Operant Conditioning: Chapter Analysis

There are two learning processes that are used, classical condition and operant conditioning. One learning process used is classical conditioning. Classical conditioning is a learning process in which a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a meaningful stimulus and acquires the capacity to elicit a similar response. I found two TV commercials that are excellent examples for classical conditioning. The first commercial I found is an Old Spice commercial. The ad starts off with an attractive man in a bathroom telling women to compare the men in their lives to him, stating that if men would stop using girl body wash they could be like him. The ad then moves to a boat where the man in the commercial offers the women in the audience two tickets to something they would enjoy and diamonds and then states that anything is possible if men used Old Spice as a body wash to smell like a man, not a lady. The second commercial I chose is a Nike advertisement. Throughout the advertisement there are young, attractive, fit, and famous people working hard to succeed.

Operant Conditioning Theory by B.F. Skinner is a psychological manipulation using rewards and punishments to enforce positive behavior. It uses an individual person’s response to events or stimulus. When a particular Stimulus-Response pattern is rewarded, the individual is conditioned to respond. The distinctive characteristic of operant conditioning is related to previous forms of behaviorism. The Operant Conditioning theory comprises of neutral operants, positive/negative reinforcers, and positive/negative punishers. Through these factors, we get the desired behavior of our subject because they do not want to be punished for under performing so they do what they’re told to or do more of what they were assigned to to receive positive stimulus

Operant conditioning is the effects punishment and reinforcement have on behavior; “the law of effect, which states that behaviors associated with good consequences (satisfiers) are more likely to occur again in the future, whereas behaviors associated with bad consequences (annoyers) are less likely to occur again” (Durwin 162). This is a necessary component used by many psychologists and educators to provide the best positive outcome in a child’s behavior. When analyzing the “Billy Scenario,” it is obvious that the teacher, Ms. Allen, tried different techniques of punishment to decrease the students’ misbehavior, but was unsuccessful; leading to an increase in the frequency of response or more disruptive behavior.

In operant conditioning, it is possible to strengthen responses by either presenting positive reinforcement or by the removal of negative reinforces. "New responses can be learned by organisms by gradually reinforcing closer and closer approximations of the desired response" (Weiten p. 238). This is what is meant by shaping, It is the gradual use of reinforcement until the desired response has been reached.

Skinner’s reinforcement experiments conducted on rats showed the principles of operant conditioning. While working with rats, Skinner would place them in a Skinner box with a lever attached to a feeding tube. After multiple trials, rats learned the connection between the lever and food, and started to spend more time in the box procuring food than performing any other action. He used positive reinforcement, and negative reinforcement to produce or inhibit specific target behaviors. Therefore, if a specific behavior is reinforced then the probability of that behavior occurring again is increased. Based on Skinner’s view, this theory can be applied to learning because learning is nothing more than a change in behavior. Operant conditioning encourages positive reinforcement, which can be applied in the classroom environment to get the good behavior you want and need from students. One of the ways of reinforcing a student’s behavior is through praise. Also teachers can build operant conditioning techniques into their lesson plans to teach children possible skills as well as good behaviors. For example: to give a smiley face, or motivational stamps to encourage children to perform correctly and encourage them to repeat such action again.

Learning is the act of changing an organism’s behavior in response to an experience. Associative learning is when an organism links two events that occur close in time. When an organism learns to make associations, it is being conditioned. There are two types of conditioning. Operant conditioning is when an organism associates an action and the consequence of that action. It results in the organism adapting its behavior to maximize rewards and minimize punishment (Skinner). On the other hand, classical conditioning is a type of learning where an organism associates a certain stimulus and the response to it with a different stimulus. A neutral stimulus is associated with an unconditioned response to an unconditioned

Ana's behaviours have been influenced by a range of learning principles including; operant conditioning, classical conditioning, in addition to social learning. Operant conditioning a process in which positive or negative reinforcements are use in an attempt attempt to change or modify individuals behaviours (Classical and Operant Conditioning, n.d.). An example of operant conditioning in Ana's case is Kat's (Ana's mother) use of chocolate rewards to attempt to modify Ana's behaviour. Ana was upset and crying when first brought into the Cooinda Community Health Centre. Kat used chocolate to calm Ana down, after offering the chocolate if she behaved.

