Operant Conditioning

What Is Operant
Conditioning?

Operant conditioning is a method of learning

that occurs through rewards and punishments
for behavior. Through operant conditioning, an
association is made between a behavior and a
consequence for that behavior.
 Operant conditioning was coined by
behaviorist Burrhus Frederic Skinner, who believed
that the organism, while going about it's everyday
activities, is in the process of “operating” on the
environment. In the course of its activities, the
organism encounters a special kind
called of stimulus, reinforcing
reinforcer. This special stimulus
a stimulus,has
or the effect of
increasing the behavioraoccurring just before the
simply
reinforcer.
 The Skinner’s at first the mouse
would have just
Box wondered
around in search
for food and
would have
accidentally
pressed down
on the lever
whilst exploring.
It would then
present him with
food, and the
mouse
would associate
the
pressing of
the lever with
the
presentation
of food.
Then it'll know whenever it's hungry to press that
lever because of that conditioning it went through.
 Skinner used the term operant to refer to
any "active behavior that operates upon the
environment to generate consequences"
 Examples of Operant
Conditioning
 children completing homework to earn
a reward from a parent or teacher
 employees finishing projects to receive
praise or promotions
a child who lost recess privileges because
he talk out of turn in class
 Components of Operant
Conditioning
• Reinforcement
– A kind of stimulus that aims to increase
the strength in behavior due to its
consequence
• Punishment
• Any event that causes a decrease in
the behavior
 Types of
Reinforcement
• Positive Reinforcements
are favorable events that are presented
after the behavior
(Reward Learning)
• Negative Reinforcement
a response or behavior is strengthened by
stopping, removing or avoiding a negative
outcome or aversive stimulus (escape-avoidance
learning)
Examples of positive reinforcement:
After executing the learning plan, the
principal said “Great job”.
A student answered all the items correctly in
the unit test. The teacher said “ you are
exempted in the periodic test”.
 Types of Positive
Reinforcers
A. Natural reinforcers are those that occur
directly as a result of the behavior. For
example, a girl studies hard, pays attention in
class and does her homework. As a result, she
gets excellent grades.
B. Token reinforcers are points or tokens that
are awarded for performing certain actions.
These tokens can then be exchanged for
something of value.
 C. Social reinforcers
involve expressing
approval of a
behavior, such as a
teacher, parent or
employer saying or
writing "Good job" or
"Excellent work."
 D. Tangible reinforcers
involve the
presentation of an
actual, physical reward
such as candy, treats,
toys, money and other
desired objects.
 When is positive reinforcement
most effective?

• When it occurs immediately after the

behavior
• When the reinforcement is
presented enthusiastically and
frequently
 Negative
Reinceforcement
• Examples:
– You leave your house early to avoid being late
– You clean up your mess in the kitchen to avoid
in a fight with your roommate
 When is negative reinforcement
most effective?

• it is most effective when reinforcers are

presented immediately following a
behavior
 Schedule of
Reinforcement
• A schedule of reinforcement is a rule
stating when and how often a behavior
will be reinforced.
– This is applicable when you are
purposely trying to train and reinforce
an action
 Types of reinforcement
schedules
1. Continuous Reinforcement
the desired behavior is reinforced every
single time it occurs. Generally, this schedule is
best used during the initial stages of learning in
order to create a strong association between
the behavior and the response.
2. Partial Reinforcement
the response is reinforced only part of
the
time.
Schedules of partial reinforcement:
1. Fixed-ratio schedules
are those where a response is
reinforced only after a specified number of
responses.
2.Variable- ratio schedules occur when a response is
reinforced after an unpredictable number of responses.
3.Fixed-interval schedules are those where the first
response is rewarded only after a specified amount of
time has elapsed.
4.Variable-interval schedules occur when a response is
rewarded after an unpredictable amount of time has
passed
 Punishmen
t
Punishment is a kind of stimulus that
aims to decrease the strength in behaviour
due to its consequence.
 Kinds of
punishment
• Positive punishment
involves presenting an unfavorable
outcome or event following an
undesirable behavior (punishment by
application)
Example:
wearing favorite dress to class but
reprimanded by the teacher for violating
the school’s dress code
 Negative
punishment
• It involves taking something good or
desirable away to reduce the occurrence of
particular behavior. (punishment by
removal)
Example:
after getting low grades in her subjects
because of spending more time in texting
rather than in studying, her mother takes her
cellphone away.
• Negative punishment is more effective
if:

• It immediately follows a response.

• It is applied consistently.
 Strength of
Behavior
Increases Decreases

Stimulus POSITIVE POSITIVE

is REINFORCEMENT PUNISHMENT
Consequences

presented

Stimulus
NEGATIVE NEGATIVE
is
REINFORCEMENT PUNISHMENT
removed
THE
END