...his daughter Deborah and named the air bed or the Skinner tender that was intended to help his wife ease some of the parenting duties such as waking in the middle of the night to add blankets to a cold baby, later sparked a backlash of criticism of Skinners work and false rumors about Deborah committing suicide. According to “B.F. Skinner Foundation” (2013) In 1938, Skinner wrote The Behavior of Organisms which “summarizes nearly ten years of research, spanning the years of Skinner's graduate school days at Harvard through his three years as a member of the Society of Fellows.” In 1945, Skinner became the Psychology Department Chair at the University of Indiana. Three years later he joined the psychology department at Harvard University where he remained for the duration of his life. It was at Harvard where Skinner’s inventions helped to shape his career in psychology and helped him to become one of the leaders in behaviorism. Behaviorism according to Dictionary.com (2013) is “the theory or doctrine that human or animal psychology can be accurately studied only through the examination and analysis of objectively observable and quantifiable behavioral events, in contrast with subjective mental states, in contrast with...
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...OSB: Chapter One Chapter one of Opening Skinner’s Box focuses on the namesake of the book, B.F. Skinner. The experiments described all focus on Skinner’s primary study, that of ‘operant conditioning’. Skinner brought into question the concept of free will, instead believing that all human decisions are the result of consequences, both positive and negative. He felt that through a system of positive reinforcement, entire countries could be changed to compliant citizens. In fact, the book tells us, he openly admitted that he hoped to one day use his studies for fascist goals in the nation. His primary experiment was conducted on rats that he placed in a box, and taught to step on a treadle to receive a food pellet. He experimented both with consistency, intervals, and random deliverance of the food and found that the rats did not cease to rely on the process to gain food. However, after cutting off the rewards, he found that the rats did indeed stop their efforts. Although the author of the book proceeds to interview esteemed colleagues who believe firmly in free will and dismiss Skinner’s theory, the overall mystery of the experiment remains. At first I was thrilled by the chapter and excited by the meshing of the author’s artistic writing and the scientific experiments and interviews she describes. However, I must say I enjoyed the project far less when writing a summary of the mere experiment. As a reader and student, the author’s style and stories added and enriched my experience...
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...Synopsis Skinner addresses operant behavior in this article. Operant behavior refers to behavior that operates on the environment or is controllable by the individual. Skinner suggests that operant behavior usually affects the environment and generates stimuli which “feed back” to the organism. This feedback can be a reward and/or punishment (Skinner, 2012, p. 55). Skinner investigates this by using an aluminum box divided into two compartments. In one compartment, a pigeon is able to peck a translucent plastic plate behind a circular opening which is a delicate electric key. When pecked, the circuit is closed to operate recording and controlling equipment. Colored lights can be projected on the back of the plate as stimuli (Skinner, 2012, p. 54). Operant reinforcement is demonstrated when food is given to the pigeon when it pecks the key, which created the high probability of responding. If the food is not given when the pigeon pecks the key, the rate declines or may even stop all together. This is called operant conditioning or extinction. What happened when intermittent reinforcements, like fixed ratio or variable ratio reinforcement was used? This is where reinforcements are based on time and/or counters. Skinner relates this type of reinforcement to our everyday life and how few of the things we do always “pay off”. The dynamic characteristics of our behavior depend upon the actual schedules of reinforcement (Skinner, 2012, p. 55). The colored lights in the...
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...learning in which animals is from the behavior or the way it acts witch also depends on its environment. In this behavior the animal would either increase or decrease by the following reinforcement that follows. Animal trainers apply Operant conditioning, if the animal performs a behavior that they want done again or the trainer will also give them a treat for doing this behavior. Humans learn in the same way for example if your teenager is supposed to come home from high school every day and/or chores around the house making the bed, washing close, doing dishes, vacuuming, if you do not reward her for this positive reinforcement will not follow and will probably stop altogether doing the chores around the house when she comes home from school. Positive reinforcement- when an animal does a behavior produces a positive stimulus if you reinforce the positive stimulus and you give the animal a treat then later on the animal is likely to always do the same favorable behavior over and over. The positive stimulus will know that you gave it positive reinforcement and will probably do the same behavior over when you like the animal to do it. Negative reinforcement this involves taking away the unfavorable stimulus, or in this case a negative reinforcement will increase what you would like the child not to do again and again. This is not like a punishment because punishments follow consequences good ones and bad ones. Positive reinforcement for a behavior that you want to happen again whenever...
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...important historians to psychology, his work led to the development of behavior modification and behavior therapy which is a model that psychologist continue to apply and modify today. In the beginning with the social need for efficient psychotherapy soon developed a solid theoretical body of behavioral laws, Skinner indicated that in order to develop the appropriate path towards efficient intervention for unadaptive behavior new theories regarding about abnormal behavior and as well as procedural model for evaluations (Labrador, F. (2004). Behavior therapy continued to nourished by developments through experimental psychology, Skinner’s treatments offered many opportunities not just clients but as well researchers/psychologist to explore the newly lens developed. However, behavior modification and therapy had its limitation yet today it continues to have some modification still needed to be implement, it said that in order to acknowledge and pay a tribute to Skinner’s work is to overcome these limitation and further develop behavior therapy into an effective model (Wilson, G., & Agras, W. (1992). Rise of behavior modification & therapy The development of behavior modification and therapy was backed up by the work of Skinner, his techniques and experiments were based in operant conditioning and specifically practical developments that were all Skinner’s work (Labrador, F. (2004). The development of both behavior modification and therapy techniques came even before these two models...
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...situations. He put a rat in Skinner box and the rat would pull the lever, which in result the rat would receive food. The rat then realized that each time it pulled the lever; food will come out so it constantly kept pulling the lever (Wikipedia). Skinner's theory on punishment is that a positive reinforcement is more effective in changing and developing behavior than by using any form of punishment. Skinner believed that the main thing to learn from being punished is to avoid punishment altogether. Reinforcement is a concept in behaviorism and a common confusion is that negative reinforcement is synonymous with punishment. Positive reinforcement is strengthening the behavior while negative reinforcement is strengthening of behavior by removal of avoidance of an aversive event (Wikipedia). Although both types of reinforcement strengthen the behavior or either promotes the probability of the behavior to reoccur. One of Skinner's favorite experiments involved the pigeon and it was to demonstrate superstition. The bird would behave as if there was a casual relation between it’s behave as if there was a casual relation between its behavior and the presentation of food even when the relation was lacking. There are many...
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...useful devices like the cumulative recorder, even in his old age he invented a thinking aid to help with writing. Skinner showed the positive reinforcement by placing a hungry rat in the Skinner box. This box contained a lever with food as the rat moved inside the box the lever would drop the food to a container next to it. The consequence was that the rat would repeat the behavior again and again. A good example to picture this would be thinking of a daily basis situation every time you do something good you get a reward, so then the same action becomes a daily thing so you can get rewarded more often. The negative side is that if one day you don’t do the right thing then you won’t get reward and then the habit might be broken. The opposite of reinforcement is punishment this can also work directly by doing something unpleasant stimulus. For example if the children don’t behave then they get put in time out and they won’t get to do something they enjoy. Superstitious behavior arises when the delivery of reinforcement and punisher occurs close together in time with an independent behavior. For example bad luck you do something and then something bad happens. After many years of contribution to psychology F. B Skinner died in 1990 at the age of eighty six years old. In 2002 he was the most...
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...west Tennessee. QCBS is expecting a 100 percent increase in the total amount of clients served. West Tennessee currently has 12 behavior support and management agencies that provide services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and 5 that specialize in autism, as well as more than 20 residential service providers. The total amount of clients served by residential providers exceed 4500 with a waiting list that surpasses 2300 individuals that have been evaluated and are in need of services. Many of these future service recipients are located in mental health institutions while others are misplaced in array of nursing homes located in west Tennessee. QCBS has only been in business one year and is anticipating an increase in the budget for the total amount of service recipients served, or an additional $25,000. QCBS marketing initiative has the following objectives. * Maximize limited marketing monies to improve the exposure of their agency. * Increase the operating budget by 50% while maintaining current contracts at competitive prices. * Increase the number of potential service recipients by providing site observations and evaluations. Strengths QCBS has various resources that will encourage and support its initiative to increase the total amount of service recipients receiving behavior supports. The owner of the company worked at the West...
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...Psychological Analysis of Punctuality at School: What LPCI stands for: "Amor Doctrinae Floreat" (Let the love of learning flourish) For over seventy-five years, Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute has been a top ranked school in the TDSB and an important part of the community. It is said to be the 'private school of public schools' in Toronto because of the schools amazing Academic programs and wide variety of extra-curricular programs. LPCI is very proud of their students and their achievements while recognizing that there is always room for growth and improvement. The school's goal is to always look for ways to engage and enhance the achievement of each of the students. To do so, the staff of LPCI are always finding ways to address important issues in the school and solve the problem as best as possible. Punctuality at the school: It has always been the policy of Lawrence Park to encourage good attendance and punctuality. The definition of punctuality is the action of being on time. Punctuality revolves around responsibility, commitment, attentiveness and the seriousness with which you take. Punctuality is a necessity for success, one of the great values of it is that it gives discipline to life. It is especially important to enforce punctuality in high school because it is a habit developed at a young age. Why is good attendance/punctuality so important? A good education gives your child the best possible start in life. If your child goes to school...
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...to date that includes video modeling to increase food acceptance in a participant’s home. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use video modeling to increase food acceptance by one child in his home. A multiple-baseline design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of video modeling on increasing food acceptance. Video modeling was effective in increasing food acceptance with this one participant in his home. The results of this study suggest that this treatment program was responsible for the observed changes, which were maintained during 3, 4, 5, and 6th month follow-up. Video modeling 6 Using Video Modeling to Increase Food Acceptance Many children with Pervasive Developmental Disorder exhibit maladaptive feeding behaviors. These behaviors may include gagging at the site of certain foods, food refusal, expulsion, and limited intake (Munk & Repp, 1994). Parents of children with these problems are frequently desperate to get their children to eat and may go to...
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...Implement the Positive Behavioural Support Model 1.1 Explain how Positive Behavioural Support has been influenced by: • Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) • Social Role Valorisation (SRV) ABA is a scientific process of examining what causes and maintains behaviour, in order to bring about positive change. SRV promotes valued social roles for individuals who are socially disadvantaged, to help them get some of the good things in life. 1.2 Summarise current legislation and policy guidance relating to Positive Behavioural Support The current legislation relating to Positive Behavioural Support is titled - the Positive Behaviour Support Policy – Safe management of challenging behaviour in children and young people with learning disabilities and autism. The broad aims of the policy are: • the prevention of challenging behaviours; • that, where used, restrictive physical interventions promote the best interests of children and young people; • that all risks associated with the use of restrictive physical interventions are continuously assessed; • to maintain the safety and dignity of children, young people and staff; • that managers and employers discharge their responsibilities effectively; • to highlight the training needs of staff in the use of restrictive physical interventions. 2.1 Define the term ‘challenging behaviour’ Behaviour of such intensity, frequency or duration that the physical safety of the person or others is placed in serious jeopardy or...
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...What causes addiction, and what is the best approach to counteract it? One contemporary view on the main causes of addiction is positive reinforcement. While there are many factors that contribute to both chemical and physical addiction, including psychosis, a disruptive childhood, or cognitive impairment, positive reinforcement is the major underlying characteristic that envelops an individual’s substance addiction (Osher, 1989). Though the reasons for compulsive drug self-administration varies widely, most, if not all users of drugs do so to avoid negative feelings including anxiety, depression, angst and fear (Goldsmith, Holzer & Manderscheid, 1998). Positive reinforcement is a concept first described by psychologist B. F. Skinner in his theory of operant conditioning. Skinner introduced reinforcement to the law of effect (Thorndike, 1905) in psychology, stating that behaviour that is reinforced is likely to be repeated and strengthened, while behaviour that is not reinforced will likely be extinguished (McLeod, 2007). Positive reinforcement refers to the rewarding and confident emotions that drug users experience when self-administering drugs or other substances. This theory highlights that the common denominator of a wide range of addictive substances is their ability to cause psychomotor activation (Wise & Bozarth, 1987). This view is related to the belief that all positive reinforcers activate a common biological mechanism, with one of the most common components...
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...WEEK 3 Homework July 27, 2014 Operant conditioning is a learned condition that is rewarding of good behavior or for punishment of bad behavior. An example of operant conditioning can be positive reinforcement; like a child getting praise from the teacher for doing well on a test. Another example is negative reinforcement which is to take away something unpleasant for good behavior. A child makes straight “A’s” in all classes, so their parents allow them to have no chores for a week. Positive punishment is used to decrease bad behavior by making them do something unpleasant. For example; a child does not clean their room, so they receive a spanking. And negative punishment is to decrease bad behavior and take away something they enjoy. A child does not complete their chores as told or scheduled, so their parents take away their video games for a whole week. Observational conditioning is a learning behavior by watching the actions of people around them. An example of observational conditioning can be children thinking they know how to drive a vehicle after watching their mom or dad drive and making driving motions as they seen their parents do when driving. Social learning theory is a concept of learning from others in a group setting by watching the behaviors and actions others in the group. Prejudice is a negative attitude by a person or group towards another person or group. Prejudice is developed when a person or group treats another person or...
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...through rewards and punishments for behavior. Through operant conditioning, an association is made between a behavior and a consequence for that behavior. Operant conditioning was coined by behaviorist B.F. Skinner, which is why you may occasionally hear it referred to as Skinnerian conditioning. As a behaviorist, Skinner believed that internal thoughts and motivations could not be used to explain behavior. Instead, he suggested, we should look only at the external, observable causes of human behavior. Skinner used the term operant to refer to any "active behavior that operates upon the environment to generate consequences" (1953). In other words, Skinner's theory explained how we acquire the range of learned behaviors we exhibit each and every day. Examples of Operant Conditioning We can find examples of operant conditioning at work all around us. Consider the case of children completing homework to earn a reward from a parent or teacher, or employees finishing projects to receive praise or promotions. In these examples, the promise or possibility of rewards causes an increase in behavior, but operant conditioning can also be used to decrease a behavior. The removal of an undesirable outcome or the use of punishment can be used to decrease or prevent undesirable behaviors. For example, a child may be told they will lose recess privileges if they talk out of turn in class. This potential for punishment may lead to a decrease in disruptive behaviors. Components of Operant Conditioning...
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...based on the fundamental idea that behaviors that are reinforced will tend to continue, while behaviors that are punished will eventually end. Piaget’s Stage Theory of Cognitive Development is a description of cognitive development as four distinct stages in children. These stages are sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete, and formal. The term operant conditioning was coined by B. F. Skinner. His approach was to “focus on the external, visible causes of behavior, rather than try to unpack the internal thoughts and motivations” (Skinner, 1958, p. 48). Skinner understood that reinforcements come in two forms such as negative and positive forms. The negative reinforcements typically are characterized by the removal of an “undesired or unpleasant outcome after the desired conduct” (Alexander, 1996, p. 119). Skinner hypothesized that the response is strengthened as something considered negative is removed. On the other hand, the positive reinforcements are favorable outcomes or events that are given to the person after the desired behavior such as in the form of rewards or praises. Skinner suggested that, to reach these goals, the “reinforcement is for the person’s behavior to increase” (Casas, 2002, p. 133). On the other hand, there are positive and negative reinforcement. The two forms of punishment are Punishment I and Punishment II. In contrast, punishment is when the increase of something unwanted attempts to cause a decrease in the behavior that may follow. The negative punishment...
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