Operant conditioning

1. LEARNED BEHAVIOR
Dr. Surjya Kumar Saikia
Department of Zoology
Visva-Bharati

2. Expected
outcomes…
 We will be able to know what is operant
conditioning as learned behavior
 We will be able to explain the difference
between reinforcement and punishment

3. Operant conditioning, sometimes referred to
as instrumental conditioning, is a method of
learning that employs rewards and punishments
for behavior. Through operant conditioning, an
association is made between a behavior and a
consequence (whether negative or positive) for
that behavior

4. Operant conditioning was first extensively
studied by Edward L. Thorndike (1874-1949),
who observed the behavior of cats trying to
escape from home-made puzzle boxes.
B.F. Skinner (1904-1990) built upon Thorndike's
ideas to construct a more detailed theory of
operant conditioning based on reinforcement
and punishment.

5. B.F. Skinner
Operant conditioning was first
described by behaviorist B.F.
Skinner, which is why you may
occasionally hear it referred to
as Skinnerian conditioning

6. OPERANT CONDITIONING IS
DIFFERENT FROM CLASSICAL
CONDITIONING

9. Operant Behavior
• Respondent Behavior
– Behavior that occurs as
an automatic response
to some stimulus
Ex: food when hungry;
water when thirsty
• Operant Behavior
– The act operates on
the environment to
produce rewarding or
punishing stimuli
Ex: good grades =
MONEY; bad grades =
grounded

10. Concepts used in Operant Conditioning
• Reinforcer
– A stimulus or event that increases the odds of repeating the behavior that
led to it
• Punisher
– A stimulus or event that functions to decreases the odds of repeating the
behavior that lead to
• I spank my kids when they throw food at the dinner table…this event
decreases the odds they will do it again
PicClickUK
Depositphotos.com
Reinforcer Punisher

11. Reinforcer
Two Types of Reinforcement:
Positive and Negative
Anything likely to increase a behavior

12. Actions that are followed by reinforcement will be strengthened and more likely
to occur again in the future. If you tell a funny story in class and everybody
laughs, you will probably be more likely to tell that story again in the future.
POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT

13. Something unpleasant is removed from the subject to encourage their behavior
NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT
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14. Image from Psychestudy

15. There was
a ghost….

16. Punishment
• Flip side of reinforcement
• Punishment, on the other
hand, refers to any event
that weakens or reduces the
likelihood of a behavior
• Weakens a behavior or
makes it less likely to occur
again in the future
Pixabay
Wikipedia

17. Positive Punishment
It refers to exhibiting
or implementing an
aversive stimulus if
the behavior repeats
in future.
Freepik

18. Negative Punishment
It happens when a
certain reinforcing stimulus
is removed after a
particular undesired
behavior is exhibited,
resulting in the behavior
happening less often in the
future.
ClipartMax

19. Reinforcement Punishment
Positive Something
is added to increase the
likelihood of a behavior.
Something
is added to decrease the
likelihood of a behavior.
Negative Something
is removed to increase the
likelihood of a behavior.
Something
is removed to decrease
the likelihood of a
behavior.