INSTRUMENTAL CONDITIONING

Learning process in which a response either increases or decreases as a

result of being followed by either reinforcement or punishment.
Reinforcer: Consequence of a response that increases the frequency
of the response it follows. §
Punishment: Consequence that decreases the frequency of the
response it follows.
B.F. Skinner (1904–1990) is often referred to as the father of operant
conditioning and many of Skinner's writings are devoted to the application
of operant conditioning to human behaviour.
§Primary reinforcement: Adresses a basic biological need (food,
water, oxygen). §Secondary reinforcement: Does not satisfy any
physiological need (money, good grades, trophies).
Secondary reinforcers are more common in classrooms than primary
reinforcers. Making primary reinforcers contingent aren’t good teaching
practice.
§ Positive reinforcement (reinforcement): Occurs when a behavior
(response) is followed by a stimulus that is appetitive or rewarding,
increasing the frequency of that behavior. § For example, if a rat in a
Skinner box gets food when it presses a lever, its rate of pressing will go up.
This procedure is usually called simply reinforcement.
§ Negative reinforcement (escape): Occurs when a behavior
(response) is followed by the removal of an aversive stimulus, thereby
increasing that behavior's frequency. § For example, in the Skinner box
experiment, the aversive stimulus might be a loud noise continuously
sounding inside the box; negative reinforcement would happen when the rat
presses a lever, turning off the noise.
§Positive punishment (punishment): This occurs when a behavior
(response) is followed by a stimulus, such as a shock or loud noise, which
results in a decrease in that behavior. § For example, your cell phone rings
in the middle of a class lecture, and you are scolded by your teacher for not
turning your phone off prior to class.
§Negative punishment (penalty): Occurs when a behavior (response)
is followed by the removal of a stimulus. § For example, taking away a
child's toy following an undesired behavior, resulting in a decrease in that
behavior
 Reinforcement and punishment are the core tools through which
operant behavior is modified.
 These terms are defined by their effect on behavior.
 Positive Reinforcement and Negative Reinforcement increase the
probability of a behavior
  Positive Punishment and Negative Punishment reduce the probability
of a behaviour that it follows
Effective punishment
Verbal reprimands: are more effective when they are inmediate, brief,
unemotional and given in a quiet tone of voice.
§Response cost: Loss either of a previously earned reinforcer or of an
opportunity to obtain reinforcer.
§Logical consequences: Something that follows naturally or logically from a
students’ misbehavior.
§Positive practice overcorrection: involves having a student repeat an
action, but doing it correctly, perhaps in an exaggerated form.
§Time-out: Consequence for misbehavior in which a learner is placed in a
dull, boring situation with no opportunity for social interaction.
§ In-school suspension: Placing a student in a quiet, boring room within the
school building, typically to do schoolwork under close adult supervision
Punishment that undermines (fuck) the desired behaviour
Physical punishment: Its use in the class is illegal in many places.
§ Psychological punishment: It can inflict long-term psychological harm.
§ Extra classwork: It communicates the message that schoolwork is
unpleasant.
§ Out-of-school-suspension: It involves a loss of valuable instructional time
and decreases students’ chances for academic and social success
Negative effects of Punishment
 Punishment does not teach appropriate behaviors
 Must be delivered immediately & consistently
 May result in negative side effects: Rebound Effect
 Undesirable behaviors may be learned through modeling (aggression)
 May create negative emotions (anxiety & fear)

Avoidance and learned helplessness.

 Typical behavior of a human that has suffered aversive stimuli which
it was unable to avoid.
 The individual fails to learn escape or avoidance in new situations
where such behavior would be effective.
 When children need help, but no one comes to their aid, they may be
left feeling that nothing they do will change their situation. Repeated
experiences that bolster these feelings of helplessness and
hopelessness can result in growing into adulthood ultimately feeling
that there is nothing one can do to change his or her problems.
 Some common symptoms of learned helplessness in children include:
Failure to ask for help § Frustration § Lack of effort § Low self-esteem
§ Passivity § Poor motivation § Procrastination § Anxiety § Depression.
The Role of Explanatory Styles
A pessimistic explanatory style is associated with a greater likelihood of
experiencing learned helplessness. People with this explanatory style tend
to view negative events as being inescapable and unavoidable and tend to
take personal responsibility for such negative events.
Intervention:
§ Those who received a therapeutic intervention after failing at the task
were more likely to try again and successfully complete a follow-up task.
Those who did not receive an intervention were more likely to experience
learned helplessness and give up.
§ So what can people do to overcome learned helplessness? Cognitive-
behavioral therapy is a form of psychotherapy that can be beneficial in
overcoming the thinking and behavioral patterns that contribute to learned
helplessness.
§ The goal of CBT is to help patients identify negative thought patterns that
contribute to feelings of learned helplessness and then replace these
thoughts with more optimistic and rational thoughts. This process often
involves carefully analyzing what you are thinking, actively challenging
these ideas, and disputing negative thought patterns.
Factors that influence Instrumental conditioning.

