What Is the Removal of a Stimulus That Increases the Likelihood of That Response Occuring Again

Basic Principles of Operant Conditioning: Thorndike'south Law of Effect

Thorndike's law of upshot states that behaviors are modified by their positive or negative consequences.

Learning Objectives

Chronicle Thorndike's police force of outcome to the principles of operant conditioning

Key Takeaways

Key Points

• The law of outcome states that responses that produce a satisfying effect in a particular situation become more likely to occur once more, while responses that produce a discomforting upshot are less likely to be repeated.
• Edward Fifty. Thorndike showtime studied the police of effect by placing hungry cats inside puzzle boxes and observing their deportment. He quickly realized that cats could learn the efficacy of sure behaviors and would repeat those behaviors that allowed them to escape faster.
• The law of effect is at work in every human behavior as well. From a immature age, we learn which actions are beneficial and which are detrimental through a similar trial and error procedure.
• While the law of result explains behavior from an external, observable point of view, information technology does not account for internal, unobservable processes that also affect the behavior patterns of human beings.

Key Terms

• Law of Effect: A police adult by Edward L. Thorndike that states, "responses that produce a satisfying effect in a particular situation become more likely to occur again in that state of affairs, and responses that produce a discomforting upshot become less likely to occur once again in that state of affairs."
• behavior modification: The act of altering actions and reactions to stimuli through positive and negative reinforcement or penalty.
• trial and fault: The procedure of finding a solution to a problem by trying many possible solutions and learning from mistakes until a way is found.

Operant conditioning is a theory of learning that focuses on changes in an individual'south appreciable behaviors. In operant workout, new or continued behaviors are impacted by new or continued consequences. Research regarding this principle of learning first began in the belatedly 19th century with Edward 50. Thorndike, who established the constabulary of outcome.

Thorndike's Experiments

Thorndike's most famous work involved cats trying to navigate through various puzzle boxes. In this experiment, he placed hungry cats into homemade boxes and recorded the time it took for them to perform the necessary deportment to escape and receive their food reward. Thorndike discovered that with successive trials, cats would larn from previous behavior, limit ineffective actions, and escape from the box more speedily. He observed that the cats seemed to learn, from an intricate trial and error process, which actions should be connected and which deportment should be abandoned; a well-proficient cat could quickly recollect and reuse actions that were successful in escaping to the food reward.

Thorndike's puzzle box: This image shows an example of Thorndike'due south puzzle box alongside a graph demonstrating the learning of a true cat inside the box. As the number of trials increased, the cats were able to escape more quickly by learning.

The Law of Effect

Thorndike realized not only that stimuli and responses were associated, simply also that behavior could be modified past consequences. He used these findings to publish his now famous "law of effect" theory. According to the law of effect, behaviors that are followed by consequences that are satisfying to the organism are more likely to be repeated, and behaviors that are followed past unpleasant consequences are less likely to be repeated. Essentially, if an organism does something that brings nearly a desired upshot, the organism is more likely to exercise it again. If an organism does something that does non bring well-nigh a desired outcome, the organism is less likely to do it again.

Police of result: Initially, cats displayed a variety of behaviors within the box. Over successive trials, actions that were helpful in escaping the box and receiving the food reward were replicated and repeated at a higher rate.

Thorndike'southward law of effect now informs much of what we know near operant conditioning and behaviorism. According to this law, behaviors are modified by their consequences, and this bones stimulus-response relationship can be learned past the operant person or brute. In one case the association betwixt behavior and consequences is established, the response is reinforced, and the association holds the sole responsibility for the occurrence of that behavior. Thorndike posited that learning was merely a change in behavior every bit a upshot of a result, and that if an action brought a reward, it was stamped into the heed and available for recall later.

From a young age, we learn which actions are beneficial and which are detrimental through a trial and error procedure. For instance, a young child is playing with her friend on the playground and playfully pushes her friend off the swingset. Her friend falls to the ground and begins to cry, and and then refuses to play with her for the rest of the day. The child'due south actions (pushing her friend) are informed past their consequences (her friend refusing to play with her), and she learns not to repeat that action if she wants to continue playing with her friend.

