Operant Conditioning

There are two other concepts you need to learn about. The first is stimulus discrimination, which involves the ability to distinguish between similar but distinct stimuli, responding differently to each type of stimulus. Stimulus generalization is the opposite of this. It involves having a conditioned response to things that are similar to the original conditioned stimulus.

Habituation happens when the stimulus is repeated regularly so as to gradually lead to a decreased response. It is involved with becoming so accustomed to a stimulus that it is ignored and no longer responded to.

John B Watson founded the discipline of behaviorism in the early 20th century. It is not based on the subconscious but is based on stimulus and response reactions. According to Watson, internal processes cannot be seen so the focus should be on behaviors that are observable. He worked with a baby in order to demonstrate the conditioning of fears. The baby was ultimately conditioned to fear neutral stimuli by pairing it with something aversive. The child also experienced generalized responses to related stimuli that were not initially paired with the aversive stimulus.

OPERANT CONDITIONING

Operant conditioning pairs a behavior with a certain consequence. Positive consequences increase the likelihood of the behavior, while negative consequences decrease the likelihood of the behavior. This basically means using reward and punishment in order to modify behavior. BF Skinner was the main proponent of this type of learning. It is based on the law of effect, which indicates that behaviors with rewards are repeated and behaviors with punishments are not likely to be repeated.

Skinner worked mainly with rats and pigeons. Rats were taught to push on a lever, while pigeons were taught how to peck on a disk. The Skinner box contained a speaker and lights that were used to elicit a response, while there was a recorder to document the responses themselves.

The terms you need to know with regard to operant conditioning include positive and negative. A positive reinforcement means adding something to increase the behavior, while a negative reinforcement is removing something to increase the behavior. The

same is true of a positive and negative punishment. A reinforcement is something done to increase a behavior, while a punishment is something done to decrease a behavior.

Positive reinforcement is the most effective way of teaching someone or an animal a new behavior. Positive reinforcement is used all the time in both children and adults. It is the type of reinforcement one gets from getting paid after doing one s job or when rewarding a child for doing a specific behavior or task. With negative reinforcement, there is an undesirable stimulus removed to increase a behavior. This is used by automobile manufacturers that have a loud noise that is subsequently removed when the person uses their seatbelt.

Punishment is not the same as negative reinforcement. Punishment will always decrease a particular behavior. Taking away a favorite toy if a child misbehaves is an example of negative punishment, while scolding a child is an example of positive punishment. The downside is that punishment will instill fear in the child that can be generalized to the person delivering the punishment. Punishment will also increase aggression and antisocial behavior in a child.

Shaping is involved in operant conditioning. It involves successively rewarding behavior that increasingly approaches the target behavior. This is necessary in order to get more complex behaviors accomplished. Initially, any behavior that resembles the target behavior is rewarded but later, the reward is given specifically for the target behavior only. It is a way to teach a chain of behaviors or a complex behavior. This is also what s used for training animals but it can be used for human behavior as well.

There are also primary and secondary reinforcers. Food or a direct reward similar to food is an example of a primary reinforcer that does not have to be learned. Touch, sex, food, sleep, water, and shelter are primary reinforcers because they are naturally reinforcing. Secondary reinforcers have no inherent value but are generally linked to a primary reinforcer. Money is an example of a secondary reinforcer. It must be tied to something primary in order to be effective.

There are different reinforcement schedules that can be a part of operant conditioning. Continuous reinforcement is when a reward is given every time the behavior is performed. This is good for promoting new behaviors. Partial reinforcement is also