931: PhD from Harvard
• Dealt only with observable behavior
• The task of scientific inquiry: to establish functional relationships between experimenter-controlled stimulus and organism’s response
• No presumptions about internal entities – the “empty organism” approach

Operant Conditioning

• Operant Behavior
  • Occurs without an observable external stimulus
  • Operates on the organism’s environment
  • The behavior is instrumental in securing and stimulus more representative of everyday learning

Skinner’s Theory

All we need to know in order to describe and explain behavior is this: actions followed by good outcomes are likely to recur, and actions followed by bad outcomes are less likely to recur.

Law of Effect

Skinner’s Rats

• Skinner tested out the theory of operant conditioning on rats
• Rats were placed in metal cages with a number of levels. At first the rat would nose around the cage and accidentally press the levers, an action that would cause food or water to drop into a dish. After repeating the action, the rats saw that they could receive food and water by pressing the lever. (learned this behavior)
• So, when the rats were rewarded they were conditioned to repeat this positive action to continue being rewarded

Personality from an Operant Analysis Approach

• Personality: study of unique learning history and unique genetic make-up (assuming that the person is not an identical twin) of the individual
• Operant Conditioning: establishment of the linkage or association between a behavior and its consequences
• Operant Analysis: study of the ways in which behavior is acquired, maintained, or modified by its reinforcing or punishing consequences

Operant Conditioning Techniques

• Positive Reinforcement: increasing a behavior by administering a reward
• Negative Reinforcement: increasing a behavior by removing an aversive stimulus when a behavior occurs
• Punishment: decreasing behavior by administering an aversive stimulus following a behavior (+) or by removing a positive stimulus (-)

Operant Conditioning

• Contingency:
  • Relationship between a behavior and its consequences
  • 3 Term Contingency: this kind of contingency has 3 parts:
  • The events that precede the behavior
  • The behavior itself
  • The consequences that follow the behavior
• Discrimination: responding differently in the presence of different situational events
• Components of Operant Conditioning
  • Generalization: learned response is made to a wide range of stimuli
  • Extinction*:* reduction in behavior that occurs as a result of the failure to reinforce previously reinforced behavior
  • Shaping: teaching a new behavior by reinforcing responses that successfully approximate it

Schedules of Reinforcement

• Reinforcement is necessary in operant behavior
• Interval Schedule:
  • Reinforcement occurs after a certain amount of time has passed
  • Fixed Interval: reinforcement is presented after a fixed amount of time
  • Variable Interval: reinforcement is delivered on a random or variable time schedule
• Ratio Schedule:
  • Reinforcement occurs after a certain number of responses
  • Fixed Ratio: reinforcement presented after a fixed number of responses
  • Variable Ratio: reinforcement delivery is variable but based on an overall average number of responses

Limited Effects of Punishment

• Punishment does not teach appropriate behaviors
• Must be delivery immediately and consistently
• May result in negative side effects
• Undesirable behaviors may be learned through modelling (aggression)
• May create negative emotions (anxiety and fear)

How Complex Behaviors are Learned

• Successive Approximation or Shaping
  • Reinforcing behaviors as they come to approximate the desired behavior
• Superstitious Behavior
  • When persistent behaviors are reinforced coincidentally rather than functionally
• Self-Control of Behavior
  • Stimulus avoidance
  • Self-administered satiation
  • Aversive stimulation
  • Self-reinforcement

Why is it Important to the Social Sciences?

• Knowing how people learn behavior is a necessity to our society so that we can control and promote the good behavior, which will benefit society as a whole
• The theory of operant conditioning helps us to be a great influence on behavior
• Helps us to understand how to improve behaviors (people with problem behaviors and criminal histories)

Behavior Modification

• Used in a variety of applied settings
• Reinforce desired behavior and extinguish undesired behavior
• Punishment is not used

Contributions of Skinner’s Behaviorism

• Shaped American Psychology for 30 years
• Goal: the improvement of society
• Strength and ramifications of his radical behaviorism

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