Operant Conditioning Paper 1

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY: I certify that the attached paper is my original work. I

affirm that any section of the paper which has been submitted previously is

attributed and cited as such, and that this paper has not been submitted by anyone

else. I confirm that I have cited all sources from which I used language, ideas, and

information, whether quoted verbatim or paraphrased. Any assistance I received

while producing this paper has been acknowledged in the References section. I

have obtained written permission or have included a release from the copyright

holder for any trademarked material, logos, images from the Internet, or other

sources. I further agree that my name typed on the line below is intended to have,

and shall have, the same validity as my handwritten signature.

Salma El Gharabawy
Operant Conditioning Paper 2
 Operant Conditioning Paper 3

Operant Conditioning Paper

Salma El Gharabawy

PSY 390

University of Phoenix
 Operant Conditioning Paper 4

Operant conditioning, which some may also refer to as “instrumental

conditioning”; is a theory that emphasizes on how learning is a result of

rewards and punishments as consequences for certain behavior. Operant

conditioning shines a light on the relationship between an individual’s

behavior and its consequences. The famous behaviorist, B.F Skinner (1904 –

1990), was the first to emerge with the operant conditioning theory, which is

why some people still refer to it as “Skinnerian conditioning”. This paper will

help shine a light on operant conditioning, explaining it elaborately, and

exploring it a bit further with the hopeful results of gaining a better

understanding of this timeless theory.

Unlike what some people may believe, Skinner was not a believer that

internal thoughts or intentions were accountable for human behavior;

instead, he believed that it was the observable external elements that were

responsible for how humans behaved. When he used the term operant, he

used it to refer to “active behavior that operates upon the environment to

generate consequences” (1953). To further explain Skinner’s theory, he

strongly believed that according to operant conditioning, when a naturally

occurring behavior is performed, reinforcements can increase the possibility

of the same behavior occurring again, or vice versa. Furthermore, operant

conditioning can be classified into three basic parts; positive reinforcement

(rewards, praising, etc), negative reinforcement and punishment. Positive

reinforcement, as mentioned previously, is adding a positive reinforcement

such as praising or a reward of any sort that will increase the chances of the
 Operant Conditioning Paper 5

same behavior to occur again. Negative reinforcement refers to the

withholding of a reinforce; whereas punishment can either refer to

withholding a positive reinforcement (reward) or adding a negative one,

which would normally result in the deprivation of the unwanted or

inappropriate behavior.

To best explain the difference between positive and negative

reinforcement; positive reinforcement is basically the addition of a positive

variable between the committed behavior and the response to it; which

would then result in the likelihood of the same behavior being repeated in

the future. On the other hand, negative reinforcement is the removal of a

negative, intervening variable between emitted behavior and a response

which makes the future likelihood of that response increase (Hergenhahn &

Olson, 2009). To further elaborate, giving food to an animal after a certain

behavior is probably going to result in the repetition of that specific behavior

in order to receive the positive reinforcement (food); that said, the removal

of an already existing positive reinforcement, such as regularly scheduled

food, light, etc, will probably end up in demolishing the undesired behavior.

In order to determine which form of reinforcement is the most

effective; one has to have a good understanding of both methods, along with

their consequences. Negative reinforcement emphasizes on the elimination

of an aversion in order to be affective, which would mean that the form of

punishment (negative reinforcement) is crucial to be used in order to

 Operant Conditioning Paper 6

construct a situation where the negative reinforcer is able to be moved. That

said, punishment doesn’t happen without certain possible consequences;

lack of motivation, emotional distress, aggression, etc are all possible

downfalls to this method. So to some, this method would seem like taking a

step in order to then be able to take two steps forward. One might argue that

instead of going through the emotional byproducts that the punishment

brings, why not simply add a positive reinforcement; thus, achieving the

same goal without the negative side effects. That said, both situations are

effective in certain situations. Therefore, it is my personal opinion that both

methods are crucial, the defying line though is the current situations which

would determine which method would be more effective.

To use a scenario that would elaborate the use of operant conditioning

and how it results in various results; I’ll use a classroom as a result. A

teacher is trying to address the class; however, when she moves towards the

side of the class, she starts noticing the eyes of the students wondering

around or day dreaming. Therefore, it has been concluded that the best way

to grab their attention, would be to address them from the middle of the

class rather than anywhere else, since is this where she received their full

attention. Another example that is actually something that my mother used

to use with me, was that for every day of school that I came back with no

comments or warnings regarding my behavior, I get to eat an ice cream cone

after dinner; the ice cream in this scenario acts as the primary reinforcer.

That said, there are several things that are linked to obtaining that ice
 Operant Conditioning Paper 7

cream. For instance, if at school I almost get in trouble and am in risk of

being told off or warned, that would be considered a discriminative stimuli,

because my behavior or response is immediately mediated by the primary

reinforcement, the obtaining of the ice cream. That said, there’s also the

peer pressure or embarrassment that came along with the teacher warning

me in the middle of the classroom to behave, which acts as a secondary

reinforcer. That is why scheduled reinforcement is crucial in shaping one’s

behavior.

Using the scenario based on my personal life when I was younger, my

mother realized that my behavior is school would need to be consistent in

order to eliminate the undesired behavior. If she happened to forget to bring

me the ice cream after me being as good of a student as I can be, then the

ice cream would begin to seem to me as a punishment rather than a

reinforcement. Regardless of whether it was intentional or not, the

withholding of the ice cream would seem like the withholding of the required

or expected reinforcement. The way to avoid losing the good behavior and

have it replaced by bad behavior would be to bring in other primary

reinforcers to do the job. A number of secondary reinforcers cannot sustain

behavior modification (Hergenhahn & Olson, 2009). Another situation may

occur, in the off chance that the teacher would sympathize with me, and not

mention my bad behavior to my mother, despite the fact that I might have

been misbehaving, the ice cream then becomes a reinforcement to bad

behavior, rather than good behavior; that’s because in my mind, I’d know
 Operant Conditioning Paper 8

that I’d be receiving the ice cream even though I was misbehaving at school.

In my personal opinion, I do not believe that punishment ends with good

results, even though it might work with others, it never worked with me.

Punishments such as spanking, only end up with the child being scared and

filled with fear; instead of what was intended, which is to shape their

behavior; however I do believe that negative reinforcement works like magic.

In conclusion; B.F Skinner introduced the world to what was then a

whole new theory and method of shaping one’s personality. The theory of

operant conditioning, just like any other theory, is naturally faced with those

who disagree with it; some may think that all a person needs to shape their

behavior is their intentions and thoughts. That said, there is no doubt that

Skinner’s contributions to the field of Psychology have been immense, and

that until this very day, they are used in our everyday lives.

References
www.about.com

Matthew H. Olson and B. R. Hergenhahn, 2009. An Introduction to Theories

of Learning, Eighth Edition

www.thefreedictionary.com