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Operant Condition Paper

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I would like to start off by defining the Operant condition is a method of learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for behavior. In the operant conditioning, an association is made between a behavior and a consequence for that behavior (Cherry 1).This theory was made by B.F. Skinner known as Skinnerian. As a behaviorist, Skinner believed that it was not really necessary to look at internal thoughts and motivations in order to explain behavior. Instead, he suggested, we should look only at the external, observable causes of human behavior (Cherry 1). According to the Power Point, there are three process of Operating Conditions Extinction, Generalization, and Discriminative Stimuli. Extinction is weakening and disappearance of a …show more content…

The next process of Operant Conditioning is generalization which means tendency to make the learned response to a stimulus similar to that for which the response was originally reinforced (Chapter 5 Power Point ).According to the text, a great example by describing the less similar the color the pigeon saw the less it picked. The last process of Operating Condition is Discriminative Stimuli which means a stimulus that signals whether a response or behavior will be rewarded, punished or even ignore. When dealing with behavior you’ll always have a punishment for a behavior. When acquired through Operant Condition there are two types of punishments Positive and Negative punishment. Positive punishment involves the presentation of an unfavorable event or outcome in order to weaken the response it follows. Negative punishment occurs when a favorable event or outcome is removed after a behavior occurs. In both Positive or Negative punishment deals with decreasing of the behaviors. There is also a disadvantage from punishment is that a person may become very angry, fearful and hostile towards the punisher. When having these symptoms are emotions it can sometimes result into lashing, or acting out of control. When dealing with these punishments it can affect the body positively when being applied

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