BEd 2nd Year Describe Skinner’s operant conditioning theory of learning

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Meaning and Definitions of Operant Conditions

B.F. Skinner “The operant conditioning may be defined as any learning which is based on response contingent reinforcement and does not involve a choice among experimentally defined alternatives.”

Bigge “The operant conditioning is the learning process whereby a response is made more probable or more frequent an operant-strengthened-reinforced.”

R. F. Skinner“The movement on an organism of its parts in a frame of reference provided by the organism itself or by external objects or fields of force.”

An operant is a set of acts which constitutes an organism’s doing something-raising head, pushing a lever, and saying ‘Dog’. The operant response is modified or changed. Reinforcement means that the probability of the occurrence of certain responses is increased. It is a positive type of reinforcement.

The unique feature of operant conditioning is that the reinforcing stimulus occurs not simultaneously with a proceeding the response but following the response. (BEd 2nd Year Describe Skinner’s operant conditioning theory of learning)

In operant conditioning, an organism must first make the desired response and then a reward’ is provided. The reward reinforces the response-makes it is more likely to reoccur. The response is instrumental in bringing about its reinforcement.

In learning, there is feedback for the reinforcing stimulus to the previous response. In operant conditioning, the stimulus which produced the response in the first place is not in any way involved in the learning process.

The response is operant but the stimulus can be traced out with help of response. Its emphasis is on reinforcing agents, not on original causative factors. (BEd 2nd Year Describe Skinner’s operant conditioning theory of learning)

Skinner thinks nearly all human behaviour is a product of operant reinforcement. Operant reinforcement improves the efficiency of behaviour. (BEd 2nd Year Describe Skinner’s operant conditioning theory of learning)

Skinner’s Experiment

Skinner designed his own apparatus for the experiment. It is known as the Skinner box. It is simple and was made to contain a rat, a lever and a device for dropping a pellet of food each time that rat pressed the lever.

Recording devices are set outside the box so that the investigator may go home at night and see in the morning what the rat has been doing. (BEd 2nd Year Describe Skinner’s operant conditioning theory of learning)

There are Skinner boxes for the study of pigeons and other animals. A rat or pigeon learns rapidly in the Skinner box because in the box there is little else for him to do. (BEd 2nd Year Describe Skinner’s operant conditioning theory of learning)

Skinner says, “The barest possible statement of the process is this: we make a given Consequence contingent upon certain physical properties of behaviour and the behaviour is then observed to increase in frequency.”

The stimulus and reinforcement are independent variables upon which the response is dependent as Skinner phrases it “…the stimulus acting prior to the emission of the response, sets the occasion upon which the response is likely to be reinforced.”

A stimulus is “any condition, event or change in the environment of an individual which produces a change in behaviour.”

It may be verbal (oral and written) or physical.

A response may be defined as the unit of behaviour. It is the basic unit upon which complete performance or response repertoires are built. The response may be defined as a unit of behaviour.

Response repertories consist of many kinds of responses which are functionally related. The response is changing. Somewhat artificial unit of behaviour. (BEd 2nd Year Describe Skinner’s operant conditioning theory of learning)

In a classroom the condition upon which reinforcement will occur depends on the standard set by the teacher with skill development, for instance, poor writing performance is acceptable for the beginner. However, with increasing practice, the teacher expects greater accuracy. (BEd 2nd Year Describe Skinner’s operant conditioning theory of learning)

The initial response must exist in some strength in the individual repertoire, the task of the instructor is to build more complex, patterns of responses from this initial response by changing the contingencies.

Since behaviour is a continuous activity, its breakdown into identifiable units to facilitate analysis is necessarily somewhat artificial, but is useful, especially when simple responses must be built into more complex ones.

According to Skinner, reinforcement must immediately follow response if it is to be effective. Delayed reinforcement is much less effective in modifying behaviour. This contrasts sharply.

Skinner does not ask why a stimulus is reinforcing, he seeks to determine to the stimulus has reinforcing properties that can be shown by a simple test. The rate of the mission is called the operant level. In Skinner’s terms, reinforcing may be either positive or negative.

A positive reinforcing stimulus increases the rate of operant Pononding when it is applied immediately after each response. Punishment is defined as the removal of positive reinforcement or the application of a negative reinforcing stimulus.

Laws of Operant Conditioning

The following are the principles of operant conditioning learning theory :

1. Process of Operant Reinforcement
2. Process of Operant Extinction
3. Process of Science of Behaviour and
4. Process of Generalization

1. Process of Operant Reinforcement—Operant conditioning is that, if an occurrence of an operant is followed by the presentation of a reinforcing stimulus, the strong probability is increased. The operant requires no specific eliciting stimulus.

There are two types of operant reinforcement:

(a) Stimulus discrimination and

(b) Response differentiation.

Nearly all human learning can be classified into these two categories:

(a) Stimulus Discrimination-Operant discrimination is a change in behaviour as the result of changes in the environment-stimuli-of the learner. Imitative behaviour is an example of the result of discriminative operant reinforcement.

