Operant Conditioning is a learning process in which reinforcers strengthen a new behavior.
Operant conditioning is one type of learning process
based on scientific evidence that organisms learn some new behaviors when a behavioral
action is followed by a reinforcer. The learning becomes evident when the new
behavior is repeated.
Operant conditioning is also called instrumental
conditioning.
Organisms- The word organisms in the definition makes it
clear that both humans and animals learn some new behaviors this way.
Reinforcers: Reinforcers are
consequences that strengthen behavior. The key word is strengthen. Consequences
that weaken behavior are punishers. It cannot be determined if something is a
reinforcer until after it has been delivered following a behavioral response
because evidence of an increase in the targeted behavior is the key evidence
supporting the conclusion that the behavior was strengthened, that is,
reinforced.
There is confusion over the concepts of positive and
negative reinforcement. The way to think about positive and negative is as
arithmetic terms of addition and subtraction.
Positive reinforcers are stimulus events
that measurably result in an increase in behavior when added to the behavioral
response -> consequence sequence. Example: a consumer learns to buy more
products when they earn points for purchases. If buying increases then the
points functioned as a positive reinforcer.
Negative reinforcers are stimulus events
that measurably result in an increase in behavior when subtracted (removed
from) the behavioral response -> consequence sequence. Example: a consumer
learns to pay for an online video service to remove (subtract) annoying
advertising. Negative reinforcement is not punishment.
Rewards are not necessarily reinforcers. Although some
writers refer to reinforcers as rewards, that is not scientifically accurate.
Reinforcers refer to anything that follows a behavioral response and causes an
increase (strengthens) in future responding (strengthens) as is evident by
plotting the results of learning trials when the reinforcing stimulus is
presented following a specific target behavior.
If a consequence results in a decrease in behavior,
the behavior has been punished. Example: If a child is brought to the front of
an audience of peers and given an award for their behavior, but the behavior
declines following the award (such as due to feeling embarrassed or bullied)
then the award event is a punisher despite the efforts of the people
thinking they were rewarding good behavior.
If the consequence does not result in a change in
behavior, the behavior has not been reinforced or punished. The stimulus event
is neutral. Example: If a child does not learn appropriate behavior after being
sent to their room then the consequence is neutral. The proposed reinforcer
doesn’t work and is classified as a neutral reinforcer.
Psychologists and Operant Conditioning
American psychologist Edward L. Thorndike (31
August 1874 – 9 August 1949) studied learning in cats in the early 1900s. They learned to press
a level opening a door so they could obtain food. Following repeated trials,
the cats quickly learned the procedure. The finding was called the Law of
Effect, which influenced B. F. Skinner’s work on the process of operant
conditioning. Thorndike's learning apparatus was called a puzzle box.
American psychologist B.F. (Burrhus
Frederic) Skinner (20 Mary 1904 – 18 August 1990) studied pigeons who
learned new responses following food reinforcers delivered in a laboratory
device called the Skinner box (an operant conditioning chamber).
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Geoffrey W. Sutton, PhD is Emeritus Professor of Psychology. He retired from a clinical practice and was credentialed in clinical neuropsychology and psychopharmacology. His website is www.suttong.com
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