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Operant Conditioning Mrs. Hensley AP Psychology

Operant Conditioning Mrs. Hensley AP Psychology. Reinforcement Theory

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Page 1: Operant Conditioning Mrs. Hensley AP Psychology. Reinforcement Theory

Operant Conditioning

Mrs. Hensley

AP Psychology

Page 2: Operant Conditioning Mrs. Hensley AP Psychology. Reinforcement Theory

Reinforcement Theory

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIEt6TrjJXw&feature=player_embedded

Page 3: Operant Conditioning Mrs. Hensley AP Psychology. Reinforcement Theory

The Behaviorist Perspective

• Burrhus (B.F.) Skinner was very much influenced by Watson’s behaviorist ideas.

• Also realized that the psychology proposed by Watson had some serious shortcomings.

• In particular, a psychology based wholly on classical conditioning assumes that organisms are essentially passive – they just hang around waiting for stimuli to respond to.

• To Skinner it seemed obvious that people and animals actively engage with their environments.

• Skinner’s important insight was that an animal’s – or a person’s – behavior was determined by the consequences of its past behavior

Page 4: Operant Conditioning Mrs. Hensley AP Psychology. Reinforcement Theory

Skinner’s Main Ideas

• Operant Condition: future behavior is determined by the consequences of past behavior

• Reinforcement: consequence that strengthens a behavior

• Punishment: consequence that weakens a behavior

• Shaping: used to teach complex behaviors (broken down into a series of simple behaviors) • Ex: used to teach tricks to animals

• Stimulus Control: learn that a certain behavior only brings reinforcement under certain conditions.

Page 5: Operant Conditioning Mrs. Hensley AP Psychology. Reinforcement Theory

Reinforcers

Consequence What it involves Effect on behavior

Positive Reinforcement

Presenting something the organism likes

Strengthened

Negative Reinforcement

Removing something the organism doesn’t like

Strengthened

Punishment Presenting something the organism doesn’t like

Weakened

Page 6: Operant Conditioning Mrs. Hensley AP Psychology. Reinforcement Theory

Operant Conditioning

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=I_ctJqjlrHA