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Channel: Psych 256: Introduction to Cognitive Psychology FA13 » History
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Example of Operant Psychology

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An American psychologist named B.F. Skinner created a tool within behaviorism known as operant conditioning. Operant conditioning consisted of focusing on how behavior is strengthened by the presentation of positive reinforcement, whether if it the presentation of food or social approval. Skinner has performed an experiment where he positively reinforcement a rat by feeding it food each time the rat hit the bar with the overall goal of the rat pressing the button more often. Skinner had the same idea as Watson where he was not interested in what was happening in the mind, he was instead interested in finding a relationship between stimuli and responses. Skinner’s theory of operant conditioning was based on the work of Thorndike (1905). Edward Thorndike studied learning in animals by using a puzzle box to propose the theory known as the law of effect.
When I think back to my school days I can now connect habits that my teachers used in classroom management to operant conditioning. When my peers or myself would call out during class time without raising their hands my teacher would begin to take recess away. I did not know this at the time but this was a way my teacher was using operant conditioning as punishment. Along with punishment I remember my teachers using reinforcement. In one of my classes if I completed 20 books by the end of the year the teacher would give all of the students a get out of homework pass, a free quiz grade, and a pizza party. Operant conditioning is used commonly in everyday setting such as: in schools, the workplace, and different programs. Skinner used positive reinforcement to try to understand stimuli and response and his theories are still being used today.


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