Operant conditioning, also known as instrumental conditioning, is a method of learning normally attributed to B.F. Skinner, where the consequences of a response determine the probability of it being repeated. Through operant conditioning behavior which is reinforced (rewarded) will likely be repeated, and behavior which is punished will occur less frequently.
By the 1920s, John B. Watson had left academic psychology, and other behaviorists were becoming influential, proposing new forms of learning other than classical conditioning. Perhaps the most important of these was Burrhus Frederic Skinner. Although, for obvious reasons, he is more commonly known as B.F. Skinner.
Skinner's views were slightly less extreme than those of Watson (1913). Skinner believed that we do have such a thing as a mind, but that it is simply more productive to study observable behavior rather than internal mental events.
The work of Skinner was rooted in a view that classical conditioning was far too simplistic to be a complete explanation of complex human behavior. He believed that the best way to understand behavior is to look at the causes of an action and its consequences. He called this approach operant conditioning.
BF Skinner: Operant Conditioning
Skinner is regarded as the father of Operant Conditioning, but his work was based on Thorndike’s (1898) law of effect. According to this principle, behavior that is followed by pleasant consequences is likely to be repeated, and behavior followed by unpleasant consequences is less likely to be repeated.
Skinner introduced a new term into the Law of Effect - Reinforcement. behavior which is reinforced tends to be repeated (i.e., strengthened); behavior which is not reinforced tends to die out-or be extinguished (i.e., weakened).
Skinner (1948) studied operant conditioning by conducting experiments using animals which he placed in a 'Skinner Box' which was similar to Thorndike’s puzzle box.
Choose the best answer to fill in the blanks. Johnny feels very confident about his ability to do math, whereas Jing does not feel confident, which contributes to their ability to perform well on a math test. This example highlights a main tenant of _____________ theory, which places a primary importance on ______________ beliefs.
a. Cognitive, self-efficacyb. Social-Cognitive, self-efficacyc. Behavior, performanced. Cognitive, confidence.
Instruction is defined as the combination of teaching and learning, where teaching and learning are mutually inclusive. Student performance is the focal point of instructional design and teaching is regarded as a means to facilitate and improve student performance.
Design
Design refers to a plan or set of artifacts produced to illustrate thought and provide guidance for constructing new knowledge. Learning design applies concepts, theories, and practices about the construction of knowledge to day-to-day realities.
Instructional design
Instructional design is commonly manifested as a coherent collection of cognitive tools that extend the capability of the teacher as well as extend the intellectual and skill capacity of the student that is based on some identifiable organizing theme.
Behaviorism and Instructional Design
Behaviourism is concerned with observable and measurable behavior. For Behavioural psychologists, learning is the modification of behavior brought about by experience. Behavioral psychologists observed the way animals learned and believed that this provided insight into how humans learn.
The main psychologists who developed the behaviorist approaches to learning were Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936), Edward Thorndike (1874-1949), J B.Watson (1913, 1916, 1930) and B. F. Skinner (1904-1990).
These behavioral psychologists focused on conducting controlled laboratory experiments and objectively recording observations.
- Stimulus-Response (S-R) theories without reinforcement: This includes Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning Theory of Learning, Watson’s, and Guthrie’s Learning Theories.
- Stimulus-Response theories with reinforcement: This includes E.L.Thorndike’s, Hull’s, and Skinner’s learning theories.
Application of Instructional design in Behaviourism
The indication of a behaviorist perspective on learning for the way in which how instruction is designed.
To use the principles of operant conditioning a distance teacher/open and distance learning specialist has to plan instruction in precise steps, which are as follow:
- Define the desired behaviour
- Identify the successive steps that are required if the student is to reach this standard
- Immediately reinforce approximations to the desired behavior
- Communicate your ideas with your students
- Change the frequency of your reinforcement as the students’ behavior changes (fading)
- Providing rewards for achieving the desired behavior
Skinner and Operant Conditioning
Skinner (1904-1990) is the psychologist who has done the most to develop and apply the ideas originally proposed by Thorndike. Skinner continued and expanded Thorndike’s work and is credited with developing the theory we now call Operant Conditioning.
- Operant: An Operant is a set of acts that constitutes some action of an organism.
- Operant conditioning: learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by reinforcement and weakened if followed by punishment.
- A process of behavior modification in which the likelihood of a specific behavior is increased or decreased through positive or negative reinforcement each time the behavior is exhibited so that the subject comes to associate the pleasure or displeasure of the reinforcement with the behavior.
Reinforcement
Operant condition and Instructional Design
- The operant conditioning, reinforcement, and shaping have found an important place in the innovative way of instructional design i.e. in programmed learning.
- Skinner proposed Programmed Instruction which is a major educational practice based on operant conditioning.
- Based on operant conditioning the learning objectives are divided into a large number of small steps. Learning occurs through the process of stimulus and response to bring in a change in human behavior.
- The set of responses at each step of learning is strengthened so that they recur in the future and cause more learning. To strengthen the reoccurrence of the set of responses to cause more learning both positive and negative reinforcement are given.
- Programmed Instruction is used as individualized instruction which is developed keeping in view of individual learners and their learning pace.
It is a Step by step presentation of learning material, student response, and immediacy of feedback.
The special features of programmed learning are as follows:
- A logical sequence of information is presented, one small unit at a time to the individual student.
- The student makes an active response to each unit.
- The student gets immediate knowledge of whether his or her result is correct.
- Each student works at his or her own pace.
Programmers aim to get the student to perform in a very specific way based on operant conditioning, Skinner’s teaching machine was developed requiring the learner to complete or answer a question and then receive feedback on the correctness of the response.
Programmed instruction is no longer based exclusively on operant conditioning, mainly because work with different programs has shown that instructional design principles are more important than the principles of reinforcement.
Implications for instructional design are:
- Assessment of the entry behaviors of distance learners before designing instructional materials.
- Statement of learning objectives that decide what to present, and how to assess student’s learning.
- Analyze what is involved in the learning tasks of distance learners.
- Develop a sequence of learning tasks that move from the simple to complex.
- Design assessment strategies to measure student’s learning in relation to stated objectives.
- Use guidance, feedback, and rewards to reinforce the key points of learning and the process of learning.
Hence, we conclude that the instructional design activities like step by step presentation of learning material, student response, and immediacy of feedback is totally based upon Skinner's theory of reinforcement that is Programmed instruction.