Test your expertise by answering the following questions. Please either post your answers, or a general comment about your confidence in your knowledge, so that I have an idea of how much time we need to spend discussing/reviewing on Tuesday.
1. Define operant conditioning and describe an example.
2. According to Skinner, what is the likely outcome when a behavior is followed by a reinforcing stimulus?
3. Describe the difference between Skinner's schedules of reinforcement (i.e., continuous, fixed interval, fixed ratio, variable).
4. Define shaping and describe an example.
5. What is the difference between negative reinforcement and punishment?
6. What does Skinner's approach suggest about his view of human nature? Do you agree?
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1. Operant Conditioning is:
behavior + consequence = tendency to repeat behavior
child whines + child gets cookie = child is more likely to whine
2. When a behavior is followed by a reinforcing stimulus, the behavior is likely to continue and become more frequent
3. Continuous schedule is when a behavior is reinforced every single time. Fixed Ratio is when there is a rhythm to the reinforcements like in picking fruit(10 baskets of strawberries = 1 dollar). In Fixed Interval, time is associated with reward. Whether the rat lever once or one hundred times in 20 seconds, he still gets one pellet. Variable schedule is when there is not a rhythm to the reinforcements, like in gambling (7 pulls on slot machine = 1 coin, 3 pulls = 20 coins, 22 pulls = 2 coins).
4. Shaping is when you teach a behavior in "baby steps." Eventually, the task can be very complex. In teaching a child to read, you start with the alphabet, then phonetic sounds, then simple words, etc.
5. Punishment is where you give an undesirable consequence after an unwanted behavior (spanking), Negative Reinforcement is when you train the subject by removing a stimuli that is having an undesirable effect on them (nagging).
6. Skinner's approach indicates that he believes human beings are methodical creatures. They are trainable, as long as they are given small amounts of information at a time, and are praised/rewarded regularly for their effort.
1. Operant Conditioning: When a behavior is followed by a positive or reinforcing stimulus that behavior is more likely to occur in the future.
EX: When obedience training a puppy, the little treats make the puppy repeat that desired behavior because a reward is coming.
2. When a behavior is followed by a reinforcing stimulus the probability of that behavior being repeated in the future increases.
3. Schedules of reinforcement is when a certain behavior is rewarded a various intervals. Continuous reinforcement is when a behavior is rewarded each time it occurs. Fixed interval schedule is when a certain behavior is rewarded in a certain amount of time no matter how many times the behavior is repeated. Fixed ratio is when a behavior is rewarded after a fixed amount of times the behavior is repeated. A variable schedule is when the reward for a certain behavior is rewarded at an arbitrary rate that keeps changing. This is the behavior that leads to gambling issues.
4. Shaping is when a certain behavior is desired but it does not occur naturally. When a behavior occurs that in anyway resembles the desired behavior it is rewarded. By slowly rewarding behavior that gets closer and closer to the desired behavior you have shaped the behavior into what you wanted to begin with. An example of this is the PE teacher at my school getting the middle school students to run a mile. They start off the year by just running a short distance and each week the distance is increased just a tiny bit. Before they know it, they are running a mile and not having any problems doing it either.
5. Punishment is when a behavior is followed by an aversive stimulus that causes the probability of that behavior occuring in the future to decrease. Negative reinforcement is when an aversive stimulus is removed after a behavior and that behavior now increases in the future.
6. I think that Skinner is under the impression that human nature is shaped to a large extent by behavior stimuli. It is only by chance that a person grows up receiving positive or negative reinforcement for behaviors. The environment that a person grows up in will shape the behavior of an individual. This brings up the whole question of nature versus nurture. I think Skinner may have put a little too much stock in the nurture part of the equation and overlooked the nature part.
I took the quiz on paper, and realized I didn't really remember anything about shaping and was a little confused about the difference b/w punishment and negative reinforcement. Looking back over the article helped, all the rest of the questions were easy.
1. Operant Conditioning is when a particular behavior constitently gives a common consequences (good or bad) there is an expectation of that consequence as a result of repeated behavior.
Ny favorite examlpe is: Every time someone flushes a toilet in our older house, the shower becomes very hot and causes that person to jump back. Over time, everyone, if in the shower, begins to jump back automatically after hearing the flush, before the water temperature changes.
2. when someone does something and is rewarded, they will continue doing the same thing in order to get that reward.
3. Skinner's schedules are straight-forward and very similar to the way they sound.
4. The concept of shaping implies working toward a specific behavior using planned operant conditioning.
5. Every teacher should know this difference! Negative reinforcement is the removal of an unfavorable stimulus in order to increase the likelihood of a specific behavior recurring.Punishment is the implementation of an undesireable stimulus in order to discourage a specific behavior.
6. Not many people agree with Skinner as most of his research involved animals, not human subjects. We, as humans, were created with free will and as such are capable of making choices which defy any logic or reason.
1. Operant conditioning is the theory that when a behavior is followed by a consequence,the nature of the consequence modifies the tendency of the behavior being repeated in the future.
An example: Giving a sticker to a child for sharing will most likely result in the child repeating the behavior (sharing) in order to be rewarded.
