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specialized form of learning utilized mainly by animals and playing little part in
human conditioning. Skinner called Pavlovian conditioning respondent
conditioning since it was concerned with respondent behavior- that is behavior
that is elicited by a preceding stimulus. Skinner believed that it is simply more
productive to study observable behavior rather than internal mental events.
Operant Conditioning
Skinners operant conditioning attempted to account for most of human
learning and behavior. Skinner believed that the best way to understand
behavior is to look at the causes of an action and its consequences. He called
this approach operant conditioning.
Skinners theory of operant conditioning was based on the work
of Thorndike (1905). Edward Thorndike studied learning in animals using a
puzzle box to propose the theory known as the 'Law of Effect'. Skinner
introduced a new term into the Law of Effect - Reinforcement. Behavior which is
reinforced tends to be repeated (i.e. strengthened); behavior which is not
reinforced tends to die out-or be extinguished (i.e. weakened).
A reinforcer is a stimuli that increase the probability of the response occurring
again. The Reinforcement is an act of following a response with a reinforce.
According to Skinner, the events or stimuli the reinforces- that follow a
response and that tend to strengthen behavior or increase the probability of a
recurrence of that response constitute a powerful force in the control of human
behavior. Reinforcers are far stronger aspects of learning than is mere
association of a prior stimulus with a following response. We are governed by
the consequences of our behavior.
If, when an organism emits a behaviour (does something), the consequences
of that behaviour are reinforcing, it is more likely to emit (do) it again. What
counts as reinforcement, of course, is based on the evidence of the repeated
behaviour, which makes the whole argument rather circular.
Learning is really about the increased probability of a behaviour based on
reinforcement which has taken place in the past, so that the antecedents of
the new behaviour include the consequences of previous behaviour.
with themselves after getting such a positive response. The feeling of pride and
self-satisfaction is one they are going to want to emulate in the future, and so
they are likely to behave well during 'listening time' from here onwards.
Simple though it may be, the teacher has now managed to educate the pupil
on the type of behavior she expects, and through positive reinforcement, the
child will probably feel determined to impress next time round - a positive
outcome for both parties: the teacher, and the child.
But , what happened with students errors in a classroom? Is it a negative
reinforcement to correct students errors?
All humans beings learn by trial and error, experimenting to see what works
and what doesnt. errors often show us that a student is experimenting with
language, trying out ideas, taking risks, attempting to communicate.
Skinner felt that punishment, or negative reinforcement, was just another way
of calling attention to undesired behavior and therefore should be avoided: (I
think we have to correct students errors otherwise they will never know what
is right and what isnt. we have to be discret when correcting errors, dont let
the student felt unconfortable when he-she is being corrected. )