Discuss Skinner’s Operant Conditioning theory .

Also explain positive and negative

reinforcement , escape and avoidance training,
primary and secondary reinforcers .
N YA RA D Z O M A KU M B E W 2 5 0 2 0 0
D I AT R I S H N YA KA B A U W 2 5 0 1 9 1
LECTURER :DR J CHIZHONGO
Burrhus Fredric Skinner (B.F.
SKINNER)
American psychologist , behaviourist ,inventor , author and social philosopher
Born in 1904
Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard University 1958 -1974
Known for Behaviour analysis ,Operant conditioning ,Radical behaviourism
Introduction
B.F Skinner , a prominent American psychologist and behaviourist significantly advanced the
field of learning theory with his development of operant conditioning. Skinner’s theory was
influenced by the work of other psychologists such as Thorndike, Pavlov and Watson. B.F
Skinner’s theory mainly focused on voluntary behaviour and its modification through
reinforcement and punishment . This presentation explores the core of operant conditioning ,
focusing on positive and negative reinforcement ,escape and avoidance learning and the
distinction between primary and secondary reinforcers.
 THE HISTORY OF THE THEORY
Skinner’s theory was influenced by the work of other psychologists :Edward Lee Thorndike ,Pavlov and
John .B Watson.
In 1905 ,Thorndike (trial and error theory) proposed a theory of behaviour called ‘Law of Effect’ which stated
that a response to a stimulus is reinforced when followed by a positive rewarding effect and a response to a
stimulus becomes stronger by exercise and repetition.
Thorndike put cat in a puzzle box to test his theory . If the cat found the lever and pushed it ,the box would
open and the cat would be rewarded with a piece of fish . The more it repeated this behaviour ,the more it
was rewarded . So the cat quickly learnt to go right to the lever and push it.
Pavlov demonstrated that dogs could learn to associate a neutral stimulus such as the sound of the bell , with
an automatic behaviour such as salivating to meat. Once the association was formed, the sound of the bell
alone would make the dog salivate .Pavlov strongly believed he had discovered the mechanism by which all
behaviours are learned.
The idea: positive results reinforce behaviours, making one more likely to repeat the same behaviour again
later on.
Cont …
John .B Watson was another psychologist who influenced Skinner and his theory of operant
conditioning.
He studied behaviour that could be observed and how that behaviour could be controlled ,as well
as the ways that behaviours are learned.
He coined the ‘behaviourism’ which is a field of psychology focused on how things are learned.
Skinner came along and advanced this theory, he created his Skinner box(operant conditioning
chamber),a device used to objectively record an animal’s behaviour which was similar to
Thorndike’s puzzle box.
In his box , he put pigeons and rats ,though not at the same time.
Skinner described the rats and pigeons as ‘free operants ’ which meant that they were free to
behave how they wanted in their environment (box ).However, their behaviours were shaped or
conditioned by what happened after their previous displays of those behaviours.
 Cont….
Skinner believed that the causes of behaviour are in the environment and do not result from inner mental events
such as thoughts , feelings or perceptions.
He argued that these inner mental events are behaviours themselves and like any other behaviours they are shaped
and determined by environmental forces.
While the organism is going out for its everyday activities its exposed to the ‘process of operating the environment’.
In the course of its activities, the organism encounters a special kind of stimulus , called a reinforcer which has the
effect of increasing or decreasing the behaviour occurring just before the reinforcer.
Through his experiments , Skinner identified three types of responses that followed behaviour:
1. Neutral responses : responses from the environment that produce no stimulus other than focusing attention
and they neither decrease or increase the probability of a behaviour being repeated.
2. Reinforcers: responses from the environment that increase the likelihood of a behaviour being
repeated .Reinforcers can be positive or negative.
3. Punishers: negative operants that decrease the likelihood of a behaviour .Punishment weakens the behaviour.
Operant conditioning (learning by consequence): the behaviour is followed by a consequence and the nature of the
consequence modifies the organism’s tendency to repeat the behaviour in the future
Cont….
A behaviour followed by reinforcing stimulus results in an increased probability of that
behaviour occurring in the future.
The organism operates on the environment rather than just reacting to the stimuli.
The operant conditioning is defined as a form of learning in which response come to be
controlled by their consequences . The response itself is called an operant response.
 Skinner Box and the rat
Skinner’s operant conditioning chamber was designed
to teach the rat how to push a lever.
Operant conditioning with negative an positive
reinforcement was practiced in order to teach the
behaviour as this behaviour is not usual to rats.
A hungry rat is placed in the Skinner box ,as it explored
the box it accidentally pressed the lever
A food pellet is dispensed as a reward
The rat learns to associate pressing the lever with
receiving food
The rat received electric shock until it pressed the lever
and the shock stops
With time the rat learnt to pull the lever frequently to
receive food or to stop electric shock
Skinner box and the pigeon
Skinner conditioned the pigeon to peck at a particular coloured disk only , when a light was on
the cage and thus , getting rewarded by food and water.
