ANY Behaviourism Skinner
The Behaviourist Perspective 3: Operant Conditioning
You need to be able to:
Describe the process of operant conditioning
Outline the theories of B.F.Skinner
Assess the contribution of the behaviourists to Psychology
Burrhus F. Skinner and Behaviourist Psychology
B.F.Skinner was very much influenced by Watson’s behaviourist ideas. However, he also realised that the psychology proposed by Watson had some serious shortcomings. In particular, a psychology based wholly on classical conditioning assumes that organisms are essentially passive – they just hang around waiting for stimuli to respond to. To Skinner it seemed obvious that people and animals actively engage with their environments. Skinner’s important insight was that an animal’s – or a person’s – behaviour was determined by the consequences of its past behaviour.
Skinner’s Main Ideas
Main Idea
Operant conditioning
Reinforcement
Punishment
Shaping
Stimulus control
What’s This?
A type of learning in which future behaviour is determined by the consequences of past behaviour. In general, if a behaviour results in something that the organism finds pleasant, it is likely to be repeated. Conversely, if behaviour is followed by unpleasant consequences, then it is unlikely to be repeated.
A reinforcement is a consequence that strengthens a behaviour or makes it likely to be repeated. Note that reinforcement is not always the same as a reward. A reward is an example of positive reinforcement (the presentation of a pleasant stimulus). However, behaviour can also be strengthened if it leads to the removal of something unpleasant
(negative reinforcement).
A punishment is a consequence that weakens a behaviour or makes it less likely to be repeated. It can involve the presentation of an unpleasant stimulus or the removal or a pleasant one (sometimes these are referred to as positive and negative punishment).
A process used to teach complex behaviours. A complex behaviour is broken down into a series of simple
You need to be able to:
Describe the process of operant conditioning
Outline the theories of B.F.Skinner
Assess the contribution of the behaviourists to Psychology
Burrhus F. Skinner and Behaviourist Psychology
B.F.Skinner was very much influenced by Watson’s behaviourist ideas. However, he also realised that the psychology proposed by Watson had some serious shortcomings. In particular, a psychology based wholly on classical conditioning assumes that organisms are essentially passive – they just hang around waiting for stimuli to respond to. To Skinner it seemed obvious that people and animals actively engage with their environments. Skinner’s important insight was that an animal’s – or a person’s – behaviour was determined by the consequences of its past behaviour.
Skinner’s Main Ideas
Main Idea
Operant conditioning
Reinforcement
Punishment
Shaping
Stimulus control
What’s This?
A type of learning in which future behaviour is determined by the consequences of past behaviour. In general, if a behaviour results in something that the organism finds pleasant, it is likely to be repeated. Conversely, if behaviour is followed by unpleasant consequences, then it is unlikely to be repeated.
A reinforcement is a consequence that strengthens a behaviour or makes it likely to be repeated. Note that reinforcement is not always the same as a reward. A reward is an example of positive reinforcement (the presentation of a pleasant stimulus). However, behaviour can also be strengthened if it leads to the removal of something unpleasant
(negative reinforcement).
A punishment is a consequence that weakens a behaviour or makes it less likely to be repeated. It can involve the presentation of an unpleasant stimulus or the removal or a pleasant one (sometimes these are referred to as positive and negative punishment).
A process used to teach complex behaviours. A complex behaviour is broken down into a series of simple