Operant conditioning involves learning through consequences of behavior. It focuses on the relationship between behaviors and subsequent outcomes. Edward Thorndike studied operant conditioning through his puzzle box experiments with cats. He placed hungry cats in puzzle boxes and food outside to motivate escape attempts. Initially, cats tried many unsuccessful behaviors randomly. Over repeated trials, cats learned which behaviors like pulling a loop or lever opened the door, and escaped more quickly each time by avoiding unproductive actions. Thorndike's experiments demonstrated the principles of operant conditioning and how behaviors are strengthened or weakened by their consequences.

1. Operant /
Instrumental
Conditioning
Dr. Pratibha Sagar
Department of Education
MJP Rohilkhand University
Bareilly

2. LEARNING
THEORIES
Behaviorist Cognitive
Classical
Conditioning
Operant/Instrumental
Conditioning

3. Operant Conditioning
Instrumental learning involves
learning the connection between a
behaviour and its consequence.

4. Operant Conditioning
The term “instrumental” is used as
the behaviour of an organism is
instrumental in producing both
positive and negative outcomes.

5. Operant Conditioning
It involves three key elements:
a response
an outcome (the reinforcer)
a relation between the R and O

6. Operant Conditioning
Behaviour
followed by
Reinforcement
Increases
chances of

7. Operant Conditioning
Thorndike & Skinner believed that
the majority of human behaviours are
not random responses to stimuli but
are purposive.

8. Background

9. Edward Lee
Thorndike
(1874-1949)
Background

10. Background
 Behaviorist, Connectionist.
Student of William James

11. Background
 Interested in animal intelligence.
Disdained anecdotal method.

12. Background
 First doctoral thesis in
psychology to report the results of
research using animal subjects.

13. Connectionism
Thorndike stated in his book
Human Learning that “Learning is
connecting. The mind is man’s
connection-system.”

14. Thorndike’s
Study

15. Thorndike’s Study
Initially Thorndike used “book”
mazes to study learning in
baby chicks.

16. Thorndike’s Study
He then constructed “puzzle
boxes” to study learning in
cats.

17. Thorndike’s Study
He used a learning curve, for the
changes in behaviour that occur
over successive trials to record how
quickly cats learned to escape from
the puzzle box.

18. Each of Thorndike’s puzzle boxes had a device that could open
it. Here tilting the pole will open the door. (Based on Thorndike,
1911/1970)

20. Thorndike’s
Experiment

21. Thorndike’s Experiment
 A hungry cat was put inside a
puzzle box & a fish, as an
incentive, was put outside the box
beyond its reach .

23. Thorndike’s Experiment
The box was designed in such a
way that the door can be released
by simple act like depressing a
lever inside the box.

24. Thorndike’s Experiment

25. Thorndike’s Experiment
As the cat was hungry and
wanted to get out of the box to
reach the food, it made a great deal
of varied attempts.

26. Thorndike’s Experiment
All attempt were in trial and error
manner like jumping, clawing at the
bars, scratching the box, trying to
push bars, pawing & shaking
movable parts of the box.

27. Thorndike’s Experiment
But all attempts proved to vain.
Ultimately by chance her paw fell on
the loop of the rope and door
opened.

28. Thorndike’s Experiment
The cat jumped out immediately
and ate the fish. Cat was rewarded
for these behaviours by food, which
was placed outside the box.

29. Thorndike’s Experiment
This experiment was repeated
several times. Initially, the number
of unproductive efforts made by the
cat was very high.

30. Thorndike’s Experiment
But gradually the results become
productive in less time. Finally, a
stage came when the cat managed
to open the box at the first attempt,
without making any false moves.