7.2 Changing Behavior Through Reinforcement and Punishment: Operant Conditioning | Introduction to Psychology Learning Objectives Outline the principles of operant conditioning.Explain how learning can be shaped through the use of reinforcement schedules and secondary reinforcers. In classical conditioning the organism learns to associate new stimuli with natural, biological responses such as salivation or fear. The organism does not learn something new but rather begins to perform in an existing behavior in the presence of a new signal. How Reinforcement and Punishment Influence Behavior: The Research of Thorndike and Skinner Psychologist Edward L. Observing these changes in the cats’ behavior led Thorndike to develop his law of effect, the principle that responses that create a typically pleasant outcome in a particular situation are more likely to occur again in a similar situation, whereas responses that produce a typically unpleasant outcome are less likely to occur again in the situation (Thorndike, 1911). Video Clip: Thorndike’s Puzzle Box (click to see video) Figure 7.6 Rat in a Skinner Box
Positive Reinforcement: Changing The Behavior of Children For The Better Home » Positive Education » Positive Reinforcement: Changing The Behavior of Children For The Better “The way positive reinforcement is carried out is more important than the amount.”– B.F. Skinner The purpose of reinforcement is to help increase the probability that a specific behavior will occur when a stimulus is delivered after a response is shown. When people think of reinforcement they immediately think of Pavlov, or at least I do. More Positive Education Tools? Become a Science-Based Practitioner! The Positive Psychology toolkit is a science-based, online platform containing 135+ exercises, activities, interventions, questionnaires, assessments and scales. Positive and Negative Reinforcement In terms of reinforcement there are two types. In the future it has a chance to reoccur potentially without taking away the visible item due to the child automatically thinking, “If I do this I can play with my phone.” Both reinforcement processes are useful for changing the behavior of children.
Abstract B.F. Skinner | Operant Conditioning Operant conditioning, or instrumental conditioning, is a theory of learning where behavior is influenced by its consequences. Behavior that is reinforced (rewarded) will likely be repeated, and behavior that is punished will occur less frequently. By the 1920s, John B. Watson had left academic psychology, and other behaviorists were becoming influential, proposing new forms of learning other than classical conditioning. Perhaps the most important of these was Burrhus Frederic Skinner. Skinner’s views were slightly less extreme than those of Watson (1913). The work of Skinner was rooted in a view that classical conditioning was far too simplistic to be a complete explanation of complex human behavior. BF Skinner: Operant Conditioning Skinner is regarded as the father of Operant Conditioning, but his work was based on Thorndike’s (1898) law of effect. Skinner identified three types of responses, or operant, that can follow behavior. Positive Reinforcement Negative Reinforcement 1. 2.
Rewarding behavior is key to parenting teens, study suggests Parenting is hard, and parenting teens brings about an entirely new set of challenges, from keeping their rooms clean to getting them home before curfew. But, a new study suggests parents who want their teenagers to keep their grades up could have better success if they focus more on rewarding good behavior and less on threatening to punish the bad. According to the report, published in PLOS Computational Biology, British researchers have found that adolescents focus well on positive incentives, but have difficulty staying motivated to avoid penalties. The study shows that teens and adults learn in different ways, according to the study’s lead author Stefano Palminteri, a researcher with the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London. “Rewards give them something they want to think about,” Allen said. RELATED: Getting teens to do chores can be a chore for parents "When people go to work they get paid.
This website gives a very detailed look at reinforcement... What Is the Difference Between Reinforcement and Punishment? In a perfect world, you wouldn't need to worry about discipline, but all parents face situations that require intervention. The goal of discipline is to decrease the undesirable behaviors and increase the positive choices your child makes. Both reinforcement and punishment are ways to achieve that goal, but the methods have subtle differences that may make one better suited for your child. Reinforcement Basics Reinforcement focuses on increasing the desired behaviors in your child. Reinforcement Considerations The motivating action or item should be something your child likes or enjoys. Punishment Basics Punishment relies upon a negative stimulus to decrease undesired behaviors. Punishment Considerations Punishment should aim to teach acceptable behaviors, and not be used as a way to get revenge or inflict shame. Source:
Disciplining your child The trouble with spanking Discipline means to teach knowledge or skill. In our society, discipline is often linked with punishment. You may have been spanked as a child. Some cultures support spanking. Yet, the Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) strongly discourages spanking and other forms of physical punishment. When to use discipline Raising a child requires patience. Effective discipline means to teach your children with mutual respect. Positive reinforcement Positive reinforcement is a very effective type of discipline. Positive reinforcement is used to encourage wanted behaviour. Sometimes punishment is necessary. Tips on disciplining your child Babies (birth to 12 months) Babies respond well to schedules and routines. In the later months, you can help your baby learn to tolerate frustration better by not picking them up right away when they cry. In the later months, let your baby fall asleep by themselves. Younger toddlers (1 to 2 years) Older toddlers (2 to 3 years) Time-outs
Teens May Learn Best with Positive Reinforcement A new study finds that adolescents focus on rewards and are less able to learn to avoid punishment or consider the consequences of alternative actions. University College-London investigators compared how adolescents and adults learn to make choices based on the available information. Investigators tracked the way in which 18 volunteers aged 12-17 and 20 volunteers aged 18-32 completed tasks in which they had to choose between abstract symbols. Each symbol was consistently associated with a fixed chance of a reward, punishment, or no outcome. Adolescents and adults were equally good at learning to choose symbols associated with reward, but adolescents were less good at avoiding symbols associated with punishment. Adults also performed significantly better when they were told what would have happened if they had chosen the other symbol after each choice, whereas adolescents did not appear to take this information into account. The study appears in PLOS Computational Biology. Related Articles
Parenting Your Kids Using Behavioral Psychology | Evolution Counseling If you feel raw about receiving parenting advice you can at least in part thank the societal expectation, an expectation you’ve probably bought into, that you’re supposed to naturally and effortlessly know how to raise your kids, that it’s in your DNA, that somehow by wearing the mantle of primary caregiver you’re suddenly endowed with all the necessary tools to get the job done. But if you agree that parenting is an art then, just like any art, it’s got to be learned. Obviously part of this learning is practical experience. But it helps a lot to have some theory in your back pocket too, theory that you can intentionally put into practice. Behavioral psychology is the most powerful psychological tool for parenting that we know of since so much of parenting young children is simply trying to elicit certain behaviors while trying to make others die out. So you’re unwilling to use negative reinforcements with them but they’re more than willing to use negative reinforcements with you.
This website gives a clear and simple way of understanding... Level Of Reinforcement Matters | Evolution Counseling Let’s say that you’re training a puppy and you use corporal punishment to try to elicit behaviors. Quite apart from any moral or ethical objections to this training method, what you’re doing is setting the bar very, very high for what the puppy will interpret as an adequate reinforcement to elicit the desired response. A stare will not do, a frown will not do, a chastising word will not do, yelling will rarely do unless the perceived threat of physical punishment is behind it. It’s always unfortunate when trainers of any kind, parents, teachers, pet owners, etc., throw up their hands in frustration, saying to themselves and others “This organism is out of control. It is possible to reset the level, to establish a less intense negative reinforcement to elicit the same behavior, but there is always an interim period that requires a lot of patience on the part of the trainer while the organism adjusts to the new level of reinforcement.