Learning Objectives

• Students will be able to diagram several examples of operant conditioning in the S^D—R—S^REINF  Model.
• Students will be able to describe extinction in the classroom.
• Students will understand the various reinforcement schedules that can be constructed.
• Detail which reinforcement schedule is most appropriate for transfer of stimulus control.
• Identify 2 basic functions of reinforcement.
• Provide examples of behavior shaping.
• Describe some of the aversive consequences that regulate classroom behavior.
• Identify potential problems of using positive reinforcement in the classroom.
• Describe the teacher's function in the classroom according to Skinner.
• Discuss the factors which control behavior.
• Describe the basic problems with education according to the behavioral model.
• Identify terms including: operant, stimulus reinforcer, stimulus discriminant, variable rate,  generalization, negative, positive (in reference to reinforcement), punishment, primary and secondary reinforcers, contrived, generalized and natural reinforcers
• Offer a definition for the Premack principle.
• Discuss contingency management in the classroom.

Content Overview

• An expanded look at operant conditioning

Practice

1) Describe and diagram in S^d - R - S^reinf format two examples of operant conditioning that may increase complex behavior in infants.

        Tips for checking your work

2) Consider at least two examples of how your behavior has been shaped by teachers, parents, law enforcement, or supervisors.  Skinner believes that society too often uses aversive means rather than positive reinforcement to shape behavior.

        Do your two examples support Skinner's view?

3) Diagram the S^d - R - S^reinf that is represented in each of the scenarios below:

    a) Teacher A finds that his second period class takes an inordinate amount
        of time to settle down and get ready for class work after the tardy bell has
        rung.  Daily, he addresses critical remarks to the worst offenders, but his
        method has not remedied the problem.

    b) Several times per week, Teacher B gives her fifth period math students
        in-class problems to practice new material she has presented.  She allows
        the class 30 minutes to complete the exercise.  The class always has trouble
        getting down to work and staying on task.  Few students complete their
        assignments.  Teacher B continually nags students through the work period
        to stop talking and playing with their neighbors and to get to work.  Her
        method is not successful.

        Check your work here6215m4p1.htm

3)  Using the scenarios above, identify alternative approaches and diagram them.

        Are your suggestions based on positive reinforcement or punishment?

4) Consider the following example then respond to the 2 questions which follow:
          A twelve-year-old male experiences extreme anxiety in situations involving
     mathematical calculations and symbols.  Each time he is presented with a task
     involving these manipulations, he becomes anxious and typically fails the task.
     When questioned concerning the boy's problem, his parents reported that the
     problem began in second grade, but they were not certain what caused its
     onset.

        a)  Assume that the problem was learned through classical conditioning.
             Explain what the conditioning event may have been that initiated the
             child's anxiety over math.  Be sure to use terms connected to classical
             conditioning.

        b) Explain the process using operant conditioning that could be used to help
            the child overcome his anxiety in the presence of math tasks.  Be sure to
            use terms that are connected with operant conditioning.

Links to Resources

• A link Strictly for the dogs (or dog lover)
• Difficult to see- but excellent materials
• Strictly for the rats (or rat lover)
• The Operant Conditioning of Human Motor Behavior
• Differences between Operant and Classical Conditioning

Communication

E-mail the instructor

Connect to the class bulletin board

Connect to the class distribution list

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