Skinner
Operant Conditioning

Evaluation:

Key terms:

Method:

Findings:

Origins: (a behaviourist approach)

Animals were required to press a lever to release a food pellet into a food tray

Skinner's rats soon learned to press the lever through reinforcement

Skinner wanted to investigate whether he could change a rat's behaviour through reinforcement

Positive reinforcement:

Negative reinforcement:

Punishment:

Decreases the likelihood of a behaviour

Causes either physical or mental distress by giving an unpleasant stimuli or withdrawing a pleasant one

Something pleasant is given when the desired behaviour is performed

This increases the probability of behaviour being repeated

Something unpleasant is removed because the desired behaviour is produced

Increases the probability of the behaviour being repeated

Secondary reinforcement:

Primary Reinforcement:

Not reinforcing alone, but becomes associated with the primary reinforcer

Innately reinforcing

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

click to edit