2. When a behavior is followed by a reinforcing stimulus, the behavior has an increased probability of occurring again.
3. Continuous reinforcement schedule: reinforcement is given ever time the behavior occurs. Fixed interval schedule: reinforcement is given after the behavior occurs a certain amount of times. Variable schedule: reinforcement occurs after the behavior occurs at random, unpredictable times.
4. Shaping was Skinner's way of dealing with more complex behaviors. First, reinforcement is given to behavior only vaguely similar to the desired behavior and then behavior that is closer to it and so on until the desired behavior is eventually achieved.
5. Negative reinforcement is removing an aversive stimulus in the hopes of increasing a particular behavior. Punishment is following a behavior with an undesirable result, such as spanking.
6. I think Skinner's approach suggests he views humans as "simple" creatures who can be easily manipulated. While his theories may work on animals and even humans sometimes, humans are much more complex and there are so many reasons for their behaviors.
1. Operant conditioning is a process by which behaviors may be strengthened or modified through positive and/or negative reinforcements. I believe that a simple example of operant conditioning is that of allowance, whereby a child receives a set amount of money for performing certain chores (and, if the child does not do the required work, he/she does not receive the money associated with these tasks).
2. In general, Skinner believed that reinforcing stimuli would strengthen particular behaviors.
3. The main differences between Skinner’s schedules of reinforcement concern time periods and the number of attempts before the reinforcing stimulus is received. (Note: I believe that the names of the various schedules reflect the individual differences.)
4. The concept of shaping seems to be a system of steps, where each one builds upon comfort or confidence in the previous step, in order to achieve a desired outcome. For example, when teaching my son how to swim, I first had to help him be comfortable near a pool of water. Then, I would hold his hand a we would walk onto the first step. Each time we went to the pool, we would go on the next step, but only after he was comfortable with the proceeding one. Eventually we would wade in the water, then I would hold him swim with him until he finally became confident enough to swim on his own without the need for me to hold him or the use of a floatation device.
5. Reinforcement, whether it is negative or positive, is designed to strengthen particular actions or behaviors. Punishment, on the other hand, is designed to eliminate or weaken actions or behaviors. In my opinion, and according to the articles presented about Skinner, punishment is often much less successful than negative reinforcement.
6. Skinner’s approach to operant conditioning reflects the view that individuals and organisms) are pliable creatures that can be manipulated to behave in a certain fashion with the appropriate stimuli (or lack thereof). Although I do believe that individuals are ‘flexible’ and can often be manipulated to perform or act in a particular manner, I think that Skinner neglects other innate aspects of human behaviors and desires.
1. What is operant conditioning?
The relationship between an individual organism and the world around it.
2. According to Skinner, what is the likely outcome when a behavior is followed by a reinforcing stimulus? The likely outcome is the behavior will be repeated.
3. Describe the difference between Skinner's schedules of reinforcement (i.e., continuous, fixed interval, fixed ratio, variable).
Continuous is when the reinforce is given without interruptions. Fix Ratio when the one reinforcement is given for a multiple number of actions in the form of a ratio. An examples is if a rat had to ring a bell 5 times to receive one pellet. Therefore, the 5:1 is the fixed ratio. Fixed Interval is when the reinforcement is given during a certain time period. For example, if a rat push the lever during a designated period of time (30 seconds) it receives one pellet. Regardless of the amount of times the
lever is pushed during the period only one pellet is given.
4. Define shaping and describe an example.
Shaping is gaining a desired behavior by rewarding behaviors that are similar to the desire one. For example, potty train is a behavior which acquired by shaping the child's mind by exposing him little by little to potty and toilet.
5. What is the difference between negative reinforcement and punishment?
An aversive stimulus (negative reinforcement) is the opposite of a reinforcing stimulus, something we might find unpleasant or painful. A behavior followed by an aversive stimulus results in a decreased probability of the behavior occurring in the future.
6. What does Skinner's approach suggest about his view of human nature?
Do you agree? He felt human nature was something that could be controlled and manipulated. I agree with view of human nature to a certain degree, but it doesn't take support the nature theory in the nature vs. nurture debate.
SKINNER
Operant conditioning is the process of using consequences to control behavior
Reinforcement of a behavior most likely conditions the repeat of the behavior
Variable – red; Fixed – blue; Variable interval – green; Fixed interval – black
(reinforcement shown as hash marks)
In order of effect, the different timelines for treatment (reinforcement) are – fastest to slowest – variable/random responses; Fixed/consistent response; Variable interval response; and, Fixed interval response. When and how often you provide behavioral consequences controls the ultimate speed of actual conditioning.
Shaping is the process of using operant conditioning to manipulate behavior one step at a time. Can sometimes be quite time consuming in order to address more complex skill development.
Punishment is negative to the organism (physically, emotionally, psychologically painful), negative reinforcement is not attending the behavior that you wish to extinguish.
Skinner believed that humans could be as easily manipulated as animals, through conditioning. This fallacy minimizes the human ability to think intelligently. Once humans can think, they can choose to be conditioned or not.
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