Learning Memory

Positive vs Negative Punishment

Punishment is a fundamental concept of Operant Conditioning, whose major objective

is to decrease the rate of certain undesired behavior from occurring again. Punishment
can be further classified into two major parts

These two different types of punishment have got both similarities and differences, as
the major purpose of both these punishment types is to decrease the rate of certain
undesired behavior.

By introducing the concept of punishment to an individual, the individual gets the idea
that what he/she is doing, is wrong. Positive and negative punishment, generally
speaking, is the concept of adding certain unfavorable consequence or depriving the
individual of certain favored item or advantage, in order to decrease the behavior.
Differences Between Positive and Negative Punishment

Positive Punishment Negative Punishment

It’s the type of operant conditioning that It’s the type of operant conditioning that

deals with decreasing the rate of deals with decreasing the rate of

undesired behavior by adding a certain undesired behavior by removing certain

negative consequence to the individual favorite or desired item from the

after the behavior has been exhibited. individual’s life.

Addition of the term “Positive” gives Similarly, the term “Negative” gives

completely contradictory meaning to opposite meaning to “Positive”

“Negative” Punishment. Punishment.

Scenario: Classroom Scenario: Classroom

 Consider a scenario where a

 Consider a scenario where a
student receives a phone call in the
student receives a phone call in
classroom, and he picks up the call
front of the whole class, causing the
and starts talking in front of the
lecture to abrupt. The teacher then
whole class, causing the lecture to
reprimands him in front of the
abrupt. The teacher then seizes his
whole class and adds his homework
cell phone, and after knowing about
to be twice more than the rest of
his indiscipline in class, his parents
the students. The consequence or
take away his Xbox privileges. This
punishment of receiving a phone
is a serious consequence in the
call discourages him from repeating
mind of a teenage student, and she
the action again.
is then discouraged to from
 Positive Punishment Negative Punishment

repeating the action again.

 An employee, who’s been lazing

around at work and failing to meet

 An employee who’s been lazing
the deadline, gets his salary cut in
around at work gets criticized by his
half, with a condition that he would
boss in front of the whole office.
only get full pay if he showed more
It is highly likely that after the
dedication and managed to meet
criticism, the employee starts being
deadlines from then on.
more attentive at work, to save
This severe consequence would
himself from any future
definitely encourage the employee
embarrassment.
to be more attentive at work, to

save himself from any future

embarrassment.

The effectiveness of the positive depends

Depriving an individual of certain favored
on the individual and the scenario. It
items could also prove more effective
could prove more effective than negative
than positive punishment. For example,
punishments in certain conditions. For
Taking away certain privileges could prove
example, young children are more likely
more effective to a teenager who lacks
to be lured by the prospect of receiving
discipline.
candy than spanking.
These examples are of the same scenario; however, the punishment executed to the
individual is different. In the set of examples that fall under positive punishment,
consequence has been added; on the other hand, a favored item has been taken away.
Similarities Between Positive and Negative Punishment

Despite the differences, positive and negative punishment has plenty of similarities. The
major similarity between the two is that both of them are types of the same concept of
Operant Conditioning, Punishment.

Also, both of these types work to decrease any undesired behavior from the individual.
Another major similarity is the factors that come into play when it comes to effectiveness
of these punishments. The most important factors are:

 It should be immediately followed by a response.

 Punishments, both positive and negative, need to be applied consistently, for the
undesired behavior to be eradicated completely with the procedure.

Another similarity between Positive and Negative is seen its ineffectiveness.

Punishment, as effective as they are, does not always work. Criminals seen every day
are the live examples of how punishments might not have worked for them as children.
Additionally, convicts who have been sent away often resume their past dealings once
they are set free.

Classical vs Operant Conditioning

Conditioning Learning is a process in psychology that is used to enforce new behavior

in an organism. There are two major types of conditioning learning.

These forms of conditioning learning have both similarities and differences. Their main
purpose is same, which is acquiring new behavior. But the process of how that is
acquired is quite different.

