Operant Conditioning Applications

There are things we didn't want to do as children, like cleaning our rooms or going to the dentist. But we end up doing it anyway. Whatever drove us to do it may have something to do with operant conditioning.

• What is operant conditioning?

• What are examples of operant conditioning?

• What are the principles of operant conditioning?

• How can we apply operant conditioning principles?

Operant Conditioning

Operant conditioning is a learning approach that uses rewards to encourage positive behavior or punishment to change negative behaviors—this method, developed by B.F. Skinner states that rewarded behavior is likely to be repeated, and punishing extinguishes or weakens behavior.

Operant conditioning modifies operant behavior, which is behavior acting on the environment, subject to conditioning through reinforcers or punishers.

A reinforcer strengthens desirable behaviors, including positive and negative reinforcement.

Positive reinforcement involves rewards or good outcomes after a behavior. Through positive reinforcement, an individual associates his behavior with the favorable event encouraging repetition of that behavior. Conversely, negative reinforcement rewards a person's behavior by removing something he considers unpleasant leading to repetition of that behavior.

A punisher weakens or eliminates undesirable behaviors, including positive and negative punishment.

Positive punishment includes applying adverse events, emphasizing application to the behavior it follows. Meanwhile, negative punishment refers to removing anything favorable following the behavior. Both methods present unfavorable outcomes due to behavior, whether by application or removal.

Operant Conditioning Examples

Here are a few examples of real-life operant conditioning applications:

Fg. 1 Positive reinforcement for desired behaviors, pexels.com

Positive reinforcement

• A mother takes her child to her favorite fast-food restaurant after getting a high score on her test.

• A teacher gives a sticker to his students who submit their homework on time.

• A boss gives salary bonuses to his high-performing employees.

Negative reinforcement

• To avoid being nagged by his mother, the teenager takes out the trash every morning.

• A student sets her alarm to wake up early so her teacher won't scold her for being late.

• Keeping a to-do list and set reminders so that you will not forget essential tasks or events.

Positive punishment

• Grounding a teen when he answers back to his parents

• A boss extending work hours of a perpetually late employee

• Teacher placing a student on time out because he is very noisy

Negative punishment

• Parents taking away their child's phone for not following curfew rules

• An employee losing his job over company violations

• A doctor losing his license over medical malpractice

Principles and Applications of Operant Conditioning

We will be looking at the six main principles of operant conditioning applications.

Fg. 2 Teaching a dog to handshake, pexels.com

Reinforcement

Reinforcement increases the repetition of the behavior, in which operant conditioning uses positive or negative reinforcement. Negative reinforcement consists of escape or avoidance conditioning.

You saw termites eating away your wooden furniture in your backyard. You called pest control to remove the termites. This is escape conditioning, in which you call pest control (behavior) to remove the termites (remove an unpleasant stimulus).

You carefully observe and follow the traffic signals to avoid penalties when driving. In avoidance conditioning, you obey traffic rules (behavior) to prevent penalties (prevent an unpleasant experience).

Punishment

Punishment weakens or eliminates a behavior that involves positive or negative punishment. There are controversies surrounding severe punishment, as some instances can trigger anger and aggression. Simultaneously, some say that punishment can eliminate both desirable and undesirable behaviors. For example, a kid punished for using a wrong ingredient while helping his mom in the kitchen may stop helping out altogether.

Shaping

This operant conditioning principle teaches behaviors that animals or humans have never done before. The reinforcement consists of breaking down the desired operant behavior into easy and doable actions, then rewarding each completion until the learner accomplishes the desired behavior. An example of this is teaching animals to perform tricks in circuses or theme parks.

Extinction

Extinction is the termination of learned behavior when reinforcement is withheld or discontinued. This operant principle applies to both animals and humans. If you stop giving it food, a stray cat who keeps meowing at your doorstep will no longer show up. In the same way, discontinuing a reinforcer such as giving attention can stop a quarrelsome neighbor from pestering you.

Discrimination

In operant conditioning, discrimination is knowing what situations can lead to reinforcement of learned behavior. A discriminatory stimulus indicates whether reinforcement of behavior will occur or not. For example, a student actively raises his hand (learned behavior) during classes with his favorite English teacher. His Math teacher (discriminatory stimulus) is different from his favorite teacher. During math classes, he doesn't raise his hand.

Generalization

In generalization, a behavior learned in one situation may be performed in a similar situation. For example, a child sees a dog for the first time. His parents encouraged him to pet the dog, and its tail wagged. He thinks all dogs are cute. The next time he sees another dog, he will likely pet (learned behavior) one again.

All these principles help create a set of techniques for the most common application of operant conditioning, behavior modification. Behavior modification uses techniques or therapies based on operant conditioning that target many behavioral problems in settings such as the home, school, and mental institutions.

Application of Operant Conditioning in psychology

In psychology, operant conditioning applications apply reinforcement, punishment, shaping, and extinction to treat behavioral problems or mental disorders. With severe mental disabilities, operant conditioning includes shaping and reinforcement in teaching self-care and career skills.

Punishment and extinction eliminate aggression and antisocial behavior in mental illnesses such as schizophrenia. Psychologists treat other behavioral problems with operant conditioning, including substance abuse, eating disorders, OCD, and marital issues.

Application of Operant Conditioning in Learning

Operant conditioning applications in the classroom focus on student behavior and overall classroom management. Sticker charts are one example of modifying students' behavior wherein for every behavior performed; they receive a sticker. The collected stickers have an equivalent prize, which serves as positive reinforcement.

Fg. 3 Operant conditioning applications the classroom, pexels.com

Through conditioning, good behaviors are encouraged and reduced misbehavior. The key to effective operant conditioning in the classroom is that the reinforcement must be relevant and consistently done. Teachers can establish an orderly atmosphere by reinforcing classroom management procedures such as raising hands, waiting for the right turn to speak, and following hand signals or sounds.

Application of Operant Conditioning in Autism

Skinner also introduced in his operant conditioning behavioral shaping. An example of operant conditioning by shaping is children learning to speak with mental disabilities such as autism. In this scenario, operant conditioning involves rewarding a child for any sound they make. After this, conditioning goes further by requiring more sounds resembling the target words. This operant conditioning technique is most effective when efforts are rewarded, as this encourages the child to give more effort in accomplishing the desired actual speech.