PSYU1101 2022

Week 5:
Learning and
Operant Conditioning

1
Poll, what d’ you know?
Q1. In which week can you complete Online Lecture Quiz 2?
a) Week 10
b) Week 11
c) Week 12
d) Week 13

Q2. When is the essay assessment due by?

a) April 24, 5 PM
b) April 25, 5 PM
c) April 26, 5 PM
d) April 27, 5 PM

2
Tutorial Outline

• Response-Consequence Contingencies

• Schedules of Reinforcement

3
Learning Outcomes
After today’s tutorial, you should be able to:

• Describe the four main Response  Consequence

contingencies and distinguish between their effects on
behaviour.

• Provide examples of the four main Response  Consequence

contingencies and identify, with justification, which
contingency is operating in a given scenario.

4
Introduction:
What is Operant Conditioning?
• Focus is on operant behaviour, or "voluntary behaviour"
• Compared to classical conditioning, which focuses on “involuntary
behaviour” or reflexes (e.g., eye blink, salivation responses)
• Behaviour is influenced using its antecedent and/or its consequence
• The consequences of behaviour are important (cf. classical
conditioning)
• Numerous benefits
• Modifying the behaviour of your pets, siblings, parents,
flatmates…

5
Modifying flat mate’s behaviour
Sheldon Trains Penny – Part 1

(h t t p :/ / www.you t u b e .com / wa t ch ?v= q y_ m IEn n lF4 )

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 Four Types of Behaviour-Consequence
Relationships in Operant Conditioning
Type of Stimulus
______ “Nice” ______ “Nasty”

______ Positive Positive

(Stimulus added) Reinforcement Punishment
Contingency

______ (Stimulus Negative Negative

removed) Punishment Reinforcement

= behaviour ______ in frequency

= behaviour ______ in frequency

7
 Reinforcement
• Positive Reinforcement
• The presentation (addition) of a ______ stimulus after a behaviour makes the
behaviour more likely to occur in the future.

Joy

• Negative Reinforcement
• The ______ of an ______ stimulus after a behaviour makes the behaviour more
likely to occur in the future.

[Relief]

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 Punishment
• Positive Punishment
• The presentation (addition) of an ______ stimulus after a behaviour reduces the
likelihood of the behaviour occurring in the future.

Primary Social

• Negative Punishment
• The ______ of a ______ stimulus after a behaviour reduces the likelihood of the
behaviour occurring in the future.

loss of

9
Class Activity 1:
Response-Consequence Contingencies (10 min)
This activity consists of six scenarios (refer to student version of
these tutorial slides).

Task: In pairs, pick which of four types of Response  Consequence

contingency is operating in each scenario:

1. Positive Reinforcement
2. Positive punishment

3. Negative Reinforcement

4. Negative Punishment

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Activity 1 Answers: Q1

Scenario 1.
Your dog, upon hearing classical music, begins howling. As a
result, you no longer listen to classical music.

Answer:________________________________

11
Activity 1 Answers: Q2

Scenario 2.
You receive a fine for a significant amount of money for breaking
the speed limit while driving. After paying the hefty fine, you no
longer break the speed limit while driving.

Answer:________________________________

12
Activity 1 Answers: Q3
Scenario 3.
You wake up every morning and place your feet on the cold tile floor.
As you find this unpleasant, one morning you put on your slippers and
your feet are not cold. You wear slippers more often now…

Answer:________________________________

13
Activity 1 Answers: Q4

Scenario 4.
You decide you would like some quiet time before going to bed
each night. You put on your favourite CD and dim the lights. You
wake up the next morning feeling refreshed so you do it again
the next night.

Answer:________________________________

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Activity 1 Answers: Q5

Scenario 5.
You’re in a boring class and the tutor says that if everyone
participates during the class discussion they will let them out
early. You happily participate in order to get out of the boring
class early.

Answer:________________________________

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Activity 1 Answers: Q6
Scenario 6.
You regularly play cricket in front of your neighbour’s house and
accidentally break their window by hitting the ball. Your neighbour
yells at you to replace the broken window and as a result, you now
rarely play cricket in front of your neighbour’s house.