The law of issue has been expanded to various forms of behavior modification. Because the law of effect is a key component of behaviorism, information technology does not include any reference to unobservable or internal states; instead, information technology relies solely on what can be observed in human being beliefs. While this theory does not account for the entirety of human behavior, it has been practical to about every sector of human life, but particularly in education and psychology.

Basic Principles of Operant Conditioning: Skinner

B. F. Skinner was a behavioral psychologist who expanded the field past defining and elaborating on operant conditioning.

Learning Objectives

Summarize Skinner'southward research on operant workout

Primal Takeaways

Central Points

• B. F. Skinner, a behavioral psychologist and a educatee of E. Fifty. Thorndike, contributed to our view of learning past expanding our agreement of conditioning to include operant conditioning.
• Skinner theorized that if a beliefs is followed by reinforcement, that behavior is more than likely to be repeated, simply if it is followed by penalisation, it is less likely to exist repeated.
• Skinner conducted his inquiry on rats and pigeons past presenting them with positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, or punishment in various schedules that were designed to produce or inhibit specific target behaviors.
• Skinner did not include room in his enquiry for ideas such equally free will or individual choice; instead, he posited that all beliefs could be explained using  learned, physical aspects of the world, including life history and evolution.

Fundamental Terms

• punishment: The human action or process of imposing and/or applying a sanction for an undesired behavior when conditioning toward a desired behavior.
• aversive: Tending to repel, causing avoidance (of a state of affairs, a beliefs, an item, etc.).
• superstition: A belief, not based on reason or scientific knowledge, that future events may be influenced by 1's beliefs in some magical or mystical manner.

Operant workout is a theory of behaviorism that focuses on changes in an individual's appreciable behaviors. In operant workout, new or continued behaviors are impacted by new or connected consequences. Research regarding this principle of learning was first conducted by Edward L. Thorndike in the late 1800s, then brought to popularity past B. F. Skinner in the mid-1900s. Much of this research informs current practices in human being behavior and interaction.

Skinner's Theories of Operant Conditioning

Almost half a century afterward Thorndike'south first publication of the principles of operant conditioning and the law of result, Skinner attempted to prove an extension to this theory—that all behaviors are in some manner a result of operant conditioning. Skinner theorized that if a behavior is followed by reinforcement, that behavior is more probable to exist repeated, but if it is followed by some sort of aversive stimuli or penalty, it is less likely to be repeated. He also believed that this learned association could end, or get extinct, if the reinforcement or punishment was removed.

B. F. Skinner: Skinner was responsible for defining the segment of behaviorism known as operant conditioning—a procedure by which an organism learns from its concrete environment.

Skinner'due south Experiments

Skinner's near famous research studies were simple reinforcement experiments conducted on lab rats and domestic pigeons, which demonstrated the near bones principles of operant conditioning. He conducted most of his research in a special cumulative recorder, at present referred to as a "Skinner box," which was used to analyze the behavioral responses of his test subjects. In these boxes he would nowadays his subjects with positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, or aversive stimuli in various timing intervals (or "schedules") that were designed to produce or inhibit specific target behaviors.

In his first work with rats, Skinner would place the rats in a Skinner box with a lever fastened to a feeding tube. Whenever a rat pressed the lever, food would exist released. Afterwards the experience of multiple trials, the rats learned the association between the lever and food and began to spend more than of their time in the box procuring food than performing any other action. It was through this early on piece of work that Skinner started to understand the effects of behavioral contingencies on deportment. He discovered that the rate of response—equally well every bit changes in response features—depended on what occurred after the behavior was performed, non earlier. Skinner named these actions operant behaviors because they operated on the surroundings to produce an outcome. The procedure by which one could arrange the contingencies of reinforcement responsible for producing a sure behavior then came to be chosen operant conditioning.

To show his idea that behaviorism was responsible for all actions, he later created a "superstitious pigeon." He fed the pigeon on continuous intervals (every xv seconds) and observed the pigeon's behavior. He found that the dove's actions would modify depending on what information technology had been doing in the moments before the food was dispensed, regardless of the fact that those actions had naught to do with the dispensing of food. In this way, he discerned that the pigeon had fabricated a causal human relationship betwixt its actions and the presentation of reward. Information technology was this development of "superstition" that led Skinner to believe all behavior could be explained every bit a learned reaction to specific consequences.

In his operant conditioning experiments, Skinner often used an approach called shaping. Instead of rewarding only the target, or desired, behavior, the process of shaping involves the reinforcement of successive approximations of the target behavior. Behavioral approximations are behaviors that, over time, grow increasingly closer to the actual desired response.

Skinner believed that all behavior is predetermined by past and nowadays events in the objective world. He did not include room in his research for ideas such as free volition or individual choice; instead, he posited that all behavior could exist explained using learned, physical aspects of the world, including life history and evolution. His work remains extremely influential in the fields of psychology, behaviorism, and education.

Shaping

Shaping is a method of operant conditioning by which successive approximations of a target behavior are reinforced.

Learning Objectives

Draw how shaping is used to change behavior

Primal Takeaways

Key Points

• B. F. Skinner used shaping —a method of grooming past which successive approximations toward a target behavior are reinforced—to test his theories of behavioral psychology.
• Shaping involves a calculated reinforcement of a "target behavior": it uses operant conditioning principles to train a field of study by rewarding proper behavior and discouraging improper behavior.
• The method requires that the subject perform behaviors that at first merely resemble the target behavior; through reinforcement, these behaviors are gradually changed or "shaped" to encourage the target behavior itself.
• Skinner's early on experiments in operant workout involved the shaping of rats' beliefs and so they learned to printing a lever and receive a food reward.
• Shaping is commonly used to train animals, such every bit dogs, to perform difficult tasks; it is also a useful learning tool for modifying human behavior.

Cardinal Terms

• successive approximation: An increasingly accurate estimate of a response desired by a trainer.
• image: An example serving as a model or pattern; a template, as for an experiment.
• shaping: A method of positive reinforcement of beliefs patterns in operant conditioning.

In his operant-workout experiments, Skinner ofttimes used an approach called shaping. Instead of rewarding only the target, or desired, behavior, the process of shaping involves the reinforcement of successive approximations of the target beliefs. The method requires that the subject field perform behaviors that at first merely resemble the target behavior; through reinforcement, these behaviors are gradually changed, or shaped, to encourage the performance of the target behavior itself. Shaping is useful considering information technology is often unlikely that an organism volition display annihilation but the simplest of behaviors spontaneously. It is a very useful tool for training animals, such as dogs, to perform hard tasks.

Canis familiaris prove: Canis familiaris training often uses the shaping method of operant conditioning.

How Shaping Works

In shaping, behaviors are broken down into many small, achievable steps. To exam this method, B. F. Skinner performed shaping experiments on rats, which he placed in an apparatus (known as a Skinner box) that monitored their behaviors. The target behavior for the rat was to printing a lever that would release food. Initially, rewards are given for even crude approximations of the target beliefs—in other words, even taking a step in the right direction. And so, the trainer rewards a behavior that is one pace closer, or 1 successive approximation nearer, to the target beliefs. For example, Skinner would reward the rat for taking a stride toward the lever, for standing on its hind legs, and for touching the lever—all of which were successive approximations toward the target behavior of pressing the lever.

Equally the subject moves through each beliefs trial, rewards for old, less approximate behaviors are discontinued in order to encourage progress toward the desired behavior. For case, in one case the rat had touched the lever, Skinner might stop rewarding information technology for but taking a step toward the lever. In Skinner's experiment, each reward led the rat closer to the target beliefs, finally culminating in the rat pressing the lever and receiving food. In this way, shaping uses operant-workout principles to train a subject field by rewarding proper beliefs and discouraging improper behavior.

