What is Operant Conditioning?: Definition and Examples

The conditioning It is a form of learning by association of stimuli, discovered and defended by the proponents of behaviorism. The most important types of conditioning are classical conditioning and operant conditioning. The operant conditioning It is a type of learning and a behavior modification technique that uses positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, omission and punishment to produce the acquisition or extinction of a conduct.

In this Psychology-Online article about operant conditioning, we explain what it is, its definition and we show you some examples. In addition, we also tell you how to apply operant conditioning.

Index

1. Definition of operant conditioning
2. What can we achieve with operant conditioning?
3. Examples of operant or instrumental conditioning
4. Difference between operant conditioning and classical conditioning

Operant conditioning is a form of learning that consists of

1. If the consequence is considered positive that behavior will have more likely to occur in the future, since the behavior is being associated with the good event that has happened later.
2. If, on the contrary, the consequence is negative the behavior will have less likely to occur in the future, since the behavior is associated with the bad event. This connection between behaviors and consequences leads to a behavior modification technique that is used to make a behavior repeat itself or not. There are different types of operant conditioning.

Types of operant conditioning

• The positive reinforcement: when after the behavior a good event occurs, therefore it will produce an increase in the presence of the behavior.
• The negative reinforcement: when after the behavior a bad event that is already happening does not occur or stops occurring, which will also increase the presence of the behavior.
• The omissionWhen a good event does not occur after the behavior, the presence of the behavior will thus decrease.
• The punishment: when after the behavior a bad event occurs, which will also decrease the presence of the behavior.

Thondrike Instrumental Conditioning

As we have commented previously, Burrhus Frederic Skinner is the most important author of operant conditioning, which Edward Thorndike later called with the term instrumental conditioning. The conceptual difference is based more on the name than on the nature of the learning.

What we can achieve with operant conditioning is the known behavior shaping. The most important concepts are:

The acquisition

Acquisition is the learning process of behavior in which the behavior is associated with positive and / or negative reinforcement. Due to the reinforcement, the behavior occurs more and more quickly, more times and is less likely to disappear.

Extinction

Extinction consists of suppressing the reinforcement of a previously reinforced behavior. When you stop reinforcing the behavior, its frequency decreases. It is an effective procedure for definitively reduce behaviors, but it is slower than others, so the behavior cannot be expected to disappear immediately. The reduction in behavior is gradual and depends on:

• The history of the behavior to be extinguished: extinction is faster when the origin of the behavior is recent and slower when the behavior has a long history of occurrence and is fine consolidated.
• The reinforcement that the behavior to be extinguished has received: it is faster when the behavior has received continuous reinforcement and is slower when reinforced continuously intermittent.
• The level of deprivation of the reinforcement: the more time has passed between occurrences of the reinforcement, the slower the extinction.
• The intensity of the reinforcement: the greater the reinforcer used, the longer it will take to extinguish the behavior.
• The effort required to issue the answer: the more effort it takes, the easier it will be to extinguish.

It should be taken into account that the application of extinction produces an increase in the frequency and intensity of the behavior in the first moments of application, it is called "outbreak of extinction". They can also increase aggressive or emotional behaviors when implementing the procedure, the so-called "extinction-induced aggression." It is important to persist in the application of extinction, as it ensures its effectiveness.

In addition, the response can reappear promptly after a period of time in which the behavior had disappeared, this phenomenon is called "spontaneous recovery". Maintaining extinction, it will eventually disappear permanently.

How should extinction be applied?

• Extinction conditions should be explained and specified.
• Identify all the reinforcers that maintain the behavior.
• Being able to control the presentation of reinforcers. To achieve this, all the people in the environment in which the behaviors are emitted have to apply extinction so that they do not reinforce them.
• Prevent people involved in the extinction program regarding the initial increase in response undesirable, possible aggressive responses to not receiving the expected reward and recovery effects spontaneous.
• Be constant, because if extinction is used intermittently it is equivalent to reinforcing it intermittently.
• Use together with the extinction of the inappropriate behavior, the reinforcement of alternative behaviors, if possible, incompatible with the one you want to eliminate. For example, if we want to extinguish the behavior of consuming sugary drinks, we will reinforce each time we drink water.

Both Thondrike and Skinner and the other authors who theorized about operant or instrumental conditioning, defined some examples to better understand this procedure. Here are some types of operant conditioning with clear examples:

Examples of positive reinforcement

• Give an award of food to a dog when she sits down. Get the dog to learn to sit and do more.
• To congratulate to a child when the vegetable plate is finished. Get the child to learn that eating vegetables is a positive thing and increase this behavior.
• Charge commissions. Get a worker who receives extra money for each sale, increase the behaviors necessary to sell.

Examples of negative reinforcement

• Stop quarreling to a child when he gets a good grade. Get the child to increase the behaviors necessary to have better grades.
• Doing the dishes (a task that corresponds to your partner) because he or she has cooked before. Get your partner to cook more.
• Let out of class earlier to the children who have participated in the class. Get stimulating the participation of children.

Examples of omission:

• Not paying attention to a child when he is misbehaving, for example throwing a tantrum in the street. If you do not receive attention when performing the behavior, the behavior is more likely to be reduced.
• Not answer to a child when he speaks badly, for example when he yells or uses bad words. By ignoring him when he performs such behavior, we encourage him to decrease his frequency.
• Do not interact with our pet when he barks. Stop paying attention to the behavior decreases.

Examples of punishment

• Give extra work to students who have interrupted in class. Get students to interrupt less.
• Remove the console to the son who has not picked up the clothes. Get the behavior of not picking up clothes to decrease.
• Tell off to a child when he has had a bad grade. Get bad grades down.

Another type of conditioning is classical conditioning, whose main author is Ivan Pàvlov and consists of associating an unconditioned stimulus, that is, a stimulus that by itself already generates a response, with a neutral stimulus, which by itself does not provoke this answer. The moment the stimuli are associated, that is, they are presented together repeatedly, it is achieved that the neutral stimulus (which did not provoke the response) now does provoke it. With an example it will be easier to understand.

Example of classical Pavlov conditioning

1. The unconditioned stimulus (food) elicits the response (the dogs produce saliva); whereas the neutral stimulus (seeing the caregiver) does not produce the response (it does not make him salivate).
2. Unconditioned and neutral stimuli are presented together (caregiver brings food) repeatedly and the unconditioned stimulus is associated with the neutral one (the caregiver is associated with food).
3. Now, the neutral stimulus (see the caregiver) also elicits the response (salivate). Now the dog salivates at the sight of the handler, whether he sees the food or not.

The main difference between classical conditioning and operant conditioning the thing is classical conditioning it focuses on modifying the stimulus that causes a behavior, while operant conditioning focuses on modifying the behavior through a stimulus.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to What is operant conditioning: definition and examples, we recommend that you enter our category of Experimental psychology.

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• Tituana, S., & Dayse, B. (2017). Modification of aggressive behavior in children, skinner's postulates according to the theory of operant conditioning, referring to punishment.