Operant Conditioning
