Instrumental conditioning: principles and applications

Instrumental Conditioning

One of the key principals in psychology is instrumental conditioning. This is when punishment or reinforcement is utilized to encourage the subject to engage in particular types of behavior. The basic idea behind this approach is to increase the chances that a specific kind of action will take place in the future. Once this happens, is when there can be a transformation in how the subject is reacting to the stimuli that they will see, hear or feel. (Cherry, 2011) This is significant, because it is showing how this is utilized as a basic strategy to subtly change the way someone is responding to various events. To fully understand this technique we will examine how this kind of conditioning is used by someone who is learning to ride a bike. This will be accomplished by: comparing positive / negative reinforcement that relate to the situation, examining the role of rewards / punishment and looking at what forms of instrumental conditioning would be most effective in this situation. Once this occurs, is when we can be able to comprehend how this can influence their behavior and the way someone is reacting to various situations.

Describe your selected learning situation.

When someone is learning to ride a bicycle there is both positive and negative reinforcement that they are receiving. As far as positive reinforcement is concerned, the individual is learning to ride a bike based on the fact that they are receiving encouragement from others and can see an improvement in their ability to balance themselves on the bicycle. While negative reinforcement is when the individual will feel pain associated from falling off the bike on to the ground. The key for being successful in learning to ride a bike is to offer the person continuous positive reinforcement. This will help them to overcome the challenges that they are facing from the negative reinforcement. Once this takes place is when there will be a transformation in how they are reacting to these events and their ability to continually keep practicing these techniques (until they can maintain their balance on a regular basis).

Compare and contrast the concepts of positive and negative reinforcement as they relate to your selected situation.

Like what was stated previously, positive reinforcement is when the subject will receive continuous encouragement that will help them with riding the bike despite the short-term pain they are facing. This is accomplished by offering the person simple rewards for climbing on the bike and attempting to ride it. For example, to overcome the negative association with the short-term pain, the respondent might be offered some kind of candy bar or treat immediately after they ride the bicycle. At the same time, there will be positive verbal encouragement to help them to continue with this behavior in the future. This is important, because this approach will assist the subject in overcoming the negative associations related to the short-term pain that they will feel. ("Conditioned Responses," 2009) (Robbins, 1992, pp. 52 -- 72)

Negative reinforcement is when the individual will feel pain associated with riding the bicycle. In this particular case, the physical pain of losing their balance and falling on the ground is linked with this kind of reinforcement. If left unchecked, this can lead to larger problems in the future with most people using this as a crutch to affect their ability to ride the bike. This is because they will immediately feel sudden pain and will instinctively take steps to avoid any of these kinds of issues. To counter this there must be some kind of positive reinforcement that the subject will receive. This is when they can be able to overcome the short-term negatives associated with learning to ride the bicycle. ("Conditioned Responses," 2009) (Robbins, 1992, pp. 52 -- 72)

Explain the role of reward and punishment in your selected learning situation.

Rewards are when you are offering the subject some kind of positive encouragement for engaging in various activities. For example, when someone is attempting to ride the bike you may offer them some type of treat to provide immediate feedback (i.e. A cookie). While at the same time, you are giving them verbal encouragement. This is designed to ensure that everyone understands the situation and how this is affecting them. (Robbins, 1992, pp. 52 -- 72)

Punishment is when you are discouraging behavior that is undesirable. Under this kind of situation, these techniques would be utilized when the subject believes that riding the bike is harmful to them. The way that they would be punished is by not receiving any kind of reward or positive feedback. Instead, they will have nothing but the short-term pain associated with riding the bike and the lingering effects that it is having on them. This is designed as a tool to encourage the individual to move away from behavior that is considered to be undesirable and towards those actions that are favorable. (Robbins, 1992, pp. 52 -- 72)

Explain which form of instrumental conditioning would be most effective in your selected situation.

There are two types of instrumental conditioning these include: classical and operant. Classical conditioning is when the subject will have to learn how to respond to various situations through being taught the most appropriate responses that are unnatural. This means that when they respond favorably, is the point that they will receive some kind of reward (a conditioned response). When they do something that is against these objectives, is when they will not receive any kind of reward for their behavior (i.e. unconditioned responses). Operant conditioning is when you are examining how an organism will respond to various situations in their environment. As they will learn the way to adapt their behaviors based upon the current challenges they are facing through natural consequences to their actions. ("Classical and Operant Conditioning," 2011)

The most effective form of instrumental conditioning is operant conditioning. The reason why is when the person is learning to ride a bike, they will have to adapt to specific situations. This means that there will be changing weather conditions (i.e. roads that are wet or dry) and varying landscapes. Those individuals who are learning this will be able to more effectively deal with any kind of negative stimuli (i.e. falling off the bike). It is at this point that they will realize that this is just a part of the learning process. This is when the individual will make more favorable associations with riding the bike and achieving their ultimate objectives. Once this occurs, is when there is a change in their underlying mental state and the ability to adapt to a host of situations.