Nature of Operant conditioning

Nature of Operant or Instrumental Conditioning:

Operant conditioning is based on

1.Certain operations or actions.

2.Stimuli or cause for evoking a response is not always essential.

3. Subject performed acts or carried out operations were active. Example A dog or child or an individual does something behaves in some manner which operates on the environment which in turn responds to the activity.

4. Response is made more probable or more frequent by reinforcement.

5. Helps in learning of operant behaviour not necessarily associated with a known stimulus.

Skinners Experiment:

Skinners Box which includes:

1. Modified form of puzzle box
2. Box is darkened and sound proof
3. Grid floor
4. System of light or sound
5. Lever and food cup

Arrangement of Box:

Box with hungry rat. Rat presses the lever feeder mechanism is activated. A light or sound is produces. A small pellet of food is released into the food cup. To record observations lever is connected to a recording system.

Procedure of an experiment:

Skinner called this operant conditioning as instrumental since the behaviour of organism is instrumental in accomplishing the purpose. Hungry Rat is inside the box. Rat wander over and push bar down. Bar could be depressed occasionally. After a while this action is reinforce by permitting a food pellets to fall into the tray when the bar was depressed by the rat.

Modified Experiment:

Food pellets supplied under certain conditions (bar pushed down for instance when a tone was sounded)

1.                   Frequent pressing of bar by rat. (Behaviuor was reinforced by a food pellet)

2.                   Extinction occurred when there is no reinforce.

Rat generalized and pushed the bar down at the same rate when the tone was sounded. After selective reinforcement had been repeated it discriminated and pushed the bar only when the tone was sounded.

Schedules of Reinforcement:

1. Continuous Reinforcement Schedule:

To reinforce or reward every correct response. Example: student may be rewarded for every correct answer he gives to the questions or problems put forth by his teacher.

2. Fixed Interval Reinforcement Schedule:

Organism is rewarded for a response made only after a set interval of time. It is only at the expiry of the fixed interval that he is presented with some reinforcement. Given correct responses during this fixed interval of time does not matter. Example: 3 minutes or 5 minutes.

3. Fixed Ratio Reinforcement Schedule:

Reinforcement is given after fixed number of responses. Example: A student may be properly rewarded after he answers a f fixed number of questions say 3 or 5. Casual workers / labourers working in factory are paid wages on a piece work.

4. Variable Reinforcement Schedule:

Reinforcement is given at varying intervals of time or after a varying number of responses. Reinforcement is irregular. Hope of reinforcement Example: Reinforcement operation schedules of gambling devices.