Differences between Classical Conditioning and Operant Conditioning

Classical Conditioning Operant Conditioning

Classical conditioning is a learning

process first discovered by the Russian Operant Conditioning is the term coined by

physiologist Ivan Petrovich Pavlov in B.F. Skinner in 1938.

the early 1900s

 Classical Conditioning Operant Conditioning

The theory of Classical

Operant conditioning is a form of learning
Conditioning deals with the learning
which explains the relation of behaviors on
process leading us to gain a new
certain rewards and consequences.
behavior via the process of association.

Internal mental thoughts and brain The study of the theory only deals with

mechanisms play a huge role in expressible behaviors and not any internal

associative learning. mental thoughts and brain mechanisms.

Operant Conditioning works by applying two

Classical Conditioning works by pairing
major concepts, Reinforcements and
involuntary response with stimulus.
Punishments, after the behavior is executed,
After which, unconditioned response
which causes the rate of behavior to
becomes conditioned response.
increase or decrease.

Pavlov’s dog experiment is a base for Skinner’s Skinner box experiment with a rat

the establishment of classical is the base for operant conditioning theory

conditioning theory and its concepts. and its concepts.

Similarities

Along with the differences there are also various similarities between these two forms of
conditioning learning. The major similarity lies in its application. Both these conditioning
learning techniques are used to teach a new behavior to an organism. Despite different
techniques, the major goal remains the same.

Both of these techniques have certain limitations when applying it in real life. These
techniques are also applied unknowingly. For instance, a teacher punishing a student is
an example of operant conditioning. On the other hand, we call our pets with a certain
signal before we treat them with food. The dog then associates the timing of food with
the signal, which is an example of classical conditioning

Principles of Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning is a form of associative learning, first discovered by Russian

physiologist, Ivan Pavlov, while experimenting on digestion process of dogs.

The theory generally refers to acquiring of new behavior via association with various

stimuli. By associating the subject with stimulus subject, outputs new responses and
learns a behavior.

Based on how the learning method works, there are five general principles in Classical
Conditioning. Each of the principles describes how the classical conditioning learning
occurs. It covers from the very initial to the last stage of the learning process.

Acquisition

Acquisition is the first step to the method. It is the process by which an organism learns
the association involved in classical conditioning. For this process to begin, two different
stimuli, CS (Conditioned Stimuli) and UCS (Unconditioned Stimuli) must be paired
repeatedly before the CS unfailingly elicits a CR (Conditioned Response). CS and UCS
when paired together extract a certain response. After repeatedly pairing two separate
stimuli together, the conditioned response gets stronger and stronger. This process is
called Acquisition. Acquisition of relationship between two stimuli is absolutely vital for
classical conditioning.

Stimulus Generalization

After an organism has been conditioned to respond in a certain way for a particular
stimulus after repeated trials, it shouldn’t be surprising or uncommon to expect the
organism to respond in the similar way to other similar stimuli or situations. In classical
conditioning, generalization is defined as the process in which a stimulus similar to the
original CS produces similar behavior identical to the CR.
A suitable example for this principle would be Watson’s study with Little Albert. Once
the conditioning took place after the experiment, Little Albert started to show feat
towards all white objects (e.g: white rabbits, white fur coats, and even a white Santa
Claus mask).
Stimulus Discrimination

The process in which an organism learns to difference between different stimuli in order
to restrict their response to one stimulus in particular is known as Stimulus
Discrimination. For instance, the dog in the Pavlov’s experiment does not salivate when
exposed to ‘Light’ instead of the sound of the bell. Likewise, Little Albert would not
respond with fear towards a black fur coat, or a black dog. This principle relates with the
ability of an organism to learn the difference between different stimuli and respond only
to the conditioned stimulus.

This principle is applied in our life every day. We would be mowed down by oncoming
traffic, had we not been able to discriminate between a red and a green traffic light.

Extinction

The process of undoing the classical conditioning such that the subject does not
produce CR in the presence of CS is termed as Extinction. Extinction is said to have
occurred when there is complete absence of conditioned response, when the subject is
exposed to conditioned stimulus (absence of UCS). Extinction can be produced by
ending the association between conditioned and unconditioned stimuli.

For instance, if Pavlov had started to stop presenting the dog with food following the
bell-sound on numerous occasions, it would gradually stop salivating in response to the
sound. This would not happen out of a sudden; initially, the dog would continue to
salivate but with due time, it would come to an understanding that no food is going to be
presented. Hence, there would be no CR. This means the lack of reinforcement will
break the link between CS-UCS and CR.

