Lesson 3 The Behaviourist Approach - Operant Conditioning And Skinner’s Research Flashcards
Operant conditioning definition
A form of learning in which behaviour is shaped and maintained by consequences. The consequences include punishment, positive/negative reinforcement
Positive reinforcement defined
Receive something positive (reward) when carrying out a behaviour
Negative reinforcement definition
Perform a behaviour to avoid something unpleasant and therefore the behaviour continues in the future
Punishment definition
Unpleasant consequence caused by certain behaviours
AO1 Operant Conditioning: The work of skinner (1953)
• This method of learning focuses on behaviour producing consequences such as punishment, positive reinforcement or negative reinforcement
• Skinner conducted research on pigeons and rats in a device called, “The Skinner box”
• The Skinner box was a cage which has loud speakers, lights, a lever, a door and a floor which could be electrified.
• One hungry rat at a time would be placed in the skinner box and would be allowed to freely run round
• The rat might accidentally press the lever and the rat would be rewarded by a food pellet which would drop into the skinner box (positive reinforcement)
• The rat would continue to press the lever in order to receive a food pellet in the future, and the rat soon learns that pressing the lever leads to a reward
• The rat could also learn that by pressing the lever they could avoid something unpleasant. An example is that by pressing the lever the rat could avoid receiving an electric shock (conducted via the floor). This is an example of negative reinforcement
Spontaneous recovery
Following extinction (see above), if the rat presses the lever and does then suddenly receive a food pellet, the rat will very quickly learn that pressing the lever results in a food pellet. The rat will learn this link very quickly and “spontaneously recover” what he had previously learnt
Schedules of reinforcement and different types
This means that there are different methods of reinforcement that might occur: some examples include:
Continuous reinforcement
Fixed Interval
Fixed Ratio
Continuous reinforcement
Every time the rat presses the lever they will always receive a food pellet
Fixed Interval
The rat presses the lever and only receives a food pellet during a fixed time only, e.g. every 30 seconds
Fixed Ratio
The rat must press the lever for a fixed number of times and then it will receive the food pellet
Advantages of Operant Conditioning
1) There is research evidence to support the idea of operant conditioning in the real world. Token economy is used in institutions such as prisons and hospitals and acts as a form of behaviour modification. Token economy works by rewarding appropriate behaviour with tokens which can be exchanged for privileges. Research conducted by Paul and Lentz used token economy to treat patients who had schizophrenia, and it was found that their behaviour became more appropriate. (+)
4) A strength of the research conducted by Skinner using the Skinner box is that he relied on the experimental method. He used highly controlled conditions to discover the relationship between variables so that he could establish a cause and effect relationship, e.g. pressing the lever causes the rat to learn food will arrive (reward) (+)
5) The research by Skinner is on the nurture side of the nature/nurture debate. This would state that learning occurs due to environmental factors and external stimuli rather than due to nature and biology. Therefore by manipulating factors in the environment this can have an effect on learning and behaviour, and is supported by nurture (+)
Disadvantages of Operant Conditioning
2) Skinner’s research involving the Skinner box can be criticised. Skinner ignores the concept of free will. He suggests that past experiences involving operant conditioning will affect future behaviour, and people/animals have no control over their actions or the behaviours they show. This is a deterministic view of behaviour which does not account for free will and the fact that a human/animal has a choice over how they behave. (-)
3) The Skinner box has been criticised in terms of ethical issues. Rats and pigeons were often placed in the Skinner box in stressful and aversive conditions which could have a negative effect upon the psychological and physical health of the animals. There is also the issue about generalising the results gained from rats and pigeons to humans. Animals are very different to humans, and therefore the results that Skinner gained from his experiments might not be applicable to humans (-)
6) Operant conditioning is rooted in the behaviourist approach in Psychology and would ignore the biological approach. The biological approach would argue against the behavioural approach and would state that behaviour cannot be learnt, but instead behaviour is heavily influenced by the role of genes, hormones and biochemical/neural mechanisms. Therefore other approaches in psychology must also be considered when examining the influences upon behaviour, and operant conditioning/learning cannot explain all behaviours e.g. do people learn how to be aggressive, or could it be caused by genes and hormones? (testosterone) (-)
