The document provides an overview of operant conditioning, detailing its foundational principles established by Edward Thorndike and further developed by B.F. Skinner. It explains how behaviors are modified through reinforcement and punishment, highlighting key laws of learning such as the law of effect and the law of readiness. Additionally, it discusses the practical applications of operant conditioning in education, emphasizing the importance of motivation and reinforcement in the learning process.

1. Operant
conditioning

2. • Through operant conditioning, an association is made
between a behavior and a consequence (whether negative
or positive) for that behavior

3. An operant is a set of acts which
constitutes an organism doing
something. In the process of
operant conditioning operant
responses are modified or
changed by reinforcement

4. • It is called trial and error learning

5. Edward Thorndike (1898) is famous in psychology
for his work on learning theory that led to the
development of operant conditioning within
Behaviorism.
In1878 theory was given in his book animal
intelligence

6. According to him learning takes place by trial and
error. In learning the learner selects a correct
response out of many possible ones and connects it
with the appropriate stimulus
Learning by this method is called trial and error
learning theory.

7. • Thorndike formulated his
theory, based on his
experiments conducted on his
cat in the puzzle box.
• The door of the box could be
opened by pulling the strings
inside the box. A fish was
kept outside.
•

8. • The cat was tried to come
out of the box by squeezing,
jumping, biting etc.

10. • As the experiment was repeated for
several times the wrong movements
decreased and in the end the cat was
able to open the door in a single
trial.

11. FACTORS INVOLVED IN
TRIAL-AND-ERROR THEORY
•

12. Motive or drive
• Drive is a tension state
resulting from needs. Where
there is drive or motive there
is learning. In the present
experiment drive was hunger.

13. Stimulus or goal
• It is the casual factor for
activity. In the present
experiment, food is the
stimulus. To get the food by
getting out of the box is the
goal.

14. Responses
• The cat makes several varied
types of responses like
scratching, pulling etc. The
responses which lead to the
goal known as satisfying
responses. The responses
which do not lead to the goal
is known as annoying
responses.

15. Chance success
As a result of random movements, the
cat, by chance, succeeded in opening the
door.

16. Selection of
proper
movement
• Gradually the cat selected the
proper way of pulling the string
out of its random movements.

17. fixation
• At last, the cat learned the
proper way of opening the door
by eliminating all the incorrect
responses and fixing only right
response. Now the cat was able
to open the door without any
error.

19. LAWS OF
LEARNING
• PRIMARY LAWS
• Law of readiness
• Law of effect
• Law of exercise

20. Law of readiness
This law indicates the learners
state of willingness participate
in the learning process

21. Law of effect
The law of effect
states the pleasure
pain principle
A response is
strengthened if it is
followed by pleasures and
weakened if it is followed
by displeasure

22. Law of exercise
• According to this law the more times a stimulus induced response is
repeated the longer it will be retained
• This law has two sub parts use and disuse

23. • Law of use- the more often
an association is used the
stronger it becomes
• Law of disuse- the longer
an association is unused
the weaker it becomes.

24. SECONDARY
LAWS
• Law of multiple response
• Law of attitude
• Law of analogy
• Law of associative shifting

25. Law of multiple response
• Confronted with new situation
the organism responds a
variety of ways before arriving
a correct response

26. Law of attitude
• Learners perform the task well
if he has attitude set on the
task

27. Analogy
• The organism responds to a new
situation based on the response
made by him in a similar situation in
the past
• He make responses by comparison
or analogy

28. Law of
associative
shifting
• We can get any response from
the learner of which he is
capable associated with any
situation to which he is sensitive

29. Prepotency of
elements
• Effects of rewards and
punishment can affect the
learning of the child

30. Education
application
Motivation is very important
in the teaching-learning
process.
Learning should be made
purposeful, and goal directed.

31. • Theory stresses the importance of
mental readiness, meaningful
practice and intensives in
learning process.

32. • More opportunities should be
given to the learners to use and
repeat the knowledge they get in
the classroom.

33. • The learner should be
encouraged to do his task
independently. He must try
various solutions of the
problem before arriving at the
correct one.

34. Skinner
• Skinner revolt against no
stimulus, no response theory.
• His theory came to be known as
operant conditioning
• Skinner developed his theory on
the lines of Thorndike learning by
selecting and connecting under
law of effect

35. • Skinner formulated his theory
of behavior based on condition
in 1930

36. No stimulus, no
response theory.
• S-R theories have assumed the
existence of stimulus as a
prerequisite for evoking
response
• In the absence of external
stimuli, they have assumed
some internal stimuli for
evoking response.

