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Operant Conditioning: Housebreaking a puppy
The use of operant conditioning, or a punishment-and-rewards system, is perhaps most obviously used in everyday life when housebreaking a puppy. Whenever the puppy needs to relieve itself, such as early in the morning, or after a meal, the dog will be taken outside where it is supposed to 'go to the bathroom.' The owner will say "good dog" when the dog obeys this impulse, and praise the dog lavishly. To initially encourage the dog to go to the bathroom in the yard, the puppy's owner will likely praise any effort by the dog to use the outside environment, such as when the dog squats, lifts its leg, or sniffs its usual 'spot.' This praise is the positive reinforcement demanded by the creator of this learning system, B.F. Skinner. The owner may also give the dog a small treat when it completes the act of relieving itself.
When the dog uses an unacceptable place to go to the bathroom, within the house, the owner reacts very differently, and uses negative reinforcement. "No!" says the owner, and perhaps makes a loud, unpleasant noise that the dog does not like to hear. "Bad dog!" The dog receives no treat. However, given the puppy's short memory, this should only be done when the dog is caught in the act. The owner, ideally, should be alert enough so when the dog is seen squatting indoors, even before the dog can relieve itself, the owner has time to shout, "No!" Then he or she will rush outside with the puppy, wait for the dog to 'go' and praise the dog and reward the dog with a treat.
The dog learns to associate relieving itself outside with lavish praise and food, and relieving itself inside the house with punishment and no tasty treats. Eventually, when it has to relieve itself, the dog will beg to be allowed outside, in the hopes of receiving the desired reward. The dog should also be praised and rewarded for 'asking' to go outside. Even when the dog does not receive the reward every time it uses the yard, it will continue to do so in the hopes of receiving the food reward some of the time, and at least avoiding punishment.
Operant Conditioning/Behavior Modification The idea of operant conditioning for humans was first developed by Burrhus Frederick Skinner, who looked at work using operant conditioning with animals. He concluded that using operant conditioning, or behavior modification, with humans was possible, and that all if all external factors were controlled, internal mental processes would not be a significant factor. He believed that all human behavior was shaped by the principles of operant conditioning:
Then, on seeing that the rearing has become a little bit familiar to him, sniffy is therefore, reinforced when he rears at a point with the bar. After several attempts of the previous steps, sniffy was encouraged to rear up nearer to the bar as possible. During the regular training observation, incase sniffy rears so close to the bar this increases the likelihood that sniffy will press on the bar.
Conditioning Classical and operant conditioning are types of behavioral learning. Subsets of behavioral psychology, classical and operant conditioning show how a subject (animal or human) can exhibit relatively permanent changes in behavior due to certain types of experiences. According to Cryver (2000), learning is a "fundamental process" in all animals. Classical conditioning is also known as "learning by association." Association in this sense refers to the association of a behavior with a
Hypothetical Experimental Scenario and Real-Life Application in School: A typical operant conditioning experiment featuring positive reinforcement would include one in which an animal is rewarded on a ratio schedule of pressing a lever. In that scenario, the subject receives a food reward for pressing a lever a specific number of times. Four presses of the lever rewarded by a single food pellet would be a ratio reward schedule of 4:1. The
In using operant conditioning to modify temper tantrums, the most effective and efficient method uses a system of positive reinforcement that rewards a child for reacting to a situation in a manner other than a tantrum, and a negative reinforcement that involve taking away something a child if the child throws a tantrum. When the child is presented with a situation that usually would result in a tantrum, the ideal
This technique is called shaping, as the teacher starts with information students already know and then new information is broken into small pieces. In teaching vocabulary, the teacher is more likely to suggest or work with the textbook, and the setting of a democratic environment based on common agreement is not such an important fact as in the humanistic approach. The lesson starts with a revision and review of the information