Operant Conditioning

1. Operant Conditioning • Action results in consequence • Decision • B.F. Skinner • Three term contingency • Stimulus - response - outcome • Outcomes • Positive/negative; reinforcement/punishment

2. Differences from Classical • Usually assumed to be under “conscious” control • Operant conditioned after the behaviour • Outcome feeds back to alter response

3. Probabilities • Hierarchy of behaviours (actions) • Probability • Operant conditioning changes events and/or consequences • Results in adjustment of probability hierarchy

4. Shaping • Directed learning • Behavioural outcome more certain • Select a specific response to occur in a specific way • Gradual process • Chaining • Forward and backward

5. Reinforcement Schedules • Fixed ratio • Fixed interval • Variable ratio • Variable interval

6. Reinforcement Consistency • Continuous schedules • Intermittent schedules • Response-reinforcer? • Technically, only FR-1 is continuous • Systematic reinforcer • Any fixed schedule (FR or FI)

7. Extinction • Response - outcome pattern disrupted • Easiest for: • Continuous reinforcement/punishment • Low schedules • Variable ratio schedules hardest to extinguish

8. Reinforcers • Primary • Secondary • Speed of learning • Extinction • Money

9. Delay • Immediate reinforcement • Delayed reinforcement • Generally, delayed harder to condition • Difference with well conditioned system

10. Changing Schedules • Cost of response • Contingency • Rate of reinforcement • Modification • Decrease • Increase • Delay

11. Applications • Discriminative stimulus • “Blue-light special,” coloured sale tags, logos (if previous positive experience with product) • Christmas music in October • Positive reinforcement • Give-aways, purchase points, Canadian Tire money, parking lot barbeques • Negative reinforcement • Purchase to avoid pushy sales pitch

12. VR schedule • Lotteries, door prizes, etc. • Shaping • Free trial periods, leading signs/displays (get person into store area) • Punishment • Unusual in advertising/marketing • Commercials showing customer who suffers from not using product (observational learning)

13. Ecological Design • Structuring the environment • Facilitation of particular behaviour(s) • Increase/decrease probability of response • Store layout, purchase locations, noises, odors, lighting • A type of shaping of a response

14. Behaviour Modification • Application of operant theory to change behaviour • Primary application of operant principles • Skinner’s behaviour analyst techniques

15. Behav. Mod. in Marketing • Role of marketing as influencing, modifying, and controlling consumer behaviour to achieve purchasing objectives • An applied field • Not aimed at developing theory, but applying theory • Observable behaviour • No inferred behavioural constructs

16. Economic Psychology • Integration of psychology and economic analysis • Marketing • Not a discipline • An application area for the social sciences and other disciplines • EcPsyc offers detailed analysis of consumer-firm interactions

17. Behavioural Perspective Model • Gordon R. Foxall • Operant behaviourist paradigm • Modern marketing firms • Embedded in networks of marketing relationships • Extra-firm environment (e.g., consumers) drive marketing behaviour • Reinforcement/punishment shift firm’s behaviour • Applies also to behaviour of individuals comprising the firm (e.g., employees, owners, shareholders, etc.)

18. A Firm’s Purpose • To make marketing relationships more economic • Production and selling are independent of firms • Don’t need firms to do these • Creation and maintenance of marketing is what firms do

19. Uhm… So? • Operant conditioning theory and firms • Economic behaviour is instrumentally conditioned • Behaviour that operates on the environment to produce consequences changes the future rates of behaviour • Reinforcement/punishment shifts economic (market) factors

20. Consumer Behaviour • Economic purchasing and consumption activities • Basic three-term contingency applies • Stimulus - response - outcome • Plus, consumer behavioural setting and learning history

21. Behav. Persp. Model and Consumer’s Choice • Consumer choice reduces aversive consequences of facing multiple equivalent options

22. Utilitarian reinforcement Consumer behaviour setting Consumer behaviour Aversive consequences Consumer’s learning history Informational reinforcement Model

23. Marketing Management in BPM • Influence two factors • Consumer behaviour settings • Social, physical, temporal, and regulatory discriminative stimuli • Utilitarian and information reinforcers • Actual outcome and knowledge gained

24. Managing Reinforcers • Three ways • Enhancing effectiveness of reinforcers • Controlling the schedules of reinforcer delivery • Increasing the quantity or quality of reinforcers

25. Complexities • Multiple systems operating simultaneously • Is operant conditioning separable from classical? • Do stimuli fulfill role of CS, SD, or both?

26. Role of Operant Reinforcer in Classical Conditioning • In classical conditioning • US presented regardless of CR • Defining feature • But, operant reinforcement can slip in • Operant reinforcement via • 1. Reinforcing CR directly • e.g., food (US) coming after CR • 2. CR increases “value” of US • e.g., salivation (CR) makes swallowing food (US) easier

27. Omission Control Procedure • US presentation depends on occurrence of CR • CS presented; if no CR, US follows • CS presented; if CR, no US follows • Therefore, US can’t operantly reinforce CR

28. Trial with a CR CS US % of CRs CR Trial without a CR Blocks of sessions CS Omission control US Standard classical conditioning CR Omission Control

29. Conclusion • Can have classical conditioning without operant reinforcement • But what about classical conditioning in operant conditioning?

30. Associative Structure in Operant Conditioning • Basic form of association • S-R • S-O • Pavlovian processes • Can keep instrumental reinforcement out of classical conditioning, but not vise versa Outcome Stimulus Instrumental response

31. S-R, S-O, rg-sg • Thorndike’s Law of Effect • Focus on S-R association • Hull and Spence • Law of Effect plus a classical conditioning process • rg-sg • Fractional anticipatory goal response; sensory feedback

32. Fractional Anticipatory Goal Response • SD influences rg-sg (expectancy of reward from classical conditioning) through sensory substitution-like process • Motivation Timeline Stimulus rg sg Response Outcome

33. Prediction • According to rg-sg • CR occurs before operant response • But, not always true • e.g., lever pressing and salivation • CR should occur before operant, but it doesn’t

34. Central Emotional State • Classical conditioning in operant conditioning • Not for learning response • For CES (Central Emotional State) • CES --> motivation, “mood”

35. Modern Two-Process Theory • Classical in operant conditioning • Neutral stimulus --> elicit motivation (CES) • CES elicited by CS corresponds to US • CES a characteristic of CNS = “mood” • CES doesn’t produce only one response • e.g., anger --> multiple responses • CES conditioned during ordinary operant training • CES conditioned to situational cues or discriminative stimulus • CES motivates operant behaviour

36. Prediction • Rate of instrumental response will be modified by presentation of CS • Consider • In operant conditioning, CES develops to motivate operant response • CS from classical conditioning also elicits CES • Therefore, giving CS during operant conditioning will alter CES that motivates/maintains operant response

37. Conditioned Emotional Response • Suppression ratio • CES elicited by CS --> decrease response

38. US CS Appetitive Aversive (e.g., food) (e.g., shock) CS+ Hope Fear CS- Disappointment Relief “Explicit” Predictions • Emotional states

39. Behavioural predictions Aversive US Instrumental schedule CS+(fear) CS-(relief) Positive reinforcement decrease increase Negative reinforcement increase decrease