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B.E.S.T. slave Training classical & Operant conditioning
Classical Conditioning (respondent conditioning) Response behavior is reflexes or automatic responses that are caused by stimuli. Response behavior can be changed (conditioned) through learning. Ivan Pavlov (1849 – 1936) studied the link between a stimulus and the corresponding response. He said that when an organism comes to associate a neutral stimulus with a meaningful one, the organism then responds to the neutral stimulus as if it were the meaningful one. Pavlov’s dog experiment – A dog learns to associate the sound of a bell (neutral stimulus) with food (meaningful stimulus) and begins responding to the bell as though it were food. The bell becomes a conditioned stimulus and produces a conditioned response. In short, we learn to associate or link a stimulus to a response. Classical conditioning is used by trainers for two purposes:
Operant Conditioning (instrumental conditioning) B. F. Skinner (1904 – 1990) said that an organism learned that a particular behavior produced a particular response (consequence). If the response is useful or pleasurable the organism will tend to repeat the behavior to get the response. If the response is not useful or unpleasant the organism will tend not to repeat it. In short, we learn to associate or link a behavior to a particular response that is produced by that behavior. B. F. Skinner (1965) defined positive reinforcement as adding something positive to the situation and negative reinforcement as removing something negative (p.73). He also observed that the two forms of punishment consist of adding a negative or taking away a positive (p.185). Both sets of concepts are depicted in Table 3. (Parents should have no trouble identifying them, respectively, as praising, slacking off, spanking, and grounding.) Classical conditioning forms an association between two stimuli. Operant conditioning forms an association between a behavior and a consequence. (It is also called response-stimulus or RS conditioning because it forms an association between the animal's response [behavior] and the stimulus that follows [consequence]) Consequences have to be immediate, or clearly linked to the behavior. With verbal humans, we can explain the connection between the consequence and the behavior, even if they are separated in time. General Principles There are 4 major techniques or methods used in operant conditioning. They result from combining the two major purposes of operant conditioning (increasing or decreasing the probability that a specific behavior will occur in the future), the types of stimuli used (positive/pleasant or negative/aversive), and the action taken (adding or removing the stimulus). Restated, the four possible consequences to any behavior. They are: Positive Reinforcement (R+) 2) Something Good can end or be taken away so behavior decreases; Negative Punishment (P-) 3) Something Bad can start or be presented so behavior decreases; Positive Punishment (P+) 4) Something Bad can end or be taken away, so behavior increases. Negative Reinforcement (R-) Technical Terms The technical term for "something started" or "presented" is positive, since it's something that's added to the environment. The technical term for "ended" or "taken away" is negative, since it's something that's subtracted from environment. Anything that increases a behavior - makes it occur more frequently, makes it stronger, or makes it more likely to occur - is termed a reinforcer. Often, a person will perceive "starting Something Good" or "ending Something Bad" as something worth pursuing, and they will repeat the behaviors that seem to cause these consequences. These consequences will increase the behaviors that lead to them they are reinforcers. These are consequences the slave will work to attain, so they strengthen the behavior. Anything that decreases a behavior - makes it occur less frequently, makes it weaker, or makes it less likely to occur - is termed a punisher. Often, a person will perceive "ending Something Good" or "starting Something Bad" as something worth avoiding, and they will not repeat the behaviors that seem to cause these consequences. These consequences will decrease the behaviors that lead to them they are punishers. (getting something pleasant)Good behavior will be rewarded. Reinforcement doesn't work if: the "reinforcer" is not reinforcing -- (e.g., a single reinforcer won't work for all slaves; can be a case of too much of a good thing,
You reinforce behavior, there are 3 important conditions:
Timing, magnitude, and consistency of reinforcement all can affect the rate at which new behaviors are learned. (being deprived of something pleasant)(receiving something unpleasant) (taking away or avoiding something unpleasant)
or:
