B.F. Skinner: Reinforcement Theory – Flashcards

A form of therapy that applies the principles of reinforcement to bring about desired behavioral changes.

The process of eliminating a behavior by withholding reinforcement.

An approach to the study of behavior that involves assessing the frequency of a behavior, the situation in which it occurs, and the reinforcers associated with it.

The substitution of instinctive behaviors for behaviors that had been reinforced.

The strengthening of a response by the removal of an aversive stimulus.

Behavior emitted spontaneously or voluntarily that operates on the environment to change it.

The procedure by which a change in the consequences of a response will affect the rate at which the response occurs.

The application of an aversive stimulus following a response in an effort to decrease the likelihood that the response will recur.

The act of strengthening a response by adding a reward, thus increasing the likelihood that the response will be repeated.

Patterns or rates of providing or withholding reinforcers.

Responses made to or elicited by specific environmental stimuli.

The ability to exert control over the variables that determine our behavior.

An explanation for the acquisition of complex behavior. Behavior such as learning to speak will be reinforced only as it comes to approximate or approach the final desired behavior.

Persistent behavior that has a coincidental and not a functional relationship to the reinforcement received.

A behavior-modification technique in which tokens, which can be exchanged for valued objects or privileges, are awarded for desirable behaviors.

an identity crisis.

emitted

variable-ratio

ignored.

We are controlled by the environment, but we can control ourselves by changing the environment.

Dissimilar to other approaches, Skinner didn't offer a personality theory at all and his research didn't deal with personality specifically. In explaining personality, most other theorists look inside the person for clues. Skinner in contrast made no reference to internal, subjective, states to account for behavior. Unconscious influences, defense mechanisms, traits, and other driving forces cannot be seen, he argued, and therefore have no place in a scientific psychology. Another way Skinner differed was in his choice of experimental subject. Some personality theorists focus on emotionally disturbed persons, others on normal average individuals. Skinner used rats and pigeons.

Skinner was not interested in childhood experiences or adult feelings, he was interested in behavioral responses. Responding to stimuli is something is something animals do well, sometimes better than people do. Skinner admitted differences are in degree, not kind. He believed that fundamental processes are similar. And because a science must proceed from simple to complex, the more elemental processes should be studied first. Thus, he chose animal behavior because it is simpler than human behavior.

Skinner was taught to fear God, the police, and what people think at an early age. His mother's method of control was to say "tut tut". Skinner's grandmother made certain he understood the punishments of Hell by pointing out the red-hot coals in the parlor stove. Skinner's father taught him about the fate that befell criminals by showing him the county jail and took him to a lecture about life in a notorious New York state prison. As a child he was instructed which of his behaviors were improper. Such events made it clear to Skinner that his adult behaviors were determined by the rewards and punishments (reinforcements) he had received as a child. His view that humans operate similar to machines can also be traced back to the hours he spent constructing mechanical devices. Skinner at a young age was also very interested in animal behavior and the training of pigeons thanks to a trip to the fair.

Respondent behavior involves a response made to or elicited by a specific stimulus. Behavior is unlearned. It occurs automatically and involuntarily. An example of respondent behavior is a knee jerk. Operant behavior is more important to Skinner than respondent behavior. Operant behavior is behavior emitted spontaneously or voluntarily that operates on the environment to change it. An example of operant behavior is in Pavlov's experiment, the dog's salivary response to the ringing bell did nothing to change the bell or the reinforce (the food) that followed. In contrast, operant behavior operates on the environment and, as a result changes it.

The dogs would not learn to respond to the bell unless they were rewarded for doing so. The reward was food. Pavlov then formulated a fundamental law of learning: A conditioned response cannot be established in the absence of reinforcement. The act of reinforcing a response strengthens it and increases the likelihood that the response will be repeated. When operant behavior that has been previously reinforced no longer produces reinforcing consequences the behavior gradually stops occurring..therefore extinction of conditioned response.

Reinforcement is the act of strengthening a response by adding a reward, thus increasing the likelihood that the response will be repeated. The act of reinforcing a response strengthens it and increases the likelihood that the response will be repeated. Superstitious behavior is persistent behavior that has a coincidental and not a functional relationship to the reinforcement received. Skinner demonstrated this in a lab with hungry pigeon. A hungry pigeon was placed in the operant-conditioning apparatus and reinforced every 15 seconds on a fixed-interval schedule. It is likely that the pigeon would be doing something, displaying some behavior or activity, when the reinforcing food pellet was presented. It might be turning, raising its head, strutting, hopping, or standing still. Whatever behavior was emitted at the moment of reward would be reinforced.

Punishments work immediately but give no long-term results. The responses to punishment are either the urge to escape, to counterattack, or a stubborn apathy. These are the bad effects you get in prisons or schools, or wherever punishments are used.

