Question

Learning: Operant Conditioning

Psychologists like B. F. Skinner have studied how we can use operant conditioning to change the behavior of people and animals. Drawing on your personal experience, choose a person or animal whose behavior you want to change. (You may select your own behavior for this question if you wish.) How could you use operant conditioning to change the behavior of this person or animal?

In a multi-paragraph essay, describe your plan to change this behavior. Be sure to mention what type of reinforcer and reinforcement schedule you would use and explain why you made those particular choices. Include information from class materials, readings, and research on operant conditioning to support your discussion.

Answer 1

• Positive reinforcement is the additional stimulus that encourages a certain behavior.Operant behaviors, on the other hand, are those under our conscious control. Some may occur spontaneously and others purposely, but it is the consequences of these actions that then influence whether or not they occur again in the future. Our actions on the environment and the consequences of that action make up an important part of the learning process.
• Since I need to change my behaviour of loosing focus quickly and delaying my work because of lack of attention because I get bored easily with my work I do. I guess positive reinforcement would work for me provided its a strong reinforcement. Especially at my work place,positive reinforcement could be giving me periodic vacations which could be short in nature and also increments which are not given as much. Money is something which is very important in life and to bring about a change in my behaviour this is a strong reinforcer which can push me towards working hard and maybe become determined to focus on my work and achieve something.
• A fixed interval reinforcement based on time would work for me wherein,weekly compensation or monthly vacation of atleast 4 days is given to me.