Theory of Operant Conditioning - B F Skinner - Educational Psychology (BEd)

1. Theory of Operant
Conditioning
B.F.Skinner
Suresh Babu G
Assistant Professor
CTE CPAS Paippad, Kottayam

2. Theory of Operant Conditioning
Operant conditioning is a process of learning through
which organisms learn to repeat behavior that
yield positive outcomes or permit them to avoid or
escape from negative outcomes.
B.F.Skinner formulated this theory of learning in
1930. The theory is called operant conditioning as
it is based on certain operations or actions which
an organism has to carry out. In this theory
Skinner makes a distinction between respondent
behaviour and operant behaviour.
Other names of theory – Instrumental Conditioning, Reward learning

3. According to him there are two
types of responses:
a) Elicited responses (respondents) : Responses
elicited by specific stimuli are called respondents.
It is made up of specific stimulus-response
connections (S-R connections) called reflexes.
b) Emitted response (operants) : Response which
need not be corrected with any known stimulus,
but are emitted by the organism are called
operants. Skinner considers an operant as a
response (act) that operates on the environment
and changes it.
Operant Conditioning is the process whereby an
operant behaviour is made more frequently by
reinforcement.

4. Skinner’s Experiment
Skinner made the experiment using skinner box
(special apparatus) contain a rat, lever and a
food pellet dispenser.

5. Skinner’s Rats: “changing of behavior by the use
of reinforcement which is given after the desired
Skinner had rats in cages, and they response
"received food when the pushed a lever down.
Eventually the rats realised that pushing the
lever down gave them food so they did it more
and more frequently.
Skinner added a negative
enforcement in the form
of an electric grid.
This reinforced the
behaviour by the rat
wanting to make the
punishment stop.

6.  Skinner gives impotence to operant behaviour, which
is more concerned with response (R), than with
stimuli(S). He calls it R-type conditioning.
 He changed the usual S-R formula into an R-S
formula.
 According to him when a desired response is emitted,
a reinforcing stimulus is present (R-S)
 The desirable response is conditioned by constantly
reinforcing it.
 The reinforcement must come after the response has
been made, and not before it.
 If response is not reinforced, it results in the extinction
of the operant.
 Operant conditioning applies to voluntary responses,
which an organism performs deliberately, in order to
produce a desirable outcome
 The response emitted by the organism is instrumental
in bringing about its re enforcement.

7. Principles of Operant Conditioning
Reinforcement :- Behaviour that is positively
reinforced will reoccur; intermittent reinforcement
is particularly effective
Shaping:- Information should be presented in
small amounts so that responses can be
reinforced
Stimulus generalization :- Reinforcements will
generalize across similar stimuli producing
secondary conditioning

8. Types of Operant Conditioning
• There are four types of reinforcement: positive,
negative, punishment, and extinction
Basic processes in operant conditioning
• There are five basic processes in operant
conditioning: positive and negative
reinforcement strengthen behavior; punishment,
response cost, and extinction weaken behavior.

9. Operant Conditioning
Reinforcement Punishment
Positive
(Stimulus Presented)
Negative
(Stimulus removed)
Positive
(Stimulus Presented)
Negative
(Stimulus removed)
Behavior
Increases
Behavior
Increases
Behavior
Decreases
Behavior
Decreases

10. Reinforcer and Reinforcement
Any stimulus whose presentation or removal
increases the chance of occurrence of a
response is called a reinforcer.
The application or removal of a stimulus to
increase the strength of a behaviour is called
reinforcement.
Skinner identified two types
of reinforcers –
positive and negative.

11. Positive Reinforcement
A positive reinforcer is a stimulus
which when added to the situation,
increases the likelihood of the
preceding response (behaviour).
In positive reinforcement, a
pleasant experience is given after
the response occurs and this
increases the probability that the
response will occur again. Eg:
Food, money etc in educational
context praise, reward etc.

12. Negative Reinforcement
 It is a stimulus which when removed
from the situation, increases the
likelihood of the desirable behaviour.
 In negative reinforcement, an
unpleasant experience in withdrawn
from the situation and this increases
the probability of the occurrence of
the response. Eg: electric shock, loud
noise etc. in education teacher give
drill work for student.

13. Negative reinforcement and Punishment

16. Contributions of Skinner in
Education
 He formulated certain
laws of behaviour on the
basis of his extensive
experimental studies.
 He prepared grounds for
the application of laws in
human behaviour.
 Developed Programmed
Learning or
Programmed instruction.

17. Educational Implications
Operant Conditioning
The teaching process as well as the learning
environment must be so designed as to create
minimum frustration and maximum satisfaction
to the learner to provide him proper
reinforcements for desired learning.
For the modification of undesirable behaviour of
maladjusted children.
The development of personality
can be successfully manipulated
through operant conditioning.

18.  For developing motivation in the students for classroom
work, reinforcers like praise, blames, grades etc should
be used.
 Reinforcers should be used periodically so that the
possibility of extinction of desired behaviour is reduced.
 Teacher has to define the task and reinforce the child’s
correct response to increase the possibility of its
recurrence
 Learning activities have to be divided into large number
of small tasks, and have to be reinforced one by one.
 Contributed a lot to the development
of teaching machines and
programmed learning.

19. Limitations of
Operant Conditioning
 Skinner has completely ignored the structural
and hereditary factors .
 The operant reinforcement system fails to
account for spontaneity, curiosity and creativity
in human beings.
 Skinner neglects innate endowment.
 Treated organisms like machine.
 It does not deal with the depths
of mind.

20. Difference Between Classical and
Operant Conditioning
Classical Conditioning
• It helps in the learning of
elicited response
(respondent Behaviour)
• S-type conditioning
emphasis given to stimulus
• Conditioned response and
the unconditioned response
are same
• Definite connection between
stimulus and response
Operant Conditioning
• It helps in the learning of
emitted response (operant
Behaviour)
• R-type conditioning
emphasis given to
response
• Conditioned response and
the unconditioned
response are different
• Cannot be connected with
any known stimulus.

21. Difference Between Classical
and Operant Conditioning
Classical Conditioning
• There is a pairing of
unconditioned stimulus and
conditioned stimulus
• Controlled by autonomic
nervous system in the
organism.
• Focused on S-R bondage
• Essence of learning is
stimulus substitution
• Stimulus oriented
Operant Conditioning
• There is no pairing of
unconditioned stimulus and
conditioned stimulus
• Controlled by central
nervous system in the
organism.
• Is concerned with
sequences of responses.
• Essence of learning is
response modification
• Response oriented