Answer:________________________________

16
Modifying flat mate’s behaviour cont.
Now you’re an Operant Conditioning expert, spot the error in this clip.

Sheldon Trains Penny - Part II

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWyZHSZf3TM&feature=related)

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 Reinforcement Schedules

• Fixed Interval Schedules: the target response is reinforced after a

______ amount of time has passed since the last reinforcement.
• Variable Interval Schedules: similar to fixed interval schedules, but
the amount of time that must pass between reinforcement
______.
• Fixed Ratio Schedules: a fixed number of ______ responses must
occur before reinforcement may recur.
• Variable Ratio Schedules: the number of correct ______ of the
correct response for reinforcement varies.

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Behaviours rewarded on
scheduled basis
Ratio
Interval Fixed Variable

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Class Activity 2:
Reinforcement Schedules (10 min)
Refer to student version of tutorial slides for this activity’s questions.

Task: In pairs, determine which of 4 reinforcement schedules

are in effect based on what teacher tells students:

“A teacher takes their class to the library to work on an

assignment but gets called away to monitor another teacher's
class. Before leaving the class, the teacher tells students one of
four things…”

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Class Activity 2: Teacher’s Statements

The four different statements the teacher makes are:

1. I'll be back every 5 minutes to check on you. You'd better be
good.
2. When I come back, I'm going to check to see how many
questions you've completed. You'd better be good.
3. When you have completed the first 5 questions, send someone
to get me and I'll let you know what to do next. You'd better be
good.
4. You never know when I'll be back to check on you; it could be 5
minutes, it could be 10 minutes. You'd better be good.
• What type of schedules are each of the above statements?

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Class Activity 2: Possible Answers –
Reinforcement Schedules

• Fixed Interval: the target response is reinforced after a fixed

amount of time has passed since the last reinforcement.
• Variable Interval: similar to fixed interval schedules, but the
amount of time that must pass between reinforcement varies.
• Fixed Ratio: a fixed number of correct responses must occur
before reinforcement may recur.
• Variable Ratio: the number of correct repetitions of the correct
response for reinforcement varies.

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Class Activity 2 Answers: Statement 1

1. I'll be back every 5 minutes to check on you. You'd better be

good.

Answer:______________________________

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Class Activity 2 Answers: Statement 2

2. When I come back I'm going to check to see how many

questions you've completed. You'd better be good.

Answer:______________________________

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Class Activity 2 Answers: Statement 3

3. When you have completed the first 5 questions, send someone

to get me and I'll let you know what to do next. You'd better be
good.

Answer:______________________________

25
Class Activity 2 Answers: Statement 4

4. You never know when I'll be back to check on you; it could be 5

minutes, it could be 10 minutes. You'd better be good.

Answer:______________________________

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Class Activity 2: Final Two Questions

5. Which schedule would lead to the greatest number of

questions completed?

6. Which schedule would you recommend to this teacher?

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 Graph of Schedules of Reinforcement
Delivery of Smooth lines
reinforcement

“scalloped”
lines

Steeper
gradients

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Class Activity 2: Final Two Answers

5. ______ ______schedules lead to the fastest rate of responding

• They also produce a steady rate of responding

6. The teacher should use the ______ ratio strategy:

“When I come back I'm going to check to see how many questions
you've completed. You'd better be good.”

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Class Activity 3:
Schedules of Reinforcement (10 min)
• Task: working in pairs, determine which type of reward schedule is in
effect in 11 scenarios.

The three questions to answer for each scenario are:

1. Are the rewards based on time OR performance schedule

2. Are the rewards based on a fixed OR a variable amount of

time/performance?

3. Are the rewards based on an interval OR ratio schedule?

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Class Activity 3: Questions

Time vs. Fixed vs. Interval

Situation
Performance Variable vs. Ratio
1. Playing a poker machine. _______ _______ _______
2. A minimum-wage job. _______ _______ _______
3. A fruit-picker who gets paid by the box. _______ _______ _______
4. An artist who gets paid for each piece
_______ _______ _______
completed
5. A cat that is fed morning and night. _______ _______ _______
6. A babysitter who gets a flat fee per day. _______ _______ _______
7. A surfer waiting to catch a wave _______ _______ _______
8. A model who gets paid by the hour. _______ _______ _______
9. Telemarketing (# of hits per shift). _______ _______ _______
10. A dog that gets a biscuit for “sitting.” _______ _______ _______
11. Waiting for a taxi _______ _______ _______

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Still Want to Know More?! Further Learning

If you want a look at learning from a different perspective,

checkout the Crash Course’s video on Classical and Operant
Conditioning on YouTube. It runs for 12 minutes and is a great
summary of the history of learning. This is just to quell your own
thirst for more knowledge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG2SwE_6uVM