Tuesday, 1 April 2014

Operant Conditioning: Positive/Negative, Punishment/Reinforcement

Operant conditioning is a behaviorist approach to learning developed by psychologist B.F. Skinner, in which a person or animal learns certain behavior based on the perceived results of said behavior.

Some important concepts of this include:
Positive Reinforcement: To increase certain behaviour, add something that encourages said behaviour
Ex: Giving a gold star every time a student receives 100% on a quiz.
Negative Reinforcement: To increase certain behaviour, remove something whose absence will encourage said behaviour.
Ex: Removing lowest scoring assignment weight from a student who has a high academic average.
Positive Punishment: To deter certain behaviour, add something to discourage said behaviour in the future
Ex: Giving detention to a student who skips class.
Negative Punishment: To deter certain behaviour, remove something whose absence will discourage said behaviour in the future
Ex: Taking away some recess/lunch time from students who talk during class.


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