In summary, the process of shaping includes the following steps:

• Reinforce whatsoever response that resembles the target behavior.
• Then reinforce the response that more closely resembles the target behavior. You will no longer reinforce the previously reinforced response.
• Next, begin to reinforce the response that even more closely resembles the target behavior. Proceed to reinforce closer and closer approximations of the target behavior.
• Finally, only reinforce the target behavior.

Applications of Shaping

This process has been replicated with other animals—including humans—and is now mutual do in many training and teaching methods. It is commonly used to train dogs to follow verbal commands or become house-broken: while puppies can rarely perform the target behavior automatically, they can be shaped toward this behavior by successively rewarding behaviors that come close.

Shaping is too a useful technique in human learning. For instance, if a father wants his daughter to larn to clean her room, he can use shaping to help her primary steps toward the goal. First, she cleans up one toy and is rewarded. 2d, she cleans upwardly five toys; then chooses whether to pick up ten toys or put her books and clothes away; so cleans up everything except 2 toys. Through a series of rewards, she finally learns to clean her unabridged room.

Reinforcement and Punishment

Reinforcement and penalisation are principles of operant conditioning that increase or decrease the likelihood of a beliefs.

Learning Objectives

Differentiate amongst main, secondary, conditioned, and unconditioned reinforcers

Primal Takeaways

Key Points

• " Reinforcement " refers to any result that increases the likelihood of a particular behavioral response; " punishment " refers to a consequence that decreases the likelihood of this response.
• Both reinforcement and penalization can be positive or negative. In operant workout, positive means you are adding something and negative means y'all are taking something away.
• Reinforcers can exist either master (linked unconditionally to a behavior) or secondary (requiring deliberate or conditioned linkage to a specific behavior).
• Chief—or unconditioned—reinforcers, such every bit water, food, slumber, shelter, sex, impact, and pleasance, have innate reinforcing qualities.
• Secondary—or conditioned—reinforcers (such as money) have no inherent value until they are linked or paired with a principal reinforcer.

Key Terms

• latency: The filibuster betwixt a stimulus and the response it triggers in an organism.

Reinforcement and penalization are principles that are used in operant workout. Reinforcement means y'all are increasing a beliefs: it is any consequence or outcome that increases the likelihood of a item behavioral response (and that therefore reinforces the behavior). The strengthening effect on the beliefs can manifest in multiple means, including higher frequency, longer elapsing, greater magnitude, and curt latency of response. Penalization means y'all are decreasing a behavior: information technology is whatever effect or consequence that decreases the likelihood of a behavioral response.

Extinction , in operant conditioning, refers to when a reinforced behavior is extinguished entirely. This occurs at some point afterward reinforcement stops; the speed at which this happens depends on the reinforcement schedule, which is discussed in more particular in some other department.

Positive and Negative Reinforcement and Punishment

Both reinforcement and punishment can be positive or negative. In operant workout, positive and negative do non mean expert and bad. Instead, positive means you lot are adding something and negative means you are taking something abroad. All of these methods can manipulate the behavior of a subject, simply each works in a unique style.

Operant workout: In the context of operant conditioning, whether you are reinforcing or punishing a behavior, "positive" always ways you are adding a stimulus (not necessarily a good one), and "negative" always means yous are removing a stimulus (non necessarily a bad ane. Encounter the bluish text and yellow text above, which represent positive and negative, respectively. Similarly, reinforcement always ways yous are increasing (or maintaining) the level of a behavior, and penalization always ways you are decreasing the level of a beliefs. See the green and red backgrounds above, which represent reinforcement and punishment, respectively.

• Positive reinforcers add together a wanted or pleasant stimulus to increase or maintain the frequency of a behavior. For instance, a child cleans her room and is rewarded with a cookie.
• Negative reinforcers remove an aversive or unpleasant stimulus to increase or maintain the frequency of a beliefs. For instance, a kid cleans her room and is rewarded by non having to wash the dishes that night.
• Positive punishments add an aversive stimulus to decrease a beliefs or response. For instance, a kid refuses to clean her room and and so her parents make her wash the dishes for a calendar week.
• Negative punishments remove a pleasant stimulus to decrease a behavior or response. For example, a child refuses to clean her room and then her parents reject to allow her play with her friend that afternoon.