Spontaneous Recovery

Sometimes, the CR suddenly reappears even after then link between CS and UCS has
been broken down, or to put in another words, the organism has stopped eliciting CR in
response to CS. In Pavlov’s experiment, when the dog had completely stopped eliciting
CR (Saliva) in response to CS (bell sound), the dog still responded with saliva at the
sound of the bell. This sudden reappearance of saliva (CR) was referred as
‘spontaneous recovery’ by Pavlov.

This principle can be used to explain why “cured” alcohol and drug addicts again
“relapse to addiction”. When the cured addicts confront with the substance, the
irresistible urge to use the substance again may resurface because of the strong
connection to the drug previously. This can be termed as Spontaneous Recovery.

What is a Conditioned Stimulus?

Conditioned stimulus is a part of the learning theory Classical Conditioning. In this

theory of learning, conditioned stimulus is a neutral stimulus that triggers some sort of
response when paired or associated with an unconditioned stimulus (natural stimulus).
The response triggered then is referred to as conditioned response.

Pavlov’s Experiment

Ivan Pavlov first discovered the concept of classical conditioning, the phenomenon
explaining that the conditioned stimulus elicited conditioned response, by accident when
he was conducting experiments on digestion in the early 1900s. He had already realized
that the dogs drool every time food was presented, but he noticed that they began to
drool even by just seeing someone wearing a lab coat. He quickly analyzed to situation
and found out that dogs drooled in presence of lab coats because they were always fed
by his assistants wearing lab coats. The lab coat and food had been associated to the
point that the dogs would drool at the sight of the coat without even seeing the food.
Here, the lab coats were neutral stimulus, but as they were associated with food too
much, they now became conditioned stimulus, eliciting Conditioned response of
salivating in dogs.

In order to verify his findings, Pavlov conducted the famous classical conditioning
experiment (Pavlov Classical Conditioning). He rang a bell before presenting the
dogs with food. After repeated associations of food with the bell, dogs eventually started
salivating when they heard the bell. Here, the bell is initially a neutral stimulus (not
responsible for any response), and the food is a natural or unconditioned response
(causing the dogs to drool). After repeated associations, once the dog starts drooling
after hearing the sound of the bell, the bell becomes conditioned stimulus.

Real World Examples

Although we might not realize it, it’s not uncommon for neutral stimulus to convert into
conditioned stimulus through similar process of association with unconditioned stimulus,
as explained above.

Example 1: A taxi driver sees a passenger waiting by every time he hears a whistle.
So, because he’s used to be alert as soon as he sees a passenger, after repeated
associations of the whistling (neutral stimulus) with the passenger waiting, taxi driver
starts to become alert when he hears the whistle, even if there’s no passenger around.
Here, whistling becomes a conditioned stimulus.

Example 2: Sandy rides her motorbike to work every day through the same way. One
day, on her way back home, she slips on the road and falls down. Now, the place where
she had an accident has become a conditioned stimulus, and every time she passes
that spot, she’s extra careful.

Example 3: Suppose, in an office you regularly eat lunch at 12pm. In the office, you
have a colleague who immediately alerts everyone about the lunch time. Eventually,
you might not even check the time when your colleague reminds you that it’s lunch time.
Even if it’s just 11 am, you might feel that it’s already lunch time. This is because your
response to hunger has been conditioned with the sound of your colleague’s voice.
Here, your colleague’s voice, which was previously a neutral stimulus, has become
conditioned stimulus eliciting the conditioned response of hunger in you.

Conditioned Emotional Response

Conditioned emotional response can be referred as learned emotional reaction or

response to certain conditioned stimulus. The term “Condition-ed” has been made
popular by American psychologists as it tends to make more sense when defining the
term CER. The exact translation of Pavlov’s terms from Russian to English defines the
term CER as Conditional Emotional Response.

How Conditioned Emotional Response works?

The process of acquiring a Conditioned Emotional Response works in the same theory
as the classical conditioning learning method. An organism is exposed to a certain
stimulus which then produces a biologically significant even and the connection is
made. Emotional responses could be anxiety, happiness, sadness, pain, and variety of
other emotions that can be triggered in an organism.

