THEORY OPERANT CONDITIONING
(THORNDIKE AND B.F. SKINNER)
PREPARED BY:
MOHD REDZUANSYAH BANG BANG
ARDIANSJAH
GS71707
THEORY OPERANT CONDITIONING
(THORNDIKE, Edward Lee Thorndike)
History
The earliest studies of operant learning can be traced back to the research of psychologist E.
L. Thorndike with cats in puzzle boxes (Kimble, 1961). In Thorndike’s experiments, hungry
cats had to escape from boxes fastened shut in different ways to obtain food. Thorndike
observed that after being placed in the boxes, the cats engaged in various behaviours such as
pacing, visually exploring, and scratching at the walls. The animals performed these
responses until they accidentally pressed the latch, pulled the string, or did something else
that opened the box. On successive trials, the cats spent more time examining and scratching
at the latch or the string, while the other responses gradually dropped out. Finally, the animal
would perform the correct behaviour as soon as it was placed in the box. Thorndike explained
the learning of this new behaviour with his “law of effect”: In situations where responses are
followed by events that give satisfaction, those responses become associated with and are
more likely to recur in that situation.
How This Explains?
Operant conditioning explains behaviour through reinforcement and punishment. It posits
that behaviours can be shaped and modified by their consequences:
Reinforcement: Increase the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated. It can be
positive (adding a favourable stimulus) or negative (removing an unfavourable
stimulus).
Punishment: Decreases the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated. Like
reinforcement, it also can be positive (adding an unfavourable stimulus) or negative
(removing a favourable stimulus).
This framework allows for the understanding of how behaviours are learned and maintained
over time, emphasizing the role of the environment in shaping behaviour.
Experiment
Thorndike’s famous experiment involved placing cats in a “Puzzle Box.” The cats were
confined inside and had to figure out how to escape by performing specific actions (like
pulling a lever or stepping on a pedal). Initially, the cats struggled, but with repeated trials,
they learned to escape more quickly.
THEORY OPERANT CONDITIONING
(B.F. SKINNER, Burrhus Frederic Skinner)
History
Prof. B.F. Skinner (b. 1904) started his research work on behavior while he was a graduate in
the Department of Psychology of the Harvard University. In 1931 he wrote his thesis entitled,
“The concept of the reflex in the Description of the behavior”. Skinner was a Practical
Psychologist who conducted several experiments on rats and pigeons.
His important publications are: ‘The Behavior of Organism’ (1930), ‘Science and Human
Behavior’ (1953), Verbal behavior (1957), Cumulative Record (1957), Beyond Freedom and
Dignity (1971) and ‘About Behaviorism’ (1974).
Operant conditioning, developed by B.F. Skinner in the mid-20 th century, evolved from earlier
theories, notably Edward L. Thorndike’s Law of Effect. Skinner expanded on Thorndike’s
ideas by emphasizing the role of reinforcement in shaping behavior, which refers to actions
that are influenced by their consequences. Skinner’s work was instrumental in establishing
behaviorism as a dominant school of thought in psychology during the 20th century.
How This Explains?
According to Skinner, there are two types of behaviors, namely respondent behavior and
operant behavior.
You blink your eye in response to a flash of light. This reflexive behavior is elicited directly
by the environment. So, this is respondent behavior - spontaneous response to stimuli.
But most of our behaviors are not so simply generated by the environment. You are not forced
by the environment to look at a book, to talk, to sing, and to eat. These behaviors are emitted
by you, the individual. Through such behaviors, you operate upon the environment. These are
called operant behaviors
To make it short, Operant conditioning explains how behaviors are learned and modified
through consequences. It focuses on the relationship between a behavior and its outcomes:
Reinforcement:
a) Positive Reinforcement: Adding a pleasant stimulus to increase the likelihood of a
behaviour (e.g., give a treat to a dog for sitting).
b) Negative Reinforcement: Removing an unpleasant stimulus to increase the
likelihood of a behaviour (e.g., turning off a loud alarm when a button is pressed).
Punishment:
a) Positive Punishment: Adding an unpleasant stimulus to decrease the likelihood of
a behaviour (e.g., giving a shock for touching a hot stove).
b) Negative punishment: Removing a pleasant stimulus to decrease the likelihood of
a behaviour (e.g., taking away a toy for misbehaviour)
Skinner’s framework helps explain how behaviours are acquired and maintained, highlighting
the importance of the environment and the consequences of actions.
Experiment
Skinner designed a box named as ‘Skinner box’ and placed a hungry rat inside.
There was a lever which, after being pressed, released a mechanism to deliver a pellet of food
to the rat.
Initially, the rat is engaged in a number of random behaviors like walking, sniffing and
scratching. None of these helped to get the food.
At some point of time, the rat accidentally hit the lever and the food was delivered. Of course,
for the semi-starved rat, this was a big reward.
Skinner observed that after a few accidental manipulations of the lever, the rat started
spending more time near the lever, and then deliberately pressed the lever whenever it was
hungry.
So, now pressing the lever became a new operant for the rat. Skinner further noted that if the
pressing of the lever did not deliver food any longer, the operant behaviour by the rat
decreased and gradually stopped altogether.
This is known as experimental extinction of operant conditioning.
