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Skinner Operant Conditioning - Coggle…
Skinner
Operant Conditioning
Evaluation:
S - There have been practical applications for society from OC (based on principles of positive reinforcement)
S - Behaviourist approach is praised for its scientific credibility
W - OC sees behaviour as being determined by the environment and doesn't take into account free will
W - Experiment was conducted on animals, humans may react differently
Key terms:
Positive reinforcement:
Something pleasant is given when the desired behaviour is performed
This increases the probability of behaviour being repeated
Negative reinforcement:
Something unpleasant is removed because the desired behaviour is produced
Increases the probability of the behaviour being repeated
Punishment:
Decreases the likelihood of a behaviour
Causes either physical or mental distress by giving an unpleasant stimuli or withdrawing a pleasant one
Secondary reinforcement:
Not reinforcing alone, but becomes associated with the primary reinforcer
Primary Reinforcement:
Innately reinforcing
Method:
Animals were required to press a lever to release a food pellet into a food tray
Findings:
Skinner's rats soon learned to press the lever through reinforcement
Origins: (a behaviourist approach)
Skinner wanted to investigate whether he could change a rat's behaviour through reinforcement