THEORIES OF PERSONALITY (EC1)

MODULE 5 – B.F. SKINNER (MIDTERM)

BEHAVIORAL APPROACH
LEIZEL C. DELA CRUZ, LPT

B.F. SKINNER’S OPERANT CONDITIONING

Operant Conditioning
 Is a theory of learning where behavior is influenced by its consequences.
 Behavior that is reinforced (rewarded) will likely be repeated, and behavior that is punished
will occur less frequently.

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (B.F. Skinner)

 Is regarded as the father of Operant Conditioning
 Based his works on Thorndike’s (1898) law of effect.
 Law of effect, behavior that is reinforced tends to be repeated (i.e., strengthened); behavior that is
not reinforced tends to die out or be extinguished (i.e., weakened).

Classical vs. Operant Conditioning

 Respondent Behavior: behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus. Occurs
in classical conditioning.
 Ex: salivating to meat.
 Operant Behavior: behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences.
 Ex: Stealing and getting arrested may discourage the crime.

Skinner Box
 Skinner (1948) studied operant conditioning by
conducting experiments using animals which he
placed in a “Skinner Box.”
 A Skinner box, also known as an operant
conditioning chamber, is a device used to
objectively record an animal’s behavior in a
compressed time frame. An animal can be
rewarded or punished for engaging in certain
behaviors, such as lever pressing (for rats) or key
pecking (for pigeons).

Reinforcers/ Reinforcement
 Responses from the environment that increase the probability of a behavior being repeated.
Reinforcement strengthens behavior. Reinforcers can be either positive or negative.
 Primary reinforcers: are stimuli that are naturally reinforcing because they are not learned and
directly satisfy a need, such as food or water.
 Secondary reinforcers: are stimuli that are reinforced through their association with a primary
reinforcer, such as money, school grades.

Positive Reinforcement
  A response or behavior is strengthened by rewards, leading to the repetition of desired behavior.
The reward is a reinforcing stimulus.
 Adding something desirable (reward); increases behavior
 For example, if your teacher gives you P10.00 (reward) each time you complete your homework,
you will be more likely to repeat this behavior in the future, thus strengthening the behavior of
completing your homework.

Premack Principle
 The Premack principle is a form of positive reinforcement in operant conditioning. It suggests
using a preferred activity (high-probability behavior) as a reward for completing a less
preferred one (low-probability behavior).
 Example: You do not like washing the dishes (less preferred activity) but if you finished
washing all the dishes you will be permitted to go swimming (much preferred activity) in a
beach.
 Example: For each successful day of healthy eating, an individual allows themselves a small
piece of dark chocolate at the end of the day.

Negative Reinforcement
 Is the termination of an unpleasant state following a response.
 This is known as negative reinforcement because it is the removal of an adverse stimulus which
is ‘rewarding’ to the animal or person. Negative reinforcement strengthens behavior because it
stops or removes an unpleasant experience.
 Ending or taking away something unpleasant.
 For example, if you do not complete your homework, you give your teacher P10.00. You will
complete your homework to avoid paying P10.00, thus strengthening the behavior of completing
your homework.

Punishers/ Punishment
 Responses from the environment that decrease the likelihood of a behavior being repeated.
Punishment weakens behavior.

Positive Punishment
 Adds stimuli to decrease the behavior.
 You add something unpleasant/aversive
 For example, adding more chores to the list when your child neglects their responsibilities.

Negative Punishment
 Taking away stimuli to decrease the behavior.
 You take away something pleasant/ desired
 For example, if an office worker continually arrives late, their manager might revoke (take away)
the privilege of flexible working hours. This removal of a positive stimulus encourages the
employee to be punctual.