Lesson Notes

Lesson 6.2a Thorndike and Skinner’s Contributions: The Beginnings of Operant Conditioning

In this lesson you will learn about operant conditioning. This form of conditioning is different from classical conditioning. Edward Thorndike coined the term, “Law of Effect”, believing that any action has a better chance of being repeated if it is followed by a pleasant consequence. For example, if I gave you $50 for every lesson you completed today, I would bet that you would work very hard today and probably get the rest of this chapter done by the end of the day! B.F. Skinner took Thorndike’s theory a little further. Skinner used the Skinner Box, a device that provided reinforcement (food) to see if it could train an animal to push a lever (something not innate in an animal). Skinner’s results were dramatic. He was able to train pigeons to not only peck at the lever, but he could train them to go in circles. The end results concluded that the best results, through either reinforcement or punishment, would happen if they were presented after the desired action. In other words, if I gave you $50 before you did your assignments, what would be the incentive to complete the homework? You already have the money!

Lesson 6.2b  Basic Principles: Understanding Operant Conditioning

With an understanding behind the history of operant conditioning, this lesson looks to investigate the basic principles related to this theory of learning.

Reinforcement:  The important thing to know about reinforcement is that it always strengthens the likelihood that a response will occur again in the future. There are both primary and secondary reinforcers. The difference is whether they are biologically reinforcing (food = primary) or reinforcing based on  a learned value (money = secondary). Reinforcement can be broken down into positive and negative reinforcement. What you need to learn, and remember, is that negative reinforcement is not punishment. Even negative reinforcement strengthens the possibility for a response to occur again. For example, putting on sunglasses when the sun is shining in your eyes is an example of negative reinforcement.

Schedules of Reinforcement: In this lesson you will also learn about the different schedules of reinforcement. There are two broad categories: continuous and intermittent reinforcement (Intermittent is further divided into four more categories). Be sure that you are clear about the distinctions between the four schedules of partial reinforcement.

Shaping: Shaping is the process of reinforcing small behaviours (successive approximations) that lead to a larger (more desired) behaviour. For example, when you learned to play volleyball, your coach would congratulate (reinforce) you for every step towards making a proper bump, set, spike.   

Punishment: Punishment is different from reinforcement. Punishment seeks to weaken a response. Through the use of positive or negative punishment, researchers, parents, teachers, coaches, etc. are able to remove undesired behaviours. Please note that there can be side-effects to punishment. Please ensure that you are familiar with these complications.

Look at the various ways Operant Conditioning can be used when working with animals.