Burrhus Frederic (B.F.) Skinner

1. Burrhus Frederic (B.F.) Skinner • 1. To which Paradigm does Skinner belong? • 2. What is the difference between radical and methodological behaviorism? • 3. Which kind of behaviorist was Skinner? Pavlov? • 4. What was Thorndike's law of effect?

2. 5. What is the difference between punishment and negative reinforcement? • 6. Why did Skinner say he never wrote or developed a theory? • 7. Is God a behaviorist? “in actual practice a threat to bar from Heaven or to consign to Hell is contingent upon sinful behavior, while virtuous behavior brings a promise of Heaven or a release from the threat of Hell. B.F Skinner, Science and Human Behavior (1953)

3. Skinners Beliefs • 1. Neonates are born with "Species specific reflexes" • 2. Infants are born "Tabula Rasa" • 3. *The infant immediately begins to fill up the "blank slate" (This is the primary assumption) PROACTIVE emit or give out responses to the environment not to simply react to stimuli. Operant behavior is emitted rather than elicited (This is the difference between mechanistic and radical behaviorism)

4. Problems for Study • Discover the laws which relate behavior to environmental forces acting upon it ‑‑ This theory does not account for mental phenomena‑‑ • Laws of Operant Conditioning • 1. Past Learning • 2. Present Conditions • 3. Behavior

5. Wanted to explain, for example, why a child misbehaves in a classroom. • 1. Past Learning ‑ Runs around at home ‑ Daddy says "he's all boy" • 2. Present Conditions ‑ School is like home ‑ • 3. Behavior ‑ Run around at school ‑ Teacher will approve, just like Daddy.

6. Internal Principles Differential /Contingent Reinforcement favorable consequences to behavior increase the likelihood that behavior will be more common. • Occurs after a behavior has been emitted (based on past experiences, • not due to other paired stimuli as the classical behaviorists would have us believe)

7. telling jokes at parties, • driving on the right side of the road, • smiling at strangers, • answering questions from teachers, • doing housework for your spouse.

8. Internal Principles (cont.) • Primary reinforcers ‑ biological needs (food/water) • Secondary reinforcers (most important) are learned and have different meaning to different individuals.

9. Internal Principles (cont.) • Discriminative Stimulus ‑ Signals the conditions under which some behaviors will be reinforced and others will not – • Tell a joke at a party, but don’t tell one in class, or. • Daddy is watching football he won’t read me a story, but Daddy is helping Mommy with the dishes ‑ ask him to read the story now. • S(d)‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑> R ‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑>S(r) • I like pizza, do I pull into every Pizza Hut I see?

10. Internal Principles (cont.) • Shaping ‑ (principle of successive approximation) reinforcing behavior when it begins and when it changes toward the appropriate end. Put the trash in the trash can. • 1. Reinforce when they look at the trash • 2. Reinforce when they pick up the trash • 3. Reinforce when they move toward the trash can • 4. Reinforce when they put the trash in the trash can

11. How do you shape the behavior of others? • How do teachers use shaping

12. Bridge Principles • Schedules of Reinforcement ‑ (Contingencies of reinforcement) • Continuous Reinforcement ‑ produces faster change in behavior (sit in your seat) • Intermittent Reinforcement ‑ on the basis of a ratio (either number of instances, or time) • Random Reinforcement – Occasionally (produces the slowest change in behavior

13. Bridge Principles (cont.) • Generalization ‑ behavior in a situation will be generalized to other situations. Children talk to everyone who responds, parents, strangers but not to squirrels, chairs, etc. • Call Daddy “daddy” and call all males “daddy”

14. Bridge Principles (cont.) Chaining ‑ • behaviors combined into complex strings of behaviors. It is the effect produced by the last behavior which produces the reinforcement for the chain.

15. Change Mechanisms Positive and Negative reinforcement • Both positive and negative reinforcement increase the likelihood that behavior will reoccur positive reinforcement ‑ to achieve the reinforcer • negative reinforcement ‑ to avoid the negative consequences

16. Punishment ‑ extinguishes a behavior • Spanking, scolding, frowning or removal of privilege • Skinner is against punishment because • Short term • In the proximity of the punisher

17. Behavior Modification • Step One ‑ Identify the Reinforcer • If the reinforcer does not produce significant effects • then it is the reinforcer which must be changed. If M&M's don't work try money

18. Behavior Modification • Step Two ‑ Establish the Final Form. • Describe the behavior to be learned. (observable and measurable) • Specify the presence of a specific operant (what behavior is desired) Billy does not run around the room is not correct (denotes absence of a behavior), • Billy sits in his seat is correct (denotes presence of the appropriate behavior).

19. Behavior Modification • Step Three ‑ Establish a Reinforcement Schedule. • Begin with continuous reinforcement ‑ this produces the fastest change of behavior. • One could then switch to the intermittent schedule of reinforcement

20. Behavior Modification • Step Four ‑ Design a Learning Environment. Set up the circumstances for which the behavior will be reinforced

21. Behavior Modification • Step Five ‑ Shape the Final Form. • First reinforce gross approximations • successive approximations reinforce closer approximations • Using law of successive approximations, reinforce appropriate behavior

22. Behavior Modification • Step Six ‑ Implement the plan