All emotional responses are regulated by the autonomic nervous system. Among the
two subdivisions of the system (Parasympathetic system and Sympathetic nervous
system), Sympathetic nervous system are responsible for variety of emotional
responses depicted by an average person.

The range of emotions includes panic attacks, test anxiety, stage fright, and other
similar emotions that are expressed while experiencing distraught or uneasiness. The
system is automatically activated in the “fight or fright” situations, which then produces
responses like increased heartbeat, sweating, feeling weak on the knees, and similar
other symptoms.

These kinds of emotions/reactions are unwantedly or unconsciously acquired, and

these even tend to stick to a person for a long while. These conditioned responses take
up to 2-10 seconds to be seen, unlike the motor responses which are even seen as
early as half a second.

According to the British psychologist Hans Eysenck, “All neurosis are essentially
conditioned emotional responses” (Cunningham, 1984).

The Classic Example

John B. Watson and Rosaile Rayner conducted an experiment in 1920 called the Little
Albert Experiment. The experiment involved a 9-month old baby, and the whole
purpose of the experiment was to induce fear in little Albert. [Read more: Classical
Conditioning and Phobias]

The experiment is the classic example of CER, Conditioned Emotional Response, as

Little Albert was subjected to a certain stimulus in order to create a response of fear.
The classic experiment involved CER, Watson and Rayner being unaware about the
term at the time simply thought they were applying general conditioning principles to
human behavior.

B.F. Skinner and William Kaye Estes were the first to use the term “CER, Conditioned
Emotional Response” (1941).

Examples of Conditioned Emotional Response

CER is more common than one might think. The term CER might not be used to explain
a certain response/behavior acquired after a certain experience, but the emotional
responses learned due to conditioning are evidently found in practical life.

Example 1

Plenty of people are attracted to the smell of gasoline. Going in depth to understand
this, maybe they associated it with the pleasant trips they had in the car when they were
kids or the rides around in motorbikes during adulthood. This unconscious conditioning
thus resulted in the feeling of fondness at the odor of gasoline.

Example 2
Imagine a person being beaten by a dog, more than once. He might remember the pain
of the bite each time he comes across a dog (extreme condition). Best case scenario,
even when the dog is simply trying to lick the person, he might feel threatened.

Example 3

Imagine having been given an electric shock after a certain sound. The fear conditioning
establishes CER out of nowhere, and after one or two pairings, you are likely to show
fear at the particular sound, having had a bad experience in the past.

There are plenty of other examples which can be explained by Conditioned Emotional
Response. A class is always anxious at the news of a surprise test. And, stimulus like
perfume smell could remind you of some person in your life and cause regret, laughter,
or similar other emotions.

Continuous Reinforcement

Continuous reinforcement is a type of Schedule of Reinforcement that regularly

affects behavior. In this form of schedule, every correct response is reinforced every
single time. Continuous reinforcement or Continuous reinforcement schedule is
regarded as one of the simpler forms of schedule of reinforcement; nevertheless, it is
incredibly systematic.

Examples of Continuous Reinforcement

 Giving a child a chocolate every day after he finishes his math homework.
 You can teach your dog to sit down every time you say sit by giving it a treat
every time it obeys, or in other words – elicits correct response.

 Putting a child in detention every time he fails to submit his homework.

These examples are clear illustrations of continuous reinforcement schedule.

How Continuous Reinforcement Works?

Continuous reinforcement works in regard to expectations.

When reinforcers are positive, individuals have certain expectations as the result of
their behavior, which helps them to elicit correct response.

This procedure has been known to be most effective when trying to teach the subject a
new behavior. Its implementations are not just limited to humans, and can also be used
to teach new behaviors to animals. Reinforcement schedules are a part of operant
conditioning that trains an organism to anticipate repercussions and rewards based on
their responses.

If we consider the aforementioned examples:

In the first example, chocolate is the reward/reinforcer that encourages the child to

finish his math homework. Regular supply of the chocolate shapes the mindset of the
child to expect a chocolate every time he completes his math homework. The
expectation then encourages him to do his homework on time.
The same case applies with the dog, where it expects a treat. This same process is
used to train animals in police academies and circuses in earlier stages.

