Cheryl Willard - Lee College

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Critical Thinking Concept #4: Building Up and Applying Operant Conditioning Principles Richard Paul and Linda Elder (2006) discuss the importance of the accurate use of concepts in our reasoning. If concepts are not properly understood, then errors in reasoning come about. Operant conditioning concepts are often difficult for students to grasp. The terminology used is counter to students’ intuitive sense of these terms. It also takes practice to know how to use these concepts correctly. There will be two assignments focusing on operant conditioning. The first will help students build their understanding of operant conditioning concepts through a logical step-bystep process. It will be done individually as a homework assignment. Once the concepts are understood, they can then be applied to everyday situations, which will be the focus of the second assignment. Students will discuss their responses to this assignment in a small group which will give them another opportunity to process the principles of operant conditioning. 18
Practice #4: Understanding Operant Conditioning B.F. Skinner described a type of learning called operant conditioning, the main assumption of which is that behavior is shaped by its consequences. In other words, it is the consequence that follows a behavior that will determine whether a person is likely to continue that behavior or not. Skinner identified four main types of consequences, as follows: Positive reinforcement - a stimulus that, when presented, strengthens or maintains a behavior. If a child receives an allowance for taking out the trash and continues to take out the trash (i.e., the behavior is maintained), then we know that the allowance was a positive reinforcer. With positive reinforcement, the person behaves to get something that they want. Negative reinforcement – a stimulus that, when removed, strengthens or maintains a behavior. If we take an aspirin and it removes our headache, and we continue to take aspirin when we have a headache, then we know that the headache was a negative reinforcer (i.e., a stimulus that was removed and which strengthened our behavior of taking aspirin). With negative reinforcement, the person behaves to get away from something that they don’t want. Positive punishment – a stimulus that, when presented, weakens or eliminates a behavior. A person who receives a $125 ticket for speeding and thereafter no longer speeds has been influenced by positive punishment. Negative punishment – a stimulus that, when removed, weakens or eliminates a behavior. A teenager stays out too late and her father takes away the keys to her car. If she no longer stays out past her curfew, then her behavior has been influenced by negative punishment. How to think about positive and negative. DO NOT THINK OF POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE IN TERMS OF GOOD AND BAD. That is an incorrect understanding when applied to conditioning principles. If you go to a doctor and have a test run for cancer and it comes back positive, that is not a “good” outcome because it indicates the presence of cancerous cells. It would be preferable for the test to come back negative because that would indicate the absence of cancerous cells. In the same way with operant conditioning, if a stimulus is “presented,” it is positive; and if a stimulus is “removed” or absent, it is negative. How to think about reinforcement and punishment. When trying to decide if a stimulus is a reinforcement or a punishment, always look at the effects on behavior. Reinforcement (both positive and negative) strengthens behavior, making it more likely to occur. Punishment weakens or stops a behavior. Rules for analyzing cases. The following questions will help to determine which type of consequence is being described. • What behavior in the case described was strengthened or weakened? • Was the behavior strengthened? (If yes, then the consequence involves either positive or negative reinforcement). Or, was the behavior weakened or eliminated? (If yes, then the consequence involves either positive or negative punishment). • What was the consequence that followed the behavior in the case described? • Was the consequence presented or removed? If presented, then either positive reinforcement or positive punishment is involved. If removed, then either negative reinforcement or negative punishment is involved. 19
Page 1 and 2: FACULTY LEARNING COMMUNITY TEACHING
Page 3 and 4: PSYC 2301.M05 - INTRODUCTION TO PSY
Page 5 and 6: 5. Library Scavenger Hunt. For this
Page 7 and 8: Reflective Thinking Statement No. 1
Page 9 and 10: Critical Thinking Concept #1: Consi
Page 11 and 12: Fact or Falsehood To the left of ea
Page 13 and 14: Practice #2: Correlation ≠ Causat
Page 15 and 16: Critical Thinking Concept #3: Think
Page 17 and 18: Practice #3: Thinking Critically wi
Page 19: Key for Thinking Critically with Ps
Page 23 and 24: C. Frank, an air traffic controller
Page 25 and 26: Key for Understanding Operant Condi
Page 27 and 28: Critical Thinking Concept #5: Build
Page 29 and 30: 6. What is your conclusion? Are you
Page 31 and 32: Practice #7: Avoiding Assimilation
Page 33 and 34: Active Learning Statement After the
Page 35 and 36: • To demonstrate the capacity of
Page 37 and 38: Practice #10: The “B” Test of I

Cheryl Willard - Lee College

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