Operant Conditioning

1
Operant Conditioning

• Not all learning is automatic and unintentional
• Many human behaviours are operants, not
  respondents
• Learners are consciously involved in their own
  learning
• People actively operate on their environment
• operants deliberate, goal-directed actions

2
ABC

• Two sets of environmental influences surrounding
  behaviour that which
• precedes
• follows
• Sandwich
• A Antecedents
• B Behaviour
• C Consequences

3
OC and Learning

• Through association
• Voluntary response with a particular cue
• Intentional and brings about change
• learn to repeat the response or not, depending on
  if the change was favourable or not

4
Differences from Classical Conditioning

• the stimulus that leads to a voluntary response
  is just a cue
• an operant response is voluntary - not reflex
• Feedback is critical in OC
• determines whether behaviour will be repeated

5
Law of Effect (Thorndike)

• the probability of a response being repeated is
  related to the effect that response has on the
  animal or the environment
• Behaviour that is rewarded is more likely to
  recur

6
Reinforcement and Punishment

• Reinforcement results in an
• increase in a response or
• maintains the strength of the behaviour
• ve and -ve
• Punishment results in a
• decrease in a response
• ve and -ve

7
Primary Reinforcers

• Stimuli that increase the probability of a
  response
• whose value does not have to be learned, b/c they
  lead to the satisfaction of an unlearned
  biological need
• food sex water

8
Secondary Reinforcers

• Stimuli that increase the probability of a
  response and whose
• reinforcing properties are learned
• have no intrinsic value
• the power to reinforce results from their learned
  value

9
Positive and Negative Reinforcement

• A behaviour can be reinforced (increased) by the
  application or withholding of relevant stimuli
• Positive(application)
• the stimulus is given or added and is desirable
  to the subject
• Negative(withholding)
• painful/annoying/unpleasant stimulus is taken
  away

10
Punishment

• Leads to a decrease in the behaviour or response
• Positive (presentation)
• application of aversive, disgusting or
  undesirable stimuli to decrease a response
• Negative (removal)
• removal of a desired stimulus to decrease a
  response

11
Side Effects of Punishment

• Frustration, anger and aggression
• passive aggression - recipient
• escalation of aggression - punisher
• Avoidance behaviour
• Lying
• Learned Helplessness

12
Schedules of Reinforcement

• Continuous
• contingent on each correct response
• Intermittent (Partial)
• contingent on selected responses
• Interval
• occurring at definite established time limits
• Ratio
• occurring after a certain number of responses

13
Summary Reinforcement Schedules

• Persistence depends on predictiability
• Continuous and fixed reinforcement are quite
  predictable
• Variable schedules are more appropriate if
  persistence is required
• People work faster on ratio schedules

14
Summary contd

• Continuous
• leads to more rapid learning
• is inefficient in terms of long term maintenance
• Move to Partial once the behaviours have been
  learned
• more resistant to extinction

15
Premack Principle

• That an activity more preferred at time X
• can reinforce an activity less preferred at time
  X
• Gives an effective guide for choosing the right
  reinforcer
• Lets do Maths now (low) then well go out and
  play (high)

16
Effective Use of Reinforcement Punishment

• Feedback
• immediate
• clear
• Timing
• ASAP
• Consistency
• ALWAYS
• Order of Presentation
• R P after the behaviour