Operant Conditioning Notes

4.4 Behaviourist Approaches to Learning: Operant Conditioning

Key Concepts

• Operant Conditioning: A learning process where the consequences of a behavior (e.g., reward or punishment) determine the likelihood that it will be performed again in the future.

  • Involves voluntary actions, unlike classical conditioning which involves involuntary associations.

• Three-Phase Model (A-B-C):

  • Antecedent: A stimulus that occurs before the behavior. These are stimulus events, situations, or circumstances that precede an operant response. They can act as cues or prompts.

  • Behavior: Any action made by a living person (or animal) that can be observed or measured.

  • Consequence: The environmental event that occurs immediately after the relevant behavior and has an effect on the occurrence of the behavior.

• Reinforcement: When a stimulus strengthens or increases the frequency or likelihood of a response that it follows.

  • Increases the likelihood of a behavior.

  • Positive Reinforcement: Presentation of a positive reinforcer following a desired response.

    • Example: A child does the dishes and receives a lolly, increasing the likelihood of repeating the behavior.

  • Negative Reinforcement: Removal of an unpleasant or aversive stimulus, thereby strengthening or making a desired response more likely to reoccur.

    • Example: A child does their homework before 8pm and is relieved of their chores for that evening.

• Punishment: A type of consequence that makes the behavior less likely to occur again.

  • Weakens the response or decreases the probability of that response occurring again over time.

  • Positive Punishment: Presentation of an unpleasant stimulus that weakens a response or decreases the likelihood of the response occurring again.

    • Example: A child does not submit their homework and receives a poor grade from their teacher.

  • Negative Punishment (Response Cost): The removal or loss of a desirable stimulus, thereby weakening or decreasing the likelihood of a response recurring again.

    • Example: A parent takes away their child’s phone for watching too many videos.

Summary of Reinforcement and Punishment

Factors Influencing the Effectiveness of Reinforcement & Punishment

• Appropriateness: For any stimulus to be a reinforcer, it must provide a pleasing or satisfying consequence for its recipient.

• Timing: Reinforcer/punishment must be given immediately after the response has occurred.

• Order of presentation: Reinforcer/punishment must be presented after a desired response, never before.

Difference Between Classical and Operant Conditioning

Key Terms

• Operant conditioning

• Antecedent

• Behaviour

• Consequence

• Positive Reinforcement

• Negative Reinforcement

• Positive Punishment

• Negative Punishment

• Factors that influence the effectiveness of reinforcement & punishment

  • Order of presentation

  • Timing

  • Appropriateness

Observational learning, also known as social learning or modeling, is a process in which individuals learn by observing the behaviors of others and the consequences of those behaviors. This type of learning occurs without direct reinforcement or punishment, as it mainly relies on watching and imitating others. Key concepts involved in observational learning include:

1. Attention: For learning to take place, the learner must pay attention to the model’s behavior. Factors influencing attention include the model's characteristics (e.g., attractiveness, expertise) and the observer's level of interest.

2. Retention: The observer must be able to remember the behavior they observed. This involves encoding the details of the behavior into memory for later retrieval.

3. Reproduction: The learner must have the ability to reproduce the observed behavior. This requires physical and cognitive capabilities to enact the behavior.

4. Motivation: The learner must have the motivation to perform the observed behavior. This can come from seeing rewards received by the model or from the observer's own internal values.

Albert Bandura's Bobo doll experiment is a classic study illustrating observational learning, highlighting that children imitated aggressive behaviors they observed in adults when interacting with the doll. Overall, observational learning plays a crucial role in socializing children, teaching new behaviors, and facilitating skill acquisition within a social context.

Reinforcement: When a stimulus strengthens or increases the frequency or likelihood of a response that it follows. Increases the likelihood of a behavior.

• Positive Reinforcement: Presentation of a positive reinforcer following a desired response.

  • Example: A child does the dishes and receives a lolly, increasing the likelihood of repeating the behavior.

• Negative Reinforcement: Removal of an unpleasant or aversive stimulus, thereby strengthening or making a desired response more likely to reoccur.

  • Example: A child does their homework before 8pm and is relieved of their chores for that evening.