¶ … B.F. Skinner is often associated with behavioral psychology, it is Edward Thorndike who set the stage for field. Thorndike's Law of Effect (1901) that successful behaviors tend to be repeated and unsuccessful ones do not set the stage for modern theorists along with the work of Pavlov (1927). Thus we now know that reinforcement always increases the probability that a behavior will occur or be repeated (Skinner, 1953). Positive reinforcement involves providing a stimulus to increase behavior, most often through of the use of a reward like food or praise, whereas negative reinforcement typically involves the removal of an aversive stimulus, such as a noise or pain, to increase the probability that a behavior will occur or be repeated (Skinner, 1953). Negative reinforcement is often confused with punishment but the two techniques perform completely different functions. Whereas reinforcement, positive or negative, always increases the chance that the behavior preceding it will be repeated, punishment always decreases the probability that the behavior preceding its implementation will occur, not increase as in negative reinforcement (Skinner, 1953). Positive punishment, or punishment by application, involves the application of an aversive stimulus to decrease future behaviors from occurring, whereas negative punishment (punishment by removal) involves the removal of some positive stimulus or event with the intent of decreasing the reoccurrence of future behaviors (Skinner, 1953). Most of us are not behavioral psychologists yet we apply these techniques quite often in our daily routines, especially when dealing with children. For instance, I recently had the pleasure of having to babysit my little five-year-old nephew, Edward (he hates to be called Ed). Edward is quite a mischievous little son of a gun and does not like to sit still. He is a whirlwind of activity. During our time together I needed Edward to sit...
Edward was not thrilled about this, and it was very difficult to keep him sitting still. He was running all over the house, knocking things over, making noise, etc. I had a box of mini ice-cream sandwiches in the freezer, so I devised a plan. I put a clock on the top of the television and told Edward that if he would sit still every 10 minutes I would give him an ice cream sandwich. I told him where the hand on the clock would have to be before he could get the first one and he sat there like a little angel. Once the hand reached its position he yelled to me, I brought him a sandwich and he ate it. I showed him where the hand on the clock had to be for the next one and went back to ironing. This worked well for about 40 minutes, which was all the time I needed. One of the problems with reinforcements like this is that they lose their reinforcing value very quickly (after three or four sandwiches Edward was no longer excited about having the next one) but this positive reinforcement exercise to keep Edward in place served its purpose.
Operant Conditioning/Behavior Modification The idea of operant conditioning for humans was first developed by Burrhus Frederick Skinner, who looked at work using operant conditioning with animals. He concluded that using operant conditioning, or behavior modification, with humans was possible, and that all if all external factors were controlled, internal mental processes would not be a significant factor. He believed that all human behavior was shaped by the principles of operant conditioning:
Then, on seeing that the rearing has become a little bit familiar to him, sniffy is therefore, reinforced when he rears at a point with the bar. After several attempts of the previous steps, sniffy was encouraged to rear up nearer to the bar as possible. During the regular training observation, incase sniffy rears so close to the bar this increases the likelihood that sniffy will press on the bar.
Conditioning Classical and operant conditioning are types of behavioral learning. Subsets of behavioral psychology, classical and operant conditioning show how a subject (animal or human) can exhibit relatively permanent changes in behavior due to certain types of experiences. According to Cryver (2000), learning is a "fundamental process" in all animals. Classical conditioning is also known as "learning by association." Association in this sense refers to the association of a behavior with a
Hypothetical Experimental Scenario and Real-Life Application in School: A typical operant conditioning experiment featuring positive reinforcement would include one in which an animal is rewarded on a ratio schedule of pressing a lever. In that scenario, the subject receives a food reward for pressing a lever a specific number of times. Four presses of the lever rewarded by a single food pellet would be a ratio reward schedule of 4:1. The
In using operant conditioning to modify temper tantrums, the most effective and efficient method uses a system of positive reinforcement that rewards a child for reacting to a situation in a manner other than a tantrum, and a negative reinforcement that involve taking away something a child if the child throws a tantrum. When the child is presented with a situation that usually would result in a tantrum, the ideal
This technique is called shaping, as the teacher starts with information students already know and then new information is broken into small pieces. In teaching vocabulary, the teacher is more likely to suggest or work with the textbook, and the setting of a democratic environment based on common agreement is not such an important fact as in the humanistic approach. The lesson starts with a revision and review of the information
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