Taking an interest or attending are only some other expressions that are commonly used to describe the consequence of discriminative operant reinforcement. (BEd 2nd Year Describe Skinner’s operant conditioning theory of learning)

(b) Peoponge Differentiation-Skills are developed through differences in the reinforcement of varying responses. Many differentiation in reinforcements may be supplied automagically by the environment or an organism. A series of successive approximations is helpful for more complex skill learning reinforcement must be supplied by a teacher.

Another classification of reinforcement has also two categories-Positive reinforcement and Negative reinforcement.

A positive reinforcer is any stimulus the presentations of which strengthen the behaviour upon which is made contingent or adding something. (BEd 2nd Year Describe Skinner’s operant conditioning theory of learning)

A negative reinforcer is any stimulus the withdrawals of which strengthen that behaviour or remove something.

Since in both cases response is strengthened, reinforcement is taking place. A positive reinforcer is as pleasant or satisfying and negative reinforcement is as annoying or painful or unpleasant.

Contingencies of Reinforcement- The basic three-tern contingency of operant conditioning is response, stimulus and reinforcement in this order. An operant response is followed by the presentation of a reinforcing stimulus, and the strength-probability of recurrence of the operant is increased. (BEd 2nd Year Describe Skinner’s operant conditioning theory of learning)

The three-term contingency of operant reinforcement occurs when a child is taught to read, a given response is reinforced by saying Right or Wrong according to how the student responds to the appropriate visual stimulus-word or sentence.

The key to successful teaching or training is to analyze the effect of reinforcement and design techniques for bringing desirable change in the behaviour. (BEd 2nd Year Describe Skinner’s operant conditioning theory of learning)

In operant learning, the significant stimulus is that which immediately follows the response. Operant behaviour is that behaviour operates upon the environment to generate consequences. Behaviour is the phenomenon of nature. Just as the wind blows and behaviour occurs. (BEd 2nd Year Describe Skinner’s operant conditioning theory of learning)

2. Process of Operant Extinction- In operant conditioning, an operant is strengthened through its reinforcement or weakened through its extinction. (BEd 2nd Year Describe Skinner’s operant conditioning theory of learning)

The job of a psychologist is simply to account for the probability of response in terms of a history of reinforcement and extinction. The effect of reinforcement is always to increase the probability of response.

Extinction is the reverse of reinforcement. When a reinforcing stimulus no longer occurs following response, the response becomes less and less frequent, this is operant extinction. “Conditioning builds up a predisposition to respond-a ‘reverse’ which extinction exhausts.”

3. Process of Science of Behaviour—Skinner visualizes a great and crucial future for a ‘science of behaviour’. It is concerned with demonstrating the consequences of cultural practices, there is reason to believe that the culture can survive by the method of science of behaviour. (BEd 2nd Year Describe Skinner’s operant conditioning theory of learning)

The basic assumption of Skinner’s theory is that there is order in nature, including human behaviour and that is the function of science to discover the order. Science is a continuous and often disorderly and accidental process.

In Skinner’s psychology, the dependent variable in a situation is the behaviour of an individual organism. The independent variable consists of external conditions of which the behaviour is a function. it means the behaviour operates upon the environment to generate consequences. (BEd 2nd Year Describe Skinner’s operant conditioning theory of learning)

Skinner’s goal in psychology is to achieve the degree of prediction and control with regard to human behaviour that has been achieved by the physical sciences. It implies strictly naturalistic determinism.

He considers the science of major importance in human behaviours, too, is part of a naturally determined course of events and it can not interfere with what causes the emission of the behaviour of an individual or causes the emission of behaviour.

4. Process of Generalization-Skinners psychology is more concerned with human learning. He designed some experiments and observations for studying human learning. Human beings are capable of generalizing experiences, acquired in one situation and other situations. (BEd 2nd Year Describe Skinner’s operant conditioning theory of learning)

Generalization according to him may be of two types:

(a) Response Generalization and (b) Stimulus Generalization

(a) Response Generalization-It is important that response generalization does occur, otherwise shaping behaviour patterns are not possible.  (BEd 2nd Year Describe Skinner’s operant conditioning theory of learning)

It refers to the fact that when responses are repeated they are likely to vary over the range of more or less similar acts. The principle of generalization is the one that allows the individual to get nearer to the acts.

(b) Stimulus Generalization-It occurs when a particular response elicited by a particular stimulus becomes also elicited by other similar stimuli. An example of the principle is, that a boy who has a fear of a teacher may generalize fear to other teachers.

The stimulus, response and reinforcement are the three elements of operant learning. If these are placed in sequence, form the chain of learning. There should be gradual withdrawal of prompts from the learning situation.

Skinner has used the principles of Thorndike’s learning. The law of effect has been used by him as the principle of active responding and the principle of immediate confirmation to provide immediate reinforcement to the learner.

Limitations of Operant Conditioning

The following are the limitations of this theory:

1. He has ignored the functioning of mental structure and hereditary factors.
2. The concept of reinforcement fails to account for curiosity and creativity.
3. He neglects innate potentialities and abilities.
4. The applications are doubtful in normal settings for human learning.
5. The mental process is not mechanical but is creative and productive.