Skinner’s theory observes individuals from the point of view of the behavior that they demonstrate. The key weakness of this theory is its attempt to explain the behaviors of an individual solely through visible phenomena. Critics sometimes accuse behaviorists of denying that ideas and thoughts exist (Jensen & Burgess, 1997). The major opposition that behaviorists face is that behavior of a person cannot be understood without including the mental activity of the individual. Critics have accused behaviorists of focusing only on behavior and ignoring the role of physiology, neuroscience, and genetics (Weiss & Rosales-Ruiz, 2014). Sometimes the reactions that people demonstrate have are not related their experience and therefore they have another

Determining the best way to raise and teach children is a topic that has been discussed and debated for a long time. As psychology has developed, so has our understanding of how organisms learn and how we can apply that to our lives. One method of teaching is operant conditioning, giving either rewards or punishments after a certain behavior to promote or discourage it. This method could be used to teach children; for example, teaching children to say please when asking for items.

Skinner and his colleagues (Gass & Larry, 2008), learning or a change of behaviour on the part of the learner, is brought about by a process known as 'operant conditioning' which is the result of repeated training. Operant means 'voluntary behaviour' which is the result of learner's own free-will and is not forced by any outsider or thing (Ortega, 2009). The learner will demonstrate the new behaviour first as a response to a system of a reward or punishment, and finally it will become an automatic response.

In this booklet you will find an overview of all the different approaches to psychology. This will consist of the key assumptions, examples of the relevant psychologists and examples of their work, as well as an exploration into the advantages and disadvantages that some of these approaches possess.

Learning theories are the structural foundation used to label how information is processed, stored and encoded during learning. Retention of knowledge is subjective and influenced by outside factors such as, an individual’s cognitive ability to process or retain information. Other influences are environmental, emotional or preexisting experiences or associations (Andreassi, 2000). To gain a better understanding of behaviorism in correlation to learning theories it is crucial to understand and grasp the meaning of associative learning. This process involves the association between two stimuli or a behavior and a learned stimulus. Associative learning is divided in to two central techniques, classical conditioning and operant condition. Classical and operant conditioning are basic methods of learning and conditioning is used to adapt a behavior or association through a stimuli or consequence (Ciccarelli, 2012). While classical conditioning and operant conditioning are key elements in associative learning, they have significant differences. A clear contrast between the two theories is whether the behavior or response produced is considered to be voluntary or involuntary.

picked up the wallet and ran away, then Kevin is likely to see this as

Example of Operant conditioning, is when you decided to snooze the alarm in the morning after partying all night long. Finally you decide to get up to go to work you are running 15 min late. And decide to step on gas pedal. You are now driving 50 mph on a 35 mph road. You think you are fine and won 't get caught because everyone else is driving fast also. All of sudden a cop is hidden in between the trees and bushes. You try to brake, in order to slow down a bit, but it 's too late…. The cop has turn on the lights and tail-gating you already. You pull over and you try to convince him that you had a “tough night”… even though it 's a lie, and to let you off with a warning. The cop tells you he doesn 't care and you should know better. Therefore he gives you a speeding ticket of about two hundred dollars and a court date if you decide to fight it. In order to go to court you will have to miss work, which means you won 't get paid. Then you have to pay for all the additional court fees if you want to go to clear your record; your insurance will go up, have to pay for driving school and miss more work also. You will have to go through all this trouble, time and money. Just for being too lazy and “tired” to get up on time.

As a dog owner, I know how important it is to teach your pets how to behave. Yet, it is important to understand how learning works so that you can develop a strategy to properly and quickly teach your dog. The example of training a dog to roll over is a great model for analysing the aspects of learning involved with this process. Understanding how operant conditioning works and how to reinforce a desired response to that stimuli will help trainers effectively teach dogs. Psychologists, such as Myers (2013), define learning as the process of acquiring new knowledge and behaviors. In this case we are specifically discussing the acquisition of a certain response to a stimulus. The stimulus is the trainer’s command and the desired behavior is the dog to roll over onto his back. These ideas all are based on Edward L. Thorndike’s principle called the law of effect, wherein he stated that behaviors followed by a positive outcomes are more likely to increase in probability. These are all important components of the learning process, especially on the level of training a dog or instilling a simple behavior.