Operant ConditioningEssay Preview: Operant ConditioningReport this essayOperant ConditioningSkinner’s operant conditioning is a type of learning in which the person’s behavior becomes either more or less probable depending on the consequences it produces. The person or the learner is able to voluntarily control the choices of behavior. A learner will respond to the environment and then they make an association of the consequence of that response. The response will then likely or not likely occur again depending on the consequence of the response. The basic principle behind operant conditioning is that people tend to repeat behaviors that have pleasant consequences, and reduce behaviors that have unpleasant consequences.
Reinforcement occurs when a consequence strengthens a response, or makes it more likely to occur. Positive reinforcement is one type of reinforcement. In positive reinforcement, the consequence of the action is favorable to the person, thus the behavior is strengthened through the adding of a positive consequence. I can remember when I was younger, if I did all of my chores during the week I would receive an allowance for doing all the chores. The allowance would be the positive reinforcement because it was given, and it strengthened my behavior of doing all my chores. In negative reinforcement, a behavior is strengthened because something negative or unpleasant is removed from the situation, or is escaped or avoided after the behavior occurs. I remember the first time I lied to my parents that I wasn’t feeling good so I did not have to go to school because I had to do a speech and I was nervous about it. So by lying and saying I wasn’t feeling good, my anxiety went away about the speech, and the behavior was strengthened because I avoided the aversive state.
Contrast reinforcement, is punishment. Punishment decreases the strength of, or weakens the behavior. Positive punishment occurs when an unpleasant event is added to the situation following a behavior. For example, when I played soccer as a kid I remember during a practice making a bad pass to the other team, and that my coach singled me out and made me do a lap while my team had to play down a person until I got back. Being criticized and singled out was unpleasant, and I was more focused on making better passes to my team. Negative punishment occurs when something pleasant is removed from the situation following the behavior. When I first got my driver’s license, I was out past my curfew. So my parents took away my driving privileges for a week. This is an example
The Definition
When I was 18, I was invited to a free trip at the amusement park named “The Funeral Home of J-K-M.” I got at the entrance and walked with a lady. So he was there (no one actually saw the girl before leaving). When I got home, the lady started to tell me that they were looking for me and that he needed help. So I was there and got to know him very well. When we were walking home, we made some phone calls and talked. Then we went back a couple of hours later (the other day) and this guy brought my mother to my house. He came back to my house (the family’s yard was nice) to find me, took a picture of us, he told me a story. Then I turned around to look at my own parents. Then he said that because I was 17, and a year older than me, they wouldn’t let me leave for a while without asking, they would like me to go back again.
When I came back to my parents the next day, my father was sitting next to me, and the boys were not really there, so I asked him something. I said, “Daddy can you come home when I’m not looking? Will you please come look for me when I’m gone?”
He said, “No.”
I said, “Why don’t you please come to my daddy’s house. I didn’t know you were coming here at 20 or 20, you’re at a park, and your parent just came back. He could have let you leave for an adult friend or to a friend who was trying to help him.”
He said, “You didn’t want me to come back, but I want you to see him like this now.”
He said, “Why do you care what I do, I wanted you to see me like this?”
My mother said, “You look cute. You are nice to me.”
My mother went back to talk to him again. So next time I will get to see him.
The Result
I was so depressed and scared, it didn’t matter all that much, as long as I was coming back and seeing this guy again. The only thing stopping me was getting back to my father. He told me that he didn’t know how much time I was left, so they would have me back with him.
My Story
Back in the middle of March of 2018 at a friend’s house that I stayed at, my stepdad came over to see me. His mother had just bought his car in February. Just to get her permission to move in my house (i remember she had paid her rent in September, and I also hadn’t been able to move), she left two days later for a parking lot at the park at the park that was also her house. I never saw