Satiation/Deprivation: The effectiveness of a positive stimulus will

be reduced if the individual has received enough of that stimulus to
satisfy its appetite. The opposite effect will occur if the individual
becomes deprived of that stimulus: the effectiveness of a
consequence will then increase.
§ If someone is not hungry, food will not be an effective reinforcer for
behavior § Immediacy: An immediate consequence is more effective
than a delayed consequence. § If one gives a dog a treat for "sitting"
right away, the dog will learn faster than if the treat is given later.
Consistence - To be more effective, reinforcement should occur
consistently after responses and not at other times.
Learning may be slower if reinforcement is intermittent, that is,
following only some instances of the same response, but
responses reinforced intermittently are usually much slower to
extinguish than are responses that have always been reinforced
Example?? Gambling addiction
§ Size - PROPORTIONALITY: The size, or amount, of a stimulus often
affects its potency as a reinforcer. Humans and animals engage in a
sort of "cost-benefit" analysis.
 A tiny amount of food may not "be worth" an effortful lever
press for a rat. A pile of quarters from a slot machine may keep a
gambler pulling the lever longer than a single quarter.
§ Contingency: Know-why.

Critics
 Behaviorism doesn’t account for anything that isn’t an observable behavior.
 There has to be more going on than what is observable.
 Behaviorism only accounts for learning through direct experience with the
environment (not observational learning).

OBSEERVATIONAL LEARNING CONDITIONING

Observational learning is learning that occurs through observing the
behavior of others. It is called Social Cognitive Learning, which takes various
forms, based on various processes. In humans, this form of learning seems
not need reinforcement to occur, but instead, requires a social model such
as a parent, sibling, friend, or teacher. Particularly in childhood, a model is
someone of authority or higher status.
The Social learning theory by Albert Bandura posits that learning is a
cognitive process that takes place in a social context and can occur purely
through observation or direct instruction, even in the absence of motor
reproduction or direct reinforcement. § In addition to the observation of
behavior, learning also occurs through the observation of rewards and
punishments, a process known as vicarious reinforcement.
The theory expands on traditional behavioral theories, in which behavior is
governed solely by reinforcements, by placing emphasis on the important
roles of various internal processes in the learning individual.
Basic assumptions of social cognitive learning
1. People can learn by observing others.
2. Learning is an internal process that may or may not lead to a
behavioral change.
3. Cognitive processes influence motivation as well as learning.
4. People and their environments mutually influence each other.
5. Behavior becomes increasingly self- regulated.

Bandura’s social learning theory

 Learning is not purely behavioral; rather, it is a cognitive process that
takes place in a social context.
  Learning can occur by observing a behavior and by observing the
consequences of the behavior (vicarious reinforcement and
punishment). §
 Reinforcement plays a role in learning but is not entirely responsible
for learning
 Learning involves observation, extraction of information from those
observations, and making decisions about the performance of the
behavior (observational learning or modeling).
 Learning can occur without an observable change in behavior.
 The learner is not a passive recipient of information. §
 Cognition, environment, and behavior all mutually influence each
other
Types of modeling stimuli
1. § Live model: an actual person demonstrating a particular behavior.
2. § Verbal instructions: descriptions of how to successfully execute
certain behaviors.
3. § Symbolic model: a person or character portrayed in a book, film,
television show, videogame, etc.
Cognitive and social process in Bandura’s Theory
1st Attention - In order to learn, observers must attend to the modeled
behavior. § Attention is impacted by characteristics of the observer (e.g.,
perceptual abilities, cognitive abilities, arousal, past performance) and
characteristics of the behavior or event (e.g., relevance, novelty, affective
valence, and functional value).
2nd Retention - In order to reproduce an observed behavior, observers
must be able to remember what the model does. § This process is influenced
by observer characteristics (cognitive capabilities, cognitive rehearsal) and
event characteristics (complexity)
3rd Reproduction – The learner must be psysically capable of reproducing
the modeled behavior. § Observer characteristics affecting reproduction
include physical and cognitive capabilities and previous performance.
4th Motivation - The decision to reproduce (or refrain from reproducing)
an observed behavior is dependent on the motivations and expectations of
the observer. -When all four factors are present, modeling can be an
extremely effective teaching technique.
Behaviour and skills that can be learned through modelling
1. Academic skills: Modeling can be especially effective when the model
demonstrates not only how to do, but also how to think about the
task. O
2. Aggression: Children become more aggressive when they observe
aggressive or violent models. O
3. Productive interpersonal behaviors: learners acquire many
interpersonal skills by observing and imitating others. E.g. talking in
small groups about literature.
Characteristics of effective models
 Models are competent at the behavior or skill in question.
 Influential models tipically have prestige and power.
 Influential models exhibit behaviors relevant to learners’ own
circumstance