Skinner’s Operant Conditioning
Table of Contents
Introduction
Learning is defined as a process which brings relatively permanent changes in the behaviour of a learner through experiences or practices. In Operant Conditioning , learning is dependent on its consequences. Behaviours which are reinforced are likely to be repeated and those which are not reinforced are unlikely to be repeated.
Let us learn the whole concept in details. It’s very interesting….
Definition of Related Terms
Operant
An operant is an act which constitutes an organism’s doing something. These are Responses whose original Stimuli are either unidentified or non-existent.
Conditioning
It is a process of learning whereby Stimulus-Response become associated through training, organism can be ‘conditioned’ to do certain events.
Operant Conditioning
It is a type of learning that involves an increase in the probability that a response will occur as a function of reinforcement. In this form of conditioning, operant (response with stimuli) is allowed to occur and is followed by a reinforcing stimulus, for which there is a increased likelihood that the operant will occur again.
Reinforcement
A reinforcement is the stimulus, the presentation or removal of which, increases the probability of a response being repeated.
Positive Reinforcement :- It is a stimulus, the introduction or presentation of which, increases the likelihood of a particular behaviour. For example – food, praise, grades, medals etc.
Negative Reinforcement :- It is a stimulus, the removal or withdrawal of which, increases the likelihood of a particular behaviour. For example – teacher say whoever does drill work properly, he would be exempted from homework.
Respondent Behaviour
The type of responses ‘elicited’ by known stimuli are respondent behaviour.
Skinner’s Experiment
B. F. Skinner conducted a series of experiments with animals regarding operant conditioning.
Experiment 1 :-
For conducting the experiments with rats, Skinner made a special apparatus known as Skinner’s Box. It is a sound proof box with a system of light and sound being produced at the time of delivery of a pallet of food in the food cup. It is so arranged that when the hungry rat presses the lever, the feeder mechanism is activated, a light or a special sound is produced and a small pallet of food is released into the food cup.
The click sound acted as a clue or signal to the rat that if it were to respond by going to the food cup, it would be rewarded.
The rat was rewarded for each proper pressing of the lever. The rat repeated it and was again rewarded. This increases the probability of repetition of the lever pressing response.
In this way, ultimately the rat learned to press the lever as desired by the experimenter.
Experiment 2 :-
In this experiment, a pigeon is placed in a pigeon box. The pigeon in this experiment had to peck at a lighted plastic key mounted on the wall at head height and consequently rewarded with grain.
Theory of Operant Conditioning
With the help of such experiments, Skinner put forward the theory of operant conditioning for learning simple responses as well as most difficult and complex series of responses.
Mechanism of the Conditioning
Operant Conditioning is correlated with operant behaviour. The process of operant conditioning may start with the help of responses that occur naturally or at random (operant). Incase they do not occur naturally, then attempts may be made to bring them about.
Now, once a response, as desired by the trainer or experimenter, occurs, it is reinforced through a suitable reinforcement, (primary or secondary, positive or negative). In course of time, this response gets conditioned by being constantly reinforced.
The important thing in the mechanism of operant conditioning is the emitting of a desired response and its proper management through suitable reinforcement. The subsequent reinforcement gradually conditions the organism to emit the desired response and thus learn the desired act.
Operations Involved In Operant Conditioning
The important operations involved in the process of operant conditioning are :-
(a) Shaping
Shaping involves following processes :-
(i) Chaining
(ii) Discrimination and Cueing
(iii) Generalisation
(b) Extinction
(c) Spontaneous Recovery
(d) Reinforcement
Shaping : – There are situations when the desired responses do not occur naturally or randomly, then efforts can be taken/done to elicit the appropriate responses. This is done by building a chain of responses through a step by step process called Shaping.
Chaining :- Chaining is sort of chain reaction where one object sparks the other object in its proximity and that in turn causes sparking in the next object in the chain and so on.
Chaining in conditioning refers to a process in the shaping of a behaviour or learning of a task where the required behaviour or learning task is broken down into small steps for its effective learning following reinforcement.
Discrimination and Cueing :- Cues and signals indicate which behaviour will be reinforced and which behaviour will not. Discrimination may be defined as a process of using cues, signals or information to determine when a behaviour is likely to be reinforced and when not.
Generalisation :- Generalisation refers to the ability of an organism to respond efficiently for similar stimuli.
Extinction :- It is the process of permitting behaviour to die out by not reinforcing it.
Spontaneous Recovery :- Extinction of a response may take place due to non-reinforcement. The amount of spontaneous recovery of an operant behaviour is directly related to the length of period since the termination of extinction.
Reinforcement :- A reinforcement is the stimulus, the presentation or removal of which, increases the probability of a response being repeated. There are positive as well as negative reinforcement.
Schedules of Reinforcement
Continuous Reinforcement Schedule :- In this type of schedule, there is a provision to reinforce or reward for every correct response of the organism during the acquisition of learning.
Fixed Interval Reinforcement Schedule :- In this schedule, the organism is rewarded for a response made only after a fixed time interval say 3 minutes or 5 minutes. Here, reinforcement does not depend upon the number of correct responses rather on the expiry of the fixed interval.
Fixed Ratio Reinforcement Schedule :- In this schedule, the reinforcement is given after a fixed number of responses.
Variable Reinforcement Schedule :- Here, reinforcement is given at varying intervals of time or after varying number of responses. The individual does not know where he/she is going to be rewarded and so he/she remains motivated throughout the learning process in the hope of reinforcement.
Skinner suggested schedule to begin by fixed interval or fixed ratio to finally arrive at the variable reinforcement schedule for better results in learning or training.
Educational Implications
Theory of operant conditioning has revolutionized the field of training and learning by putting forward the following practical ideas :-
- Behaviour Modification of Student :- The principle of operant conditioning may be successfully applied in behaviour. Behaviour of a student can be modified with the help of proper and immediate reinforcement on attaining desired behaviour.
- Personality Development Of Student :- The personality of students can be successfully manipulated through operant conditioning.
- Use of Reinforcement in Teaching-Learning :- The principle of operant conditioning is all about the proper use and proper time of reinforcement. This theory emphasises the importance of reinforcement in teaching and learning.
- Proper Planning of Schedules of Reinforcement :- Operant conditioning emphasises the importance of schedules in the process of reinforcement of behaviour. Great care should be taken for proper use of reinforcement – positive or negative, primary or secondary, proper schedules of reinforcement.
- Discourage the Use of Punishment :- This theory discourages the use of punishment for learning the desired behaviour. Punishment proves ineffective in the long run. Punishment simply suppresses the behaviour. Thus operant conditioning theory suggested that rewarding appropriate behaviour and ignoring inappropriate behaviour.
- Development of Educational Technology :- The most effective application of operant conditioning are the – (i) development of teaching machines, (ii) programmed learning, (iii) computer-assisted instruction.
All these innovations are so designed that-
- it produces fewer chances of failure,
- more opportunities for success,
- proper feedback/reinforcement,
- learning at own pace.