A fixed-interval schedule of reinforcement means that the reinforcer is presented following the first response that occurs after a fixed time interval has elapsed. That interval might be 1 minute, 3 minutes, or any other fixed period of time. The timing of reinforcement has nothing to do with the number of responses. In the variable interval schedule of reinforcement, the reinforcer might appear after 2 hours and 15 minutes the third time. A person who spends the day fishing might be rewarded, if at all, on a variable-interval basis. The reinforcement schedule is determined by the random appearance of fish nibbling bait.

A person who sells computer software on commission is working based on a fixed-ratio schedule of reinforcement. If the computer salesman makes a sale, their behavior is rewarded with commission, if the salesman does not make a sale, no reward is given. Reinforcement depends on how many computers are sold. A child who is occasionally rewarded with an ice-cream cone is reinforced on a variable-interval schedule of reinforcement. The child is given an ice-cream after a certain number of appropriate behaviors which vary each time.

Successive approximation is an explanation for the acquisition complex of behavior. Behavior such as learning to speak will be reinforced only as it comes to approximate or approach the final behavior. Skinner suggested that this is how children learn the complex behavior of speaking. Infants spontaneously emit meaningless sounds, which parents reinforce by smiling, laughing, and talking. After a while, parents reinforce this babbling in different ways, providing stronger reinforcers for sounds that approximate words. As the process continues, parental reinforcement becomes more restricted, given only for appropriate usage and pronunciation. Thus, the complex behavior of acquiring language skills is shaped by providing differential reinforcement in stages.

First, reinforce the dog with food when it merely turns the designated way. Then withhold the reinforcement until the dog makes some movement, however slight, toward the motion. Next, give reinforcement only for movement that brought the dog closer to the motion. After that the dog is reinforced only when it turns its body towards the circular motion. After that reinforcement when the motion is continued and the dog thrusts itself. Finally, the dog is only reinforced when it walks in a circle.

Superstitious behavior is persistent behavior that has a coincidental and not a functional relationship to the reinforcement received. Skinner demonstrated this in a lab with hungry pigeon. A hungry pigeon was placed in the operant-conditioning apparatus and reinforced every 15 seconds on a fixed-interval schedule. It is likely that the pigeon would be doing something, displaying some behavior or activity, when the reinforcing food pellet was presented. It might be turning, raising its head, strutting, hopping, or standing still. Whatever behavior was emitted at the moment of reward would be reinforced.

Through the technique of self-administered satiation we exert control to cure ourselves of bad habits by overdoing the behavior. Smokers who want to quit smoking can chain-smoke for a period of time, inhaling until they become so disgusted, uncomfortable, or ill that they quit.

The techniques for self-control of behavior are stimulus avoidance (removing yourself from the external variable that affects your behavior), self-administered satiation (overdoing the behavior to find control), aversive stimulation (involves creating consequences for one self is a goal is not met), and self-reinforcement (rewarding ourselves for good/desirable behavior).

Token economy is a behavior-modification technique in which tokens, which can be exchanged for valued objects or privileges, are awarded for desirable behaviors. An example could be offering patients at a psychiatric ward opportunities to work at jobs, usually performed by paid hospital attendants, for which they would receive tokens. In this situation, the tokens functioned like money that patients could then buy goods with to improve their quality of life.

Because we are shaped from learning and experience (and we all have different experiences), no two people will behave in the exact same way. Skinner argued that the data on the average performance of groups is of little value in dealing with a particular case. A science that deals with averages provides little information in understanding the unique individual.

Skinner believed people are primarily products of learning, shaped more by external factors than genetic ones. Skinner additionally believed that people function like machines, in lawful, orderly, predetermined ways. Skinner rejected all suggestions of inner being or autonomous self that determines a course of action or chooses to act freely and spontaneously.

In the application of his behavior modification techniques, it is necessary to first assess specific behaviors, both desirable and undesirable. Also to be assessed are the environmental factors that serve as reinforcers and can be manipulated to alter behavior. Functional analysis is an approach to the study of behavior that involves assessing the frequency of a behavior, the situation in which it occurs, and the reinforcers associated with it. Three approaches to assessing behavior are direct observation (observing someone in their element), self-reports (interviews/questionnaires), and physiological measurements (heart rate, muscle tension, brain waves etc.).

Skinner truly changed the nature of the field of psychology. Skinner's behaviorist dominance has been questioned by the cognitive psychology movement. Operant conditioning does not take into account cognitive factors in learning, and can thus maybe be seen an incomplete explanation of the learning process in humans and animals. Behaviorism and cognitive psychology are both branches of psychology attempt to explain human behavior and learning. The behaviorist approach emphasizes observable external behaviors rather than the internal state of the mental processing of information.