Main and Secondary Reinforcers

The stimulus used to reinforce a certain behavior can be either main or secondary. A primary reinforcer, too chosen an unconditioned reinforcer, is a stimulus that has innate reinforcing qualities. These kinds of reinforcers are non learned. Water, food, slumber, shelter, sexual practice, impact, and pleasure are all examples of principal reinforcers: organisms do not lose their drive for these things. Some primary reinforcers, such as drugs and alcohol, simply mimic the effects of other reinforcers. For most people, jumping into a cool lake on a very hot mean solar day would be reinforcing and the cool lake would be innately reinforcing—the water would cool the person off (a physical need), every bit well as provide pleasure.

A secondary reinforcer, likewise chosen a conditioned reinforcer, has no inherent value and but has reinforcing qualities when linked or paired with a primary reinforcer. Earlier pairing, the secondary reinforcer has no meaningful event on a subject. Money is one of the best examples of a secondary reinforcer: it is simply worth something because you can use it to buy other things—either things that satisfy basic needs (food, water, shelter—all primary reinforcers) or other secondary reinforcers.

Schedules of Reinforcement

Reinforcement schedules determine how and when a behavior will be followed by a reinforcer.

Learning Objectives

Compare and contrast different types of reinforcement schedules

Fundamental Takeaways

Fundamental Points

• A reinforcement schedule is a tool in operant conditioning that allows the trainer to control the timing and frequency of reinforcement in order to elicit a target beliefs.
• Continuous schedules reward a behavior afterwards every operation of the desired behavior; intermittent (or partial) schedules just reward the beliefs after certain ratios or intervals of responses.
• Intermittent schedules tin can exist either fixed (where reinforcement occurs after a fix amount of time or responses) or variable (where reinforcement occurs later a varied and unpredictable amount of time or responses).
• Intermittent schedules are also described as either interval (based on the fourth dimension between reinforcements) or ratio (based on the number of responses).
• Dissimilar schedules (fixed-interval, variable-interval, fixed-ratio, and variable-ratio) have different advantages and respond differently to extinction.
• Chemical compound reinforcement schedules combine 2 or more uncomplicated schedules, using the same reinforcer and focusing on the aforementioned target beliefs.

Key Terms

• extinction: When a beliefs ceases because it is no longer reinforced.
• interval: A period of time.
• ratio: A number representing a comparison between two things.

A schedule of reinforcement is a tactic used in operant conditioning that influences how an operant response is learned and maintained. Each type of schedule imposes a rule or program that attempts to make up one's mind how and when a desired behavior occurs. Behaviors are encouraged through the use of reinforcers, discouraged through the utilize of punishments, and rendered extinct past the complete removal of a stimulus. Schedules vary from simple ratio- and interval-based schedules to more complicated chemical compound schedules that combine one or more uncomplicated strategies to manipulate behavior.

Continuous vs. Intermittent Schedules

Continuous schedules reward a beliefs afterwards every performance of the desired beliefs. This reinforcement schedule is the quickest way to teach someone a behavior, and information technology is especially effective in teaching a new behavior. Simple intermittent (sometimes referred to as partial) schedules, on the other manus, only reward the behavior afterwards certain ratios or intervals of responses.

Types of Intermittent Schedules

There are several dissimilar types of intermittent reinforcement schedules. These schedules are described as either fixed or variable and equally either interval or ratio.