Analyzing Examples of Operant Conditioning There are five basic processes in operant conditioning: positive and negative reinforcement strengthen behavior; punishment, response cost, and extinction weaken behavior.1) Positive Reinforcement--the term reinforcement always indicates a process that strengthens a behavior; the word positive has two cues associated with it. First, a positive or pleasant stimulus is used in the process, and second, the reinforcer is added (i.e., "positive" as in + sign for addition). In positive reinforcement, a positive reinforcer is added after a response and increases the frequency of the response. 2) Negative Reinforcement-- the term reinforcement always indicates a process that strengthens a behavior; the word negative has two cues associated with it. First, a negative or aversive stimulus is used in the process, and second, the reinforcer is subtracted (i.e., "negative" as in a "-" sign for subtraction). In negative reinforcement, after the response the negative reinforcer is removed which increases the frequency of the response. (Note: There are two types of negative reinforcement: escape and avoidance. In general, the learner must first learn to escape before he or she learns to avoid.) 3) Response Cost--if positive reinforcement strengthens a response by adding a positive stimulus, then response cost has to weaken a behavior by subtracting a positive stimulus. After the response the positive reinforcer is removed which weakens the frequency of the response.4) Punishment--if negative reinforcement strengthens a behavior by subtracting a negative stimulus, than punishment has to weaken a behavior by adding a negative stimulus. After a response a negative or aversive stimulus is added which weakens the frequency of the response. 5) E xtinction--No longer reinforcing a previously reinforced response (using either positive or negative reinforcement) results in the weakening of the frequency of the response.The following questions can help in determining whether operant conditioning has occurred.
Typically, people will shy away from new and different behaviors if they view these new and different behaviors as:
How to stop an bad behavior:
Differences between the two The distinction between Classical behavior and operant behavior is that respondent behavior is caused by stimuli where as operant behavior is emitted or freely made by the individual. While the differences at first blush seem profound, we will eventually see that Pavlovian and operant are two halves of an integrated view of learned behavior--Pavlovian by itself isn't of much value--it sets us up to act, and the action is the operant part of our behavior. By the same token, operant doesn't operate in a vacuum--we need to be motivated to act. The nature of reinforcement is also different. For respondent behavior the stimulus is the reinforcement. For operant behavior, the effect caused by the behavior is the reinforcement. BACK TO BEHAVIOR
Factors that influence operant conditioning Julian Rotter stated that behavior modification requires more than a standard set of classical or operant conditioning techniques. He said that individual differences are important in behavioral training. The individual’s thoughts and emotions play a part in behavioral training. He stated that behavioral potential, expectancy, reinforcement value and psychological situations are factors that should be considered and are measurements for success. Behavioral potential – The likelihood that a particular behavior will occur in a given situation. Expectancy – The slave's expectations about the outcome. Reinforcement Value – The importance of the reinforcement to the slave. The Psychological Situation – The definition or perspective of the slave about a behavioral training step. He also stated that human's behavior is always directional (goal oriented) and determined by needs that behavior can be inferred by the way the individual interacts with the environment. Through research, Rotter identified six psychological needs: Recognition-status: the need to be seen as competent in socially valued activities. Dominance: the need to control the actions of others. Independence: the need to make one’s own decisions and rely on one's self. Protection-dependency: the need to have others prevent frustrations or help obtain goals. Love and affection: the need for acceptance and liking by others. Physical comfort: learned needs for physical satisfactions associated with security. Understanding the slave's psychological needs is useful in behavioral training. Each of the above needs has three basic components. 1) The first component is need potential or the likelihood that that a set of behaviors directed at a goal will be used in a given situation. 2) The second component, freedom of movement, is the expectancy that a set of behaviors will lead to success in meeting a goal. High expectance leads to the anticipation of success. 3) The third component, need value, is the importance an individual places on one goal over other goals. The concept of minimum goal level refers to the lowest level of potential reinforcement that is perceived as satisfactory in a particular situation. This varies from individual to individual. It is the point where the individual feels positive reinforcement enough to complete the goal.
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