37. • Skinner was against this. He
defined two kinds of responses

38. Types of response
• Elicited behavior(Respondent
Behavior) is learnt behavior
according to Pavlov model of
conditioning. Since it is
concerned with a stimuli it is
know as S type conditioning
• Emitted behavior (Operant
behavior)Response to
unknown stimuli

39. • Respondent behavior is learnt
according to the Pavlovian
model of conditioning .
• It is concerned with stimuli
known as S type conditioning

40. • Skinner attaches great importance
to operant behavior concerned with
response rather than stimuli.
• Skinner changed S_R formula to R_S
formula

41. • According To R_S formula when
desired response is emitted a
reinforce stimulus is presented

42. The first step to his experiment, he
placed a hungry rat inside the Skinner
box. The rat was initially inactive inside
the box, but gradually as it began to
adapt to the environment of the box, it
began to explore around.
Eventually, the rat discovered a lever,
upon pressing which; food was released
inside the box. After it filled its hunger,
it started exploring the box again, and
after a while it pressed the lever for the
second time as it grew hungry again.

43. • This phenomenon continued
for the third, fourth and the
fifth time, and after a while,
the hungry rat immediately
pressed the lever once it was
placed in the box. Then the
conditioning was deemed to
be complete.

44. • Here, the action of pressing the lever is an
operant response/behavior, and the food
released inside the chamber is the reward. The
experiment is also known as Instrumental
Conditioning Learning as the response is
instrumental in getting food.

45. • This experiment also deals with and explains the
effects of positive reinforcement. Upon pressing
the lever, the hungry rat was served with food,
which filled its hunger; hence, it’s a positive
reinforcement

46. Reinforcement
• A reinforcer is a stimulus whose
presentation or removal
increases the probability of a
response

47. Types of
Reinforcement
• Positive Reinforcement is any
stimulus whose presentation can
strengthen the probability of
response(Reward Learning) •
• Negative Reinforcement a
response or behavior is
strengthened by stopping,
removing or avoiding a negative
outcome or aversive stimulus
(escape-avoidance learning

48. Positive
Reinforcement
• Positive Reinforcement is any
stimulus whose presentation can
strengthen the probability of
response(Reward Learning)

49. Negative
Reinforcement
• Negative Reinforcement :Release
from an unpleasant situation
given to strengthen behavior

50. • Primary reinforcers: Food ,water and
sex thar satisfies basic need
• Secondary reinforces: A consequence
that people learn to value through an
association with Primary reinforcers

51. Premack
principle
• Rule that states that enjoyable
activities can be used to reinforce
participation in less enjoyable
activities

52. • Punishment • Any event that causes a decrease in the behavior

53. Presentation punishment(positive
punishment)
• use of unpleasant consequences
to decrease the chances that the
behavior will occur again

54. Removal punishment(negative punishment)
• Withdrawal of pleasant consequences that is reinforcing behavior
designed to decrees the chance that behavior will occur again.
• Time out: Procedure for removing a student from the situation in
which behavior was reinforced

55. • Intrinsic reinforcement :behavior that a person enjoys
engaging for their own sake
• Extrinsic reinforce; praise and reward is given to motivate people

56. Components of Operant Conditioning
• Reinforcement – A kind of stimulus that aims to increase the
strength in behavior due to its consequence
• Punishment • Any event that causes a decrease in the behavior

57. Extinction
• When the response is no longer reinforce than extinction occurs

58. Variable interval
schedule
• Reinforcement scheduled in
which desired behavior is
rewarded following an
unpredictable amount of time

59. Fixed interval
schedule
• Reinforcement scheduled in
which desired behavior is
rewarded following a constant
amount of time

60. Variable ratio
schedule
• Reinforcement scheduled in
which desired behavior is
rewarded following an
unpredictable number of
behavior

61. Classical Operant
Involuntary response Voluntary response usually
Stimulus is given before response Stimulus is given after response
Response comes after stimulus(S-R)formula Response comes before stimulus(R_S)formula
Learner is passive Learner is active
Developed in Russia Developed in U.S.A
Pavlovian respondent conditioning Skinnerian instrumental conditioning
Symbolize as Pavlov dog Symbolize as skinner box

62. Education application
• Operant conditioning has been applied to learning by developing
teaching machines and programmed learning
• Skinner has revolutionized the whole teaching learning process and
mechanical learning by replacing the teacher