Stock-still vs. Variable, Ratio vs. Interval

Fixed refers to when the number of responses betwixt reinforcements, or the amount of fourth dimension between reinforcements, is gear up and unchanging. Variable refers to when the number of responses or corporeality of time between reinforcements varies or changes. Interval means the schedule is based on the time between reinforcements, and ratio means the schedule is based on the number of responses between reinforcements. Simple intermittent schedules are a combination of these terms, creating the post-obit iv types of schedules:

• A fixed-interval schedule is when behavior is rewarded after a prepare amount of time. This type of schedule exists in payment systems when someone is paid hourly: no matter how much work that person does in one hour (beliefs), they will be paid the aforementioned amount (reinforcement).
• With a variable-interval schedule, the subject gets the reinforcement based on varying and unpredictable amounts of time. People who similar to fish experience this blazon of reinforcement schedule: on average, in the aforementioned location, you are likely to catch about the aforementioned number of fish in a given time period. However, y'all do not know exactly when those catches will occur (reinforcement) within the time period spent fishing (behavior).
• With a fixed-ratio schedule, there are a set number of responses that must occur before the behavior is rewarded. This can be seen in payment for work such equally fruit picking: pickers are paid a sure amount (reinforcement) based on the corporeality they pick (beliefs), which encourages them to choice faster in lodge to make more money. In another example, Carla earns a commission for every pair of glasses she sells at an eyeglass store. The quality of what Carla sells does not matter considering her commission is not based on quality; it's simply based on the number of pairs sold. This distinction in the quality of functioning can assistance determine which reinforcement method is about advisable for a particular situation: stock-still ratios are better suited to optimize the quantity of output, whereas a stock-still interval can lead to a higher quality of output.
• In a variable-ratio schedule, the number of responses needed for a reward varies. This is the most powerful blazon of intermittent reinforcement schedule. In humans, this type of schedule is used by casinos to concenter gamblers: a slot machine pays out an average win ratio—say five to i—only does not guarantee that every fifth bet (beliefs) will be rewarded (reinforcement) with a win.

All of these schedules have dissimilar advantages. In full general, ratio schedules consistently elicit higher response rates than interval schedules because of their predictability. For example, if y'all are a mill worker who gets paid per item that you industry, you lot will be motivated to manufacture these items quickly and consistently. Variable schedules are categorically less-anticipated so they tend to resist extinction and encourage connected beliefs. Both gamblers and fishermen alike tin can understand the feeling that one more pull on the slot-machine lever, or one more hour on the lake, will modify their luck and elicit their corresponding rewards. Thus, they continue to chance and fish, regardless of previously unsuccessful feedback.

Simple reinforcement-schedule responses: The four reinforcement schedules yield unlike response patterns. The variable-ratio schedule is unpredictable and yields high and steady response rates, with petty if whatever intermission after reinforcement (e.g., gambling). A fixed-ratio schedule is predictable and produces a high response rate, with a short intermission afterward reinforcement (east.g., eyeglass sales). The variable-interval schedule is unpredictable and produces a moderate, steady response rate (e.g., line-fishing). The fixed-interval schedule yields a scallop-shaped response pattern, reflecting a meaning intermission afterwards reinforcement (e.chiliad., hourly employment).

Extinction of a reinforced behavior occurs at some bespeak subsequently reinforcement stops, and the speed at which this happens depends on the reinforcement schedule. Among the reinforcement schedules, variable-ratio is the most resistant to extinction, while fixed-interval is the easiest to extinguish.

Simple vs. Compound Schedules

All of the examples described above are referred to equally unproblematic schedules. Chemical compound schedules combine at least two unproblematic schedules and use the aforementioned reinforcer for the aforementioned behavior. Chemical compound schedules are often seen in the workplace: for example, if you are paid at an hourly rate (stock-still-interval) just also have an incentive to receive a small commission for certain sales (fixed-ratio), you are beingness reinforced by a compound schedule. Additionally, if there is an stop-of-year bonus given to simply three employees based on a lottery organisation, you'd be motivated by a variable schedule.

There are many possibilities for compound schedules: for example, superimposed schedules use at least ii simple schedules simultaneously. Concurrent schedules, on the other paw, provide two possible simple schedules simultaneously, but permit the participant to respond on either schedule at will. All combinations and kinds of reinforcement schedules are intended to elicit a specific target behavior.

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Source: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-psychology/chapter/operant-conditioning/

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