Operant Conditioning: Concepts and Examples

Definitions

• Operant Conditioning: A method of learning that employs rewards and punishments for behavior.
• Reinforcement: Aim to encourage and increase a behavior.
  • Positive Reinforcement: Adding something desirable to increase a behavior.
  • Negative Reinforcement: Removing something undesirable to increase a behavior.
• Punishment: Aim to discourage and decrease a behavior.
  • Positive Punishment: Adding something undesirable to decrease a behavior.
  • Negative Punishment: Removing something desirable to decrease a behavior.

Key Points

• Positive and negative in this context do not mean good or bad.
• Positive means adding something.
• Negative means removing something.

Practice Examples

Example 1: Swear Jar

• Behavior: Cursing
• Action: Introduce a swear jar where money is paid for cursing.
• Type: Negative Punishment
  • Reason: Taking away money (something desirable) to discourage cursing.

Example 2: Sunday School Attendance

• Behavior: Regular attendance
• Action: Give a sticker for attendance.
• Type: Positive Reinforcement
  • Reason: Adding a sticker to encourage attendance.

Example 3: College Exams

• Behavior: Studying hard
• Action: Excusing from the final exam if certain grades are achieved.
• Type: Negative Reinforcement
  • Reason: Removing the need to take the final exam to encourage studying.

Example 4: Cat on Counter

• Behavior: Cat jumping on counter
• Action: Yell or squirt water at the cat.
• Type: Positive Punishment
  • Reason: Adding yelling/squirting to discourage behavior.

Example 5: Teenager Grounded

• Behavior: Sneaking out
• Action: Grounding, no hanging out with friends.
• Type: Negative Punishment
  • Reason: Taking away privilege to discourage sneaking out.

Example 6: Eating Broccoli

• Scenario 1: Child gets dessert after eating broccoli.
  • Type: Positive Reinforcement
  • Reason: Adding dessert to encourage eating broccoli.
• Scenario 2: Child doesn't do dishes if he eats broccoli.
  • Type: Negative Reinforcement
  • Reason: Removing dish duty to encourage eating broccoli.

Example 7: Dog Whining

• Behavior: Dog whining
• Action: Giving a bone to keep quiet.
• Type: Positive Reinforcement
  • Reason: Adding a bone encourages whining by rewarding it.

Summary

• Review scenarios to identify whether the behavior is reinforced or punished.
• Determine if the strategy involves adding or removing something to classify as positive or negative.
• Understanding these concepts can help in identifying real-life behavior management strategies.