This document discusses operant conditioning and its key principles. It describes operant conditioning as a theory pioneered by B.F. Skinner that deals with how voluntary responses change over time based on their consequences. Reinforcement and punishment are used to either increase or decrease the likelihood of behaviors. There are four types of consequences discussed: positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, and negative punishment. Laws of learning from Thorndike are also summarized, including the law of effect, law of readiness, and law of exercise.

1. OPERANT CONDITIONING
UNIT 2 PART II

2. OPERANT CONDITIONING
• A theory pioneered by B. F Skinner
• Did research with rats, put the animal in the box, record
behavior, retrieve the animal after the trial

3. OPERANT CONDITIONING
• Deals with how voluntary (emitted) responses change over
time as a function of their consequences.
• An association is made between behavior and consequence of
that behavior
• It is a method of learning which occurs through reward and
punishment
• A certain behavior is demonstrated to earn reinforcement or to
avoid punishment

4. REINFORCEMENT
• Refers to a consequence that follows an operant response that
increase the likelihood of that response
• In operant conditioning, the principle that a reinforcement
must occur immediately after a response in order for learning
to occur.

5. TYPES OF REINFORCEMENT
I. Positive reinforcement
II. Negative reinforcement

6. Positive reinforcement
• Serves to increase the probability of the response in the future.
• Something is added to increase the likelihood of behavior
• Praise, direct reward

7. Negative reinforcement
• Serves to decrease the probability of the response in the future
• Removal of something unpleasant
• E. g you remove all movie TV station in a school Television until
students get serious with academic matters

8. PUNISHMENT
• Suppression or decrease of unpleasant behavior

9. Positive Punishment
• Something is added to decrease the likelihood of behavior

10. Negative PUNISHMENT
• Something is removed to decrease the likelihood of
behavior

11. • Positive reinforcement
• Something is added to increase
the likelihood of behavior
• Negative reinforcement
• Something is removed to increase
the likelihood of behavior
• Negative punishment
• Something is removed to
decrease the likelihood of
behavior
• Positive punishment
• Something is added to decrease
the likelihood of behavior

12. Quiz
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of reinforcement
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of punishment

13. Go deeper
• As noted previously, there are two ways in
• which aversive control is used: punishment is used to reduce the
frequency of a response, whereas
• negative reinforcement is used to increase a response (that is, the
response leads to escaping or avoiding the negative reinforcer).

14. LAWS OF LEARNING

15. • Educational psychologists have identified several laws of
learning which seem general applicable to the learning process
• The laws were first introduced and practiced by Edward
Thorndike in his experiment to study animals intelligence
THE LAWS OF LEARNING

16. THORNDIKE’S PUZZLE BOX EXPERIMENT
• Thorndike explored learning by placing cat (a hungry cat) in a box
pressing on the pedal activated a mechanism which allowed the cat
to get out of the box
• Over several trials, the cat learned to escape much more quickly so as
to access food outside the box

17. Thorndike’s study brought about three laws of learning
1. Law of effect
2. Law of readiness
3. Law of exercise
THE LAWS OF LEARNING

18. • Also known as the law of preparedness
• The learner learn when he is ready to learn (Sharma, 2018).
• When any conduction unit is ready to conduct for it do so, is
satisfying, when any conduction unit is not in readiness for it to
conduct is annoying
LAW OF READINESS

19. Law of readiness
• Readiness is related to the condition of individual especially his
nervous system
• Maturity and interest are essential for readiness

20. • States that “any response which leads to an outcome that the
organism finds satisfying is likely to be repeated, and any
response which leads to an unpleasant outcome is not likely to
be repeated”
 Learning is strengthened when it is accompanied by a pleasant
or satisfying feeling
LAW OF EFFECT

21.  Learning is weakened when it is associated with an unpleasant feeling
 The emotional state of a learner, affects learning

22.  An organism repeating a response several times will in all
likelihood increase the speed and ability of an organism to
perform the learned behavior in the future.
• This that are most often repeated are best remembered
• Learning is strengthened with repeated practices
• Learning is weakened when trial or practice is discontinued
LAW OF EXERCISE

23. He further stresses that if education is to be preparation for life
beyond the school, it should be as life-like as possible.
Application of Thorndike laws of learning

24. 1. Behavior modification
2. The role of frequent feedback
3. Learning takes a pivotal role in the whole education process
APPLICATION OF BEHAVIOURISM

25. Implication of behaviorism in T/L Context
4. The issue of behavioral objectives
5. The role of environment in learning
6. It therefore follows that assessment or indeed evidence of learning
must be some capturing of that change.