Instrumental Conditioning
Instrumental Conditioning: Learning how to Tie Your Shoes George T. Jackson, University of Phoenix Psych/550 Psychology of Learning Dr. John Barker, Facilitator
Instrumental Conditioning: Learning how to Tie Your Shoes Instrumental conditioning is a process that permits a change in behavior, and the change of behavior can be either negative or positive, depending on the environment, and the individual. This paper will evaluate the application of instrumental conditioning as it relates to teaching a child how to tie his shoes. I will provide a brief description to tie your shoes, included will be a comparison and contrast of the concept of positive and negative reinforcements as it relates to tying your shoes. The role of reward and punishment in tying your shoes, as well as an explanation of which form of instrumental conditioning would be most effective in learning how to tie his shoes. What is Instrumental Conditioning? According to Alleydog.com (2011), instrumental conditioning also knows as operant conditioning is “The process of reinforcing a behavior by consistently giving positive or negative reinforcement. The goal is to increase the probability that the rewarded behavior will occur more frequently.” An example of instrumental conditioning would be a child is given a pack strawberry now-n-later candy after he cleans up his room; it is more likely that he will clean his room more regularly. The desired behavior is cleaning the room, and the instrument condition used is to teach the child to clean his room. Kirsch, Lynn, Vigorito, and Miller (2004) that “Instrumental (operant) conditioning is a type of learning that involves the acquisition of emitted responses (i.e., responses, like a wink of the eye, that can occur in the absence of reliable or well defined antecedent stimuli and
Instrumental Conditioning: Learning how to Tie Your Shoes Instrumental conditioning is a process that permits a change in behavior, and the change of behavior can be either negative or positive, depending on the environment, and the individual. This paper will evaluate the application of instrumental conditioning as it relates to teaching a child how to tie his shoes. I will provide a brief description to tie your shoes, included will be a comparison and contrast of the concept of positive and negative reinforcements as it relates to tying your shoes. The role of reward and punishment in tying your shoes, as well as an explanation of which form of instrumental conditioning would be most effective in learning how to tie his shoes. What is Instrumental Conditioning? According to Alleydog.com (2011), instrumental conditioning also knows as operant conditioning is “The process of reinforcing a behavior by consistently giving positive or negative reinforcement. The goal is to increase the probability that the rewarded behavior will occur more frequently.” An example of instrumental conditioning would be a child is given a pack strawberry now-n-later candy after he cleans up his room; it is more likely that he will clean his room more regularly. The desired behavior is cleaning the room, and the instrument condition used is to teach the child to clean his room. Kirsch, Lynn, Vigorito, and Miller (2004) that “Instrumental (operant) conditioning is a type of learning that involves the acquisition of emitted responses (i.e., responses, like a wink of the eye, that can occur in the absence of reliable or well defined antecedent stimuli and
References: Alleydog.com (2011), Definition of: Instrumental Conditioning. Retrieved on September 4, 2011 from: http://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition.php Kirsch, I., Lynn, S. J., Vigorito, M., Miller, R. R., (2004). The role of cognition in classical and operant conditioning. Journal of clinical psychology, Volume 60.(4).369-392. Retrieved on September 5, 2011 from: http://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer Ormrod, J. E., (2008) Human learning (5th ed.) pg.58. New Jersey: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall. Retrieved September 5, 2011 from: http://www.educ.sfu.ca/ugradprogs/course-listing/EDUC320leacock.pdf Terry, W. S., (2009) Learning and memory: Basic principles, processes, and procedures (4th ed.). Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon