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Operant Conditioning Reinforcement Analysis

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Reading Summary: The second half of chapter 3 is about Operant Conditioning and how it works by using different reinforcement techniques to mold behavior. The chapter covers the different types of reinforcements such as positive, negative, extrinsic, intrinsic, primary secondary, social, activity, and material. In operant conditioning a variety of these types of reinforcements can be used to shape and condition a subject to behave in a specific way. Word Count: 67 Learning Theory: Behaviorism is constructed upon stimulus-response actions and the way in which things learn from what is around them. It shows how the environment is something that can affect future actions of a being and how people develop habits of thinking and doing. Word Count: …show more content…

When I was in grade school I had teachers that would reward students for good grades and positive behavior thus making it more likely for us to work hard to do better. I remember receiving candy, a material reinforcer, recess extensions, an activity reinforcer, and even activity passes, an activity reinforcer, for doing well. If I proved to know the content well enough, then I was allowed to skip an activity in class to do something more fun such as a craft or a game instead. Or sometimes, those who did exceptionally well on a quiz would be allowed to go to lunch early which also meant a longer recess. These incentives to do well positively reinforced my work ethic so that I was studying more and working harder to achieve good grades. I noticed as I went through school that my work ethic strengthened the more positive reinforcement I received. If I began to slip, and my effort level decreased then I would receive negative reinforcement from my teachers in the form of a bad grade, a secondary reinforcer. This would then signal me to work harder so that I would not receive the same low grade as before. The consequences I encountered from both working hard and slacking off shaped the way I behaved in school. When offered incentives to do well and negative consequences for not performing as well, I was induced to work hard and get good grades. One particular example of Operant Conditioning I remember from my early education was when my father promised my class McDonalds lunch if all of us got 100% on our spelling test. I remember our entire class studying harder than we had before to achieve a perfect score on our test. We ended up making our goal and being the highest scoring class all year for spelling tests. My father’s positive reinforcement of our habit to study hard affected my class and for the rest of the year my class had a notably higher work

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