The third example mentioned here suggests that negative reinforcement can also be

used in continuous reinforcement schedule. The expectation of detention shapes the
mindset of the child that he must submit his homework regularly in order to avoid
detention.

Critical Evaluation

Continuous reinforcement is among the best techniques to help a subject to pick up any
new behavior. But, the form of scheduling is not realistically possible to be conducted
every time. It requires continuous supervision of the subject, which cannot always be
carried out in practical, although seeming remarkable in theory.

So, despite being systematic and quite a simple procedure, it does have its limitations.
Also, it is best to switch from continuous reinforcement to partial reinforcement to
prevent the particular behavior from being extinct.

Partial Reinforcement

Partial reinforcement, unlike continuous reinforcement, is only reinforced at certain

intervals or ratio of time, instead of reinforcing the behavior every single time. This form
of scheduling reinforcement after certain number of correct responses or certain
interval of time is also termed as intermittent reinforcement.

This type of reinforcement is regarded more powerful in maintaining or shaping

behavior. Also, behaviors acquired from this form of scheduling have been found to be
more resilient to extinction.

The definition of partial reinforcement as inconsistent or random reinforcement of

responses could complicate the matter in a learner’s point of view. Researchers have
classified four basic schedules of partial reinforcement that attempts to cover various
kinds of interval and ratios between reinforcements.

1. Fixed-Interval Schedule

In a fixed interval schedule (FI), say one minute, must elapse between the previous and
subsequent times that reinforcement is made available for correct responses. The
number of responses is irrelevant throughout the time period. This causes change in the
rate of behavior.
The response rate is usually slower immediately after a reinforcement but increase
steadily as the time for next reinforcement comes closer.
Example: Someone getting paid hourly, regardless of the amount of their work.

2. Variable-Interval Schedule

In a variable interval schedule (VI), varying amounts of time are allowed to elapse
between making reinforcement available.  Reinforcement is contingent on the passage
of time but the interval varies in random order. Each interval might vary from, say, one
to five minutes, or from two to four minutes. The subject is unable to discover when
reinforce would come; hence, the rate of responses is relatively steady.
Example: A fisherman waits by the shore for certain amount of time, and he most likely
catches same number of fishes every day, but the interval between catches isn’t same.
If fish is considered reinforcement, then it is inconsistent.

3. Fixed-Ratio Schedule

In a fixed ratio schedule (FR), reinforcement is provided after a fixed number of correct
responses have been made. Reinforcement is determined by the number of correct
responses. For example, let’s consider that the hungry rat in the Skinner box has to
press the lever five times before a food pellet appears. Hence, reinforcement follows
every fifth response. The ratio is same for reinforcement to be presented.

Example: A saleswoman gets incentive after each pair of shoes she sells. The quality is
irrelevant as she gets paid higher for higher number of shoes sold. Quantity of output is
maximized in fixed ratio schedule.

4. Valuable-Ratio Schedule

In a valuable ratio schedule (VR), reinforcement is provided after a variable number of

correct responses have been made. In a 10:1 variable ratio schedule, the mean number
of correct responses that would have to be made before a subsequent correct response
would be reinforced is 10, but the ratio of correct responses to reinforcement might be
allowed to vary from , say , 1:1 to 20:1 on a random basis. The subject usually does not
know when a reward may come. As a result, the response comes at high, steady rate.

Example: A practical example of variable ratio schedule is how a person keeps on

checking his Facebook post counting the number of likes from time to time.

Critical Evaluation

Different schedules have different advantages. Ratio schedules have been known to
elicit higher rates of responses than interval schedules because of their predictability.

For Instance, consider a factory worker getting paid per item he manufactures. This
would motivate the worker to manufacture more.

Variable schedules are less predictable, so they tend to resist extinction and the
continuation of behavior is self-encouraged. Gambling and fishing are regarded among
the classic examples of variable schedules. Despite their unsuccessful feedback, both
of them are hopeful that one more pull on the slot machine, or one more hour of
patience will change their luck.

Because of the fact that partial reinforcement makes behavior resilient to extinction, it is
often switched – to having taught a new behavior using Continuous Reinforcement
Schedule.