This is based on Skinner’s theory of operant conditioning: behaviours are repeated if they are
rewarded, and behaviours that are punished will be avoided.
Light=primary reinforcer
Food and water=secondary reinforcer
Operant behaviour: the way you choose to behave today is influenced by the consequences of
that behaviour in the past . Those consequences will either encourage and reinforce that
behaviour or they will discourage and punish that behaviour.
Reinforcement and punishment
in operant conditioning
Reinforcement and punishment are two ways to encourage and discourage behaviours
Reinforcement and punishment can be both positive and negative
Positive reinforcement: involves providing a pleasant stimulus to increase the likelihood of a
behaviour happening in the future e.g. the rat pushed the lever and it was rewarded with some food
pellets . The consequence of receiving food every time the rat hit pushed the lever ensured that the
animal repeated the action again and again.
Negative reinforcement: something unpleasant happens in response to a stimulus .Overtime, the
behaviour increases with the expectation that the aversive stimulant will be taken away e.g. the rat
was exposed to an unpleasant electric current which caused discomfort , as the rat moved about the
box it would accidentally knock the lever.
Immediately ,it did so the electric current would be switched off ,the ray learnt to go straight to the
lever after being put in the box a few times . The consequence of escaping the electric current ensured
that the rat would repeat the action again and again.
Cont….
Positive punishment: involves adding an aversive stimulus or something unpleasant
immediately following a behaviour to decrease the likelihood of that behaviour happening in the
future
Negative punishment: involves removing a desirable stimulus or something rewarding
immediately following a behaviour to decrease the likelihood of that behaviour happening in the
future
 Schedule of reinforcement
Behaviourists discovered that different patterns or schedules of reinforcement had different effects
on the speed of learning and extinction.
Fester and Skinner (1957) devised different ways of delivering reinforcement and found that this had
effects on :
1. The response rate : the rate at which the rat pressed the lever i.e. how hard the rat worked
2. The extinction rate : the rate at which lever pressing dies out i.e. how soon the rat gave up
Skinner found that variable-ratio reinforcement produces the slowest rate of extinction i.e. people
will continue repeating the behaviour for the longest time without reinforcement
The type of reinforcement with the quickest rate of extinction is continuous reinforcement
Continuous reinforcement : an animal or human is positively reinforced every time a specific behaviour
occurs e.g. every time a lever was pressed , a pellet is delivered and then food delivery is shut off
 Cont…
Response rate is SLOW
Extinction rate is FAST
Fixed ratio reinforcement: behaviour is reinforced only after the behaviour occurs a specified number of times e.g. one
reinforcement is given after every so many correct responses e.g. after every 5 th response . For example , a child
receives a star for every five words spelled correctly
Response rate is FAST
Extinction rate is MEDIUM
Fixed interval reinforcement : one reinforcement is given after a fixed time interval providing at least one correct
response has been made e.g. every 15 minutes a pellet is delivered( providing at least one lever press has been made)
then the food delivery is shut off
Response rate is MEDIUM
Extinction rate is MEDIUM
 Escape and avoidance training
These are two types of negative reinforcement
1. Escape training –learning of a behaviour that allows an organism to escape an aversive stimulus . It
occurs when an organism learns to terminate an unpleasant stimulus by engaging in a specific behaviour
As the rat was subjected to an unpleasant electric current , it would move around the box and it would
accidentally knock the lever . After it did so ,the electric current would be switched off . The rat learnt to go
straight to the lever after being put in the box a few times
The consequence of escaping the electric current ensured that the rat would repeat the action again and
again

2 . Avoidance training – learning of behaviour that allow an organism to avoid an aversive stimulus . It
involves acquiring the ability to prevent the occurrence of the aversive stimulus altogether
Cont….
Skinner taught the rat to avoid the electric current by turning on the light just before the electric
current came on . The rat soon learnt to press the lever when the light came on because it knew
that would stop the electric current from being switched on.
These two learned responses are know as Escape and Avoidance training
Primary and secondary
reinforcers
Primary reinforcers : stimuli that are naturally reinforcing because they are not learned and
directly satisfy a need such as food and water
Secondary reinforcers : stimuli that are reinforced through their association with a primary
reinforce such as money , school grades. They do not directly satisfy an innate need but may be
the means. Secondary reinforcers are powerful tools in shaping behaviour in educational and
social settings
REFERENCES
SimplyPsychology . Operant conditioning: What It Is ,How it Works , And Examples (2025) .
Available at https://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html

SimplyPsychology. Operant Conditioning In Psychology : B. F. Skinner Theory (2025).Available at

https://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html
Verywell Mind .Understanding Behavioural Psychology :the Skinner Box (2024). Available at
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-skinner-box-2795875