Introduction to Operant Conditioning - Essay Example

Introduction to Operant Conditioning The term ‘operant conditioning’ was coined by B. F. Skinner and it means using reinforcement to roughly change the behavior by giving it after the desired response from the subject is received (McLeod, 2007). According to Skinner, three types of operant or responses can follow behavior namely neutral operants, reinforcers, and punishers. Neutral operants are the responses gained from the environment which have no effect on the probability of repetition of a behavior. Reinforcers are those responses gained from the environment whose effect causes increase in the probability of repetition of a behavior. “The term reinforce means to strengthen, and is used in psychology to refer to anything stimulus which strengthens or increases the probability of a specific response” (Psychology 101, 2011). Reinforcers may be negative or position depending upon the situation. Punishers are such responses received from the environment that reduce the probability of repetition of a behavior. A behavior is weakened by punishment. Reinforcers and punishers affect behavior. Children grow up learning from the consequences of their behaviors and in this process, develop a sense to distinguish between ethically justified and unjustified behaviors. For example, if a child attempts missing a class at school, and the chief result of this behavior is that the child uses it as an opportunity to visit the cafeteria and have his favorite snacks without having any negative comments from other students or the teacher, the child’s behavior will be positively reinforced and his probability of repeating this behavior would be high. If, on the other hand, the teacher calls over the parents of the child for a meeting to discuss that the child has been missing classes at school, and the child gets punished for that, his behavior will be negatively reinforced and he would not be likely to repeat this mistake in the future. Positive Reinforcement vs Negative Reinforcement There are certain differences between the positive and negative reinforcements. Positive reinforcement takes place when an individual is presented with a stimulus after exhibition of the desired behavior that is reinforcing or stimulating, so that the individual can be encouraged to repeat the same behavior in the future. Certain examples of positive reinforcement are; a mother praising her son for completing homework on time, a child getting $5 from his parents for every A he gets in the subjects, a boss giving an employee a car as an additional benefit for achieving the assigned goals in time. On the other hand, negative reinforcement takes place when a certain stimulus is removed after exhibition of a certain behavior from the individual. Chances that the particular behavior would occur again are increased because the negative consequence is removed or deterred. Negative reinforcement is different from the procedure of punishment because the behavior is increased with negative reinforcement unlike the punishment, in which a certain behavior is decreased. Certain examples of negative reinforcement include; a child completes his homework in time in an attempt to deter his mother nagging, and a girl is able to leave the dinner table after she has had a portion of pie. In the first example, completing the homework in time is the behavior, and nagging of the mother is the negative stimulus. In the second example, having a portion of pie is the behavior and leaving the dinner table is the negative stimulus. While considering reinforcement, one should remember that the end result of reinforcement is directed at increasing the behavior unlike punishment that is meant to decrease a behavior. Positive reinforcement can be thought of as providing the subject with a reward in an attempt to increase the response whereas negative reinforcement can be thought of as depriving the subject of something in an attempt to increase the behavior (Prince, 2013). Effectiveness of Reinforcement Reinforcement that is the most effective between positive and negative reinforcement is negative reinforcement. One reason why negative reinforcement is more effective in achieving the desired results is that it is not always possible to provide the subject with a reward that the subject would necessarily appreciate. There is no limit to what an individual might desire in compensation for behaving in a certain way. Trying to satisfy the greed, wishes, or desires of an individual can be very expensive and complicated, especially because the individuals’ desires keep getting increasingly sophisticated over the passage of time. On the other hand, it is easier to deprive an individual of something in order to make him/her behave in a certain way. For example, a boss can impose a $50 fine on the employees every time they get late. This would be a more effective approach to make the employees more punctual as compared to giving each employee $50 a day/week/month for arriving at the workplace in time every day. Scenario I would use operant conditioning in order to discipline a child. Children normally start misbehaving when they are pampered and cuddled too much. It is necessary to provide them with positive or negative reinforcement or punishment in order to condition and improve their behavior. Children also give their parents a very hard time eating food. As a parent, if my son would not take his cereal on time, I would take his car away from him and would not return him until he has had his cereal (I know my son cannot live without his car). I would call over my son to have the cereal. I know he would be playing with his car at the lunch time. I also know that he would not come to have the cereal. I would go over to him and take his car away. He would sure retaliate, but I would still take it and place it out in the lawn. My son would cry for the car and I would tell him that he cannot have it until he has finished the cereal. This would motivate my son to have the cereal for the longer he deters from having the food, the longer he and the car would be at separate places. References: McLeod, S. (2007). Skinner – Operant Conditioning. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html. Prince, K. (2013, Feb. ). The Difference between Positive/Negative Reinforcement and Positive/Negative Punishment. Retrieved from http://bcotb.com/the-difference-between-positivenegative-reinforcement-and-positivenegative-punishment/. Psychology 101. (2011, Nov. 29). Reinforcement. Retrieved from http://allpsych.com/psychology101/reinforcement.html. Read More