Operant Conditioning

Operant Conditioning Definition

B. F. Skinner believed that it is possible to study behaviour scientifically. He also thought behaviour is voluntary and has a purpose: to affect one's environment. This behaviour, which he called operant behaviour, is the focus of operant conditioning.

In other words, a person acts on their environment for the desired results. So, then, what is operant conditioning?

Fig. 1 A dog rolling over for a treat.

Operant conditioning states that every action we take while engaging with our environment has consequences. We are more likely to repeat behaviours with positive outcomes than actions with negative results. When we receive punishment as a consequence for a behaviour, we most likely will never repeat that behaviour.

Operant Conditioning Theory

Skinner divided behaviour into three parts for his scientific study: discriminative stimulus, operant response, and the reinforcer or punisher. These three are the three-term contingency, which illustrates a relationship between the operant response and the consequence (a reinforcer or punisher).

Let's define these three terms:

• A discriminative stimulus serves as the antecedent of behaviour, such as events or situations in which a behaviour occurs.
• Reinforcers are the responses increasing the likelihood of the behaviour it follows.
• Punishers are the responses, decreasing the likelihood of the behaviour it follows.

The three-term contingency served as the foundation of Skinner's study on operant conditioning. With his analysis, he also identified several types of operant conditioning.

Operant Conditioning: Types

Skinner developed four types of operant conditioning: positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, and negative punishment.

We've mentioned that operant conditioning involves rewarding or punishing behaviours.

When you apply positive reinforcement, you'd want to strengthen a response (e.g., in terms of frequency or likelihood) by using an operant reinforcer. In this case, a positive reinforcer.

Positive reinforcement strengthens a behaviour, so negative reinforcement weakens it. Right? Negative reinforcement can also enhance a behaviour. This type of reinforcement falls under operant aversive conditioning.

There are two types of negative reinforcement: avoidance and escape behaviour.

In avoidance, the learner prevents the unpleasant event from occurring. If the unpleasant event has already happened, the removal of the negative reinforcer occurs through escape behaviour.

Punishment is another form of operant aversive conditioning which aims to weaken behaviours. When behaviours weaken, it means that there is a decrease in frequency, duration, and intervals.

Positive punishment occurs when an aversive stimulus (something that you don't want) follows a response.

Adverse outcomes following misbehaviour need to be immediate and consistent so that the learner will associate the consequence of the behaviour with a higher chance of stopping it.

Negative punishment involves removing something valuable (an object or activity) following a response.

Operant Conditioning: Properties of Reinforcement

Earlier, we defined what reinforcers are and positive and negative reinforcements of behaviour. In operant conditioning, Skinner identified reinforcement properties, such as the different types of reinforcers and schedules of reinforcement.

Primary reinforcers, such as food, water, and sleep, are of biological importance to us. This reinforcement is universal, which means it can occur to anyone.

Secondary reinforcers, also known as acquired or conditioned reinforcers, are initially neutral but can strengthen behaviours when paired with a primary reinforcer. Examples include tokens, points, and stickers.

There are two types of schedules of reinforcement: continuous and partial.

Continuous reinforcement refers to giving reinforcers every time the learner commits the targeted behaviour.

Partial reinforcement, on the other hand, involves giving reinforcers based on a target number of desirable actions (ratio schedules) or time (interval schedules).

Fixed ratio schedules require a specific number of responses before reinforcement occurs.

Fixed interval schedules involve reinforcement of a desirable behaviour after a specific period. This schedule leads to an increased number of responses as reinforcement approaches.

Variable ratio schedules refer to a reinforcement of desirable behaviours without a specific number of responses.

Variable interval schedules refer to a reinforcement of desirable behaviours in unpredictable time intervals.

Operant Conditioning: Principles

We've seen how reinforcement occurs and the types of reinforcers given. Now we'll look at three essential principles of operant conditioning.

The principle of immediacy highlights the timing of the delivery of the reinforcement. If the reinforcement occurs right after the behaviour, the greater its effect on the learner. The less immediate, the less effective the consequences are.

The principle of contingency refers to how consistently a consequence follows a behaviour. This principle highlights the importance of reliably relaying a response to increase the consequence's effectiveness.

The principle of satiation tells us that if the learner has no appetite for a particular stimulus (e.g., reward), the consequence will not be that effective; however, if there's a need for a specific stimulus, the effect of the consequence increases.

Skinner Operant Conditioning: Experiment

In testing his theory, B. F. Skinner conducted operant conditioning experiments on animals by observing their behaviour in the Skinner box. Skinner developed the Skinner box, or the operant conditioning chamber, which recorded the behaviour of an organism in a specific time frame.

The animal either receives a reward (food pallet) or a punishment (unpleasant electric shocks) when it exhibits certain behaviours, such as pressing the lever for rats or pecking keys for pigeons.

Fig. 2 Skinner's experiment supports his operant conditioning theory.

As the rat moved around the box, it accidentally pressed the lever connected to a food pellet. The food pellet automatically dropped food into a food dispenser (positive reinforcement). The rat learned this rewarding behaviour quickly after being placed in the Skinner box only a few times.

Skinner tested negative reinforcement by giving the rat unpleasant electric shocks whilst inside the box. When the rat moved inside the box, it accidentally pressed the lever, and the electric shocks stopped immediately (negative reinforcement).

After being placed in the box a few times, the rat quickly learned this behaviour. The next time the rat was placed in the box, it immediately hurried to press the lever to avoid the unpleasant experience of the electric shocks.

Operant Conditioning Examples and Application

There are several examples of applying operant conditioning in everyday life. Skinner's operant conditioning contributed to developing treatment therapies such as the token economy and behaviour shaping.

Parents and teachers use token economy to reinforce desired behaviour through tokens such as stickers, coupons, money, or points a child can exchange for rewards such as food, activities, or privileges. Token economies help teach children to follow the rules at home and school.

Fig. 3 Circus animal training

Behaviour shaping involves eliciting responses by simplifying the desired behaviour into small, manageable steps, followed by a reward when the learner completes each step.

In behavioural therapy, psychologists use operant conditioning and its principles to alter behaviour and treat psychological conditions such as depression, eating disorders, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Classical and Operant Conditioning

We understand that both classical and operant conditioning are forms of associative learning. But what's the difference? Let's look at this table to compare the two types of conditioning.