Operant Conditioning (DP IB Psychology): Revision Note

Operant conditioning

• Operant conditioning (OC) is learning via consequences

  • Along with classical conditioning, it is one of the core assumptions which underpin the behaviourist approach

• Where classical conditioning emphasises the stimulus-response mechanism of learned behaviour, OC emphasises the role of reward and reinforcement in behaviour

  • Some behaviours will be repeated based on their positive consequences, e.g., 'That burger was yummy; I'll certainly be paying another visit to Junkfood Shack!' 

  • Some behaviours will not be repeated based on their negative consequences, e.g., 'That's the last time I'm getting my lunch from Kale City!' 

  • Some behaviours will be repeated not for their positive consequences but to avoid their negative consequences, e.g., 'I suppose I'd better choose the lentil and sprout salad just to stop my friend nagging me about how unhealthy my diet is'

Types of consequences

• Consequences are learned via three types of direct reinforcement:

  • Positive reinforcement

    • Performing a behaviour to experience the positive consequences, e.g., completing homework to gain praise from the teacher 

  • Negative reinforcement

    • Performing a behaviour to avoid unpleasant consequences, e.g., completing homework to prevent being given a detention

  • Punishment

    • Positive punishment - adding something unpleasant to reduce behaviour (e.g., being told off, receiving a detention)

      Negative punishment – removing something pleasant to reduce behaviour (e.g., losing privileges, not being allowed to attend a party)

• The consequence of the performed behaviour is known as the reinforcer, e.g.

  • praise from the teacher is a positive reinforcer

  • a detention is a positive punishment

Research which supports operant conditioning

Skinner (1953)

• B.F. Skinner (1953) argued that learning is an active process in which organisms operate on their environment and are shaped by the consequences of their actions

• He identified three consequence types: neutral operants, reinforcers, and punishers.

  • Neutral operants are environmental events that neither increase nor decrease the likelihood of a behaviour

  • Reinforcers are consequences that increase the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated

    • A positive reinforcer is a stimulus added after a behaviour that is pleasant (e.g., food, praise), not the behaviour itself.

    • A negative reinforcer is a stimulus whose removal after a behaviour is pleasant (e.g., stopping shock, relief), not the behaviour itself.

  • Punishers are consequences that decrease the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated

Skinner box procedures & findings

• Skinner designed the Skinner Box to study response–consequence learning in controlled conditions, typically with rats or pigeons

• Positive reinforcement condition:

  • A hungry rat exploring the box accidentally pressed a lever and received a food pellet

  • The addition of food after pressing the lever increased lever-pressing; rats rapidly learned to press the lever immediately upon being placed in the box

• Negative reinforcement (escape) condition:

  • A mild electric current was delivered through the grid floor

  • When the rat pressed the lever, the current turned off, providing relief

  • The removal of the aversive stimulus reinforced lever-pressing; rats learned to press quickly to escape shock

• Negative reinforcement (avoidance) variation:

  • A light signalled that shock was about to occur (a discriminative stimulus)

  • Rats learned to press the lever when the light came on to avoid the impending shock

• These procedures demonstrated that both adding a pleasant stimulus and removing an unpleasant stimulus can strengthen behaviour

Evaluation of operant conditioning

Strengths

• OC has good application to the maintenance of phobias

  • Someone with social phobia uses avoidance to stay away from any events involving people, socialising, etc.

  • The use of avoidance is an example of negative reinforcement, i.e., taking steps to keep away from large gatherings of people

  • The more the avoidance is repeated, the more the phobic person is rewarded with feelings of relief and security

• Skinner used standardised procedures in controlled conditions, which means that his research has good reliability

  • Reliability is a strength of experimental research, as it satisfies the criteria for falsifiability, i.e., the theory can be tested scientifically

Limitations

• OC cannot explain why some people may repeat behaviours which are damaging, detrimental or unpleasant

  • People who self-harm may do so for the specific relief it brings them but such behaviours would not be recognised as positive reinforcers by OC

  • People who continue to smoke even though they may find the taste and the smell of cigarettes unpleasant defy the assumptions of OC

• Skinner's research is overly simplistic (environmental reductionism)

  • Humans are much more complex and sophisticated than animals and operate at a higher cognitive level

    • People are more able to take control of their behaviour via mechanisms such as self-efficacy than the behaviourists give them credit for

Link to concepts

Responsibility

• Skinner's research may be viewed as unethical using today's standards

  • Placing animals under conditions in which they are continually harmed via electric shocks may be deemed as unnecessarily cruel

  • Researchers should strive to use the 3 Rs which govern working with animals:

    • Reduce (use fewer animals)

    • Replace (use alternatives)

    • Refine (the procedure to minimise suffering)

Perspective

• OC seeks to explain the effect of operants on behaviour, which should be easy to understand because people repeat pleasant, rewarding behaviours and avoid those which are harmful or unpleasant

• What OC cannot explain are situations in which people are offered the chance to avoid or escape a harmful, unpleasant consequence yet they ignore or reject the opportunity to do so

  • E.g., some victims of domestic abuse do not leave the toxic situation in which they find themselves, even when escape is possible

  • This apparently contradictory behaviour may be better explained using the theory of learned helplessness (opens in a new tab)

    • Someone who has suffered repeated exposure to abuse believes that they have no power to change their situation, even when the chance to do so presents itself