Why it would Be Easier to Operantly Confition a Behaviour that is Natural than One that is Unnatural - Essay Example

The natural behavior can easily be oparently conditioned as they are usually voluntary and can be motivated in a particular way. While unnatural behaviors are usually involuntary in nature and so they are difficult to be oparently conditioned. The theory of Operant conditioning was presented by Skinner which was formulated on Thorndike’s works. Law of Effect E.I.Thorndike (1874-1949) put forth the “LAW OF EFFECT” in 1898, by conducting an experiment in which he put a hungry cat in a puzzle box and food outside the box.

The door of this box could be opened by pulling a latch. After several trials and errors in reaching to the food outside, the cat eventually pulled the latch and the door opened. This processes of putting the cat in the box was repeated several times which eventually decreased the cat’s futile efforts to get to the food by thrashing and reaching it and with the passage of time the cat learned to pull the latch for food. Thus Thorndike by observing the cats’ behavior analyzed that the behavior which produces the desired effects becomes dominant and therefore recurs faster when the situation is repeated (Ellen, Susann 2009).

Operant Conditioning B.F.Skinner’s (1904-1990) theory of “OPARENT CONDITIONING” is based on Thorndike’s work. Working on the same theory, Skinner introduced the term of “reinforcement”. In his experiment Skinner put a rat in a box with a lever. Each time the rat depressed the lever, food was released. As a result the rat learned to depress the lever to get food. The food here was termed by Skinner as “positive reinforcement”. However, when the food was replaced by electric shocks the rat stopped depressing the lever almost immediately.

Skinner termed these shocks as “Punishment”. Stopping the positive reinforcement i.e. food completely, which was termed as “extinction”, produced the same results as in the case of punishment, but with a lesser rate. He came to a conclusion that behavior which is reinforced tends to be repeated or strengthens, while the behavior which is not reinforced tends to die out or be discontinued (Michael, Ronald 2007). Operant conditioning forms an association between a behavior and a consequence.

“Skinner held that the organisms learn responses that operate on the environment to produce consequences” (Jeffery, 2009). The four types of consequences that mould the behavior is Positive and Negative Reinforcements which result in desired behaviors, and Positive and negative punishments which result in weakening or completely extinguishing the undesired behaviors. The time and pattern of the occurrence of reinforcements is very crucial in achieving the desired results. This rate of occurrence is termed as “Schedule of Reinforcements”, which shows the effectiveness of reinforcements at a certain time.

The two types of schedule of reinforcements are “Interval” and “Ratio” schedules. The interval schedule is further divided into two types that are “fixed” and “variable”. For example, conducting quizzes after every two weeks is an example of fixed interval schedule, while an unpredictable time of quiz is an example of variable interval schedule. The result will be consistent in variable interval schedule, as instead of cramming just before the quiz, student will be motivated to study throughout the week.

The ratio schedule is also of two types that is “fixed” and “variable” ratio schedules. For example, the frequent buyer option in many outlets,