Discussion 3: Instrumental Conditioning

1) Please Complete the following knowledge-based application problems.

Please proide responses in complete sentences and do not forget to proide
an e!ample. "oughl# 3-$ sentences a piece.
A. Define Instrumental Conditioning and Provide an Example:
Instrumental Conditioning is when an antecedent stimulus occurs which causes a
behavior (response that is followed up b! a conse"uence (positive or negative
reinforcement. #nli$e classical conditioning% instrumental conditioning
conditions voluntar! behavior% not involuntar!. It relies on cues and props to
produce a response that is positivel! or negativel! reinforced. A good example
would be if I held up m! hand up and reminded students that means "uiet. (cue
&prop. 'ost students become instantl! "uiet (behavior or response and get
praise or a star stic$er (conse"uence or positive(negative reinforcement stimuli.
). Define Positive *einforcement and Provide an Example (include punishment:
Positive reinforcement is given after a response occurs due to an antecedent
stimulus and is a form of conse"uence. Positive reinforcement does not onl!
include good rewards% but it also includes punishment. Positive reinforcement
can be best described as an!thing added to the environment. +ith positive
reinforcement are punishments. ,hese punishments could be presentation
punishment (writing a tal$ing student-s name on the board or removal
punishment (ta$ing awa! something so the repetition of that behavior is bad for
the student (ex: such as ta$ing time awa! from computer time.
C. Define .egative *einforcement and Provide an Example:
.egative *einforcement is when a behavior eliminates the presence of a stimulus.
.egative reinforcement does not mean a punishment. It means that because a
behavior occurs% a stimulus is removed from the environment. /or example we
$now we should change our fire alarm batteries. I/ we do not% the fire alarm will
beep ever! 01 minutes until we change the batteries. 2nce we do this% the
anno!ing stimulus is eliminated.
%.) Please complete the following anal#sis problem:
&perant Conditioning
2perant conditioning is a behaviorist practice that was first discovered and
utili3ed in the late 0411-s up until the 0561-s% and studied heavil! b!
ps!chologists such as +atson and )./. 7$inner. 2perant (or instrumental
conditioning is somewhat a reversal of classical conditioning in behaviorism.
8+here classical conditioning illustrates 'timulus--("esponse learning% operant
conditioning is often viewed as "esponse--('timulus learning since it is the
conse"uence that follows the response that influences whether the response is
li$el! or unli$el! to occur again. It is through operant conditioning that voluntar!
responses are learned.9 (:ummel. It is especiall! due to this last sentence from
the above "uote% that operational conditioning is the main form of classroom
behavior management in used in a ma;orit! of schools (such as the one I wor$ at.
As teachers% we see a child raise their hand to spea$% and we give them a positive
reinforcement such as a s$ittle. ,his is not to sa! that using operant conditioning
is an ineffective strateg!% but using it as the sole strateg! ma! not be effective
classroom practice at all.
Education has been using operant conditioning in classrooms for !ears% but
man! teachers including m!self% find it hard to use constantl!. As a matter of
fact% man! of the students we are tr!ing to change behavior with end up not caring
either wa! and the relationship with them is harmed. 7$inner constantl! spo$e of
giving reinforcements at specified and exact intervals that had been set up. ,he!
are explained as: 8<rules that control the deliver! of reinforcement. ,he rules
specif! either the time that reinforcement is to be made available% or the number
of responses to be made% or both.9 (+i$ipedia% =10>. ,here are man! schedule
t!pes used to $eep trac$ of these intervals% which can cause a problem for the
classroom teacher with finding the time to teach and $eep up with schedules for
the whole class. 2nl! a few students on a specified schedule for things li$e *,I
purposes with positive or negative reinforcements tailored to their li$es or disli$es
will be effective for that individual. 7tudies% such as 2-*eill!-s wor$ that show
having a reinforcer available before or after a learning session can have a massive
affect on the number of occurrences of challenging behavior during that learning
time. :owever% for other students% more cognitive methods ma! be needed. 'an!
times conse"uences become ineffective. ,al$ing to students% helping them
understand their actions% not ;ust tr!ing to control their behavior is another vital
$e! in classroom management that cannot be supplied b! classical or operant
conditioning.
2?*eill!% '.% Edrisinha% C.% 7igafoos% @.% Aancioni% B.% Cannella% :.% 'achalice$%
+.% & Aangthorne% P. (=11C. 'anipulating the evocative and abative effects of
an establishing operation: influences on challenging behavior during classroom
instruction. Behavioral Interventions% 22(=% 0DCE0>F. doi:01.011=(bin.==6
2perant conditioning. (=10>% @une >. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
*etrieved 0C:F6% @une 4% =10> from http:((en.wi$ipedia.org(w(index.phpG
titleH2perantIconditioning&oldidH600FC>555
:uitt% +.% & :ummel% @. (055C. An introduction to operant (instrumental
conditioning. Educational Psychology Interactive. Jaldosta% BA: Jaldosta 7tate
#niversit!. *etrieved 0C:F6% @une 4% =10> from%
http:((www.edps!cinteractive.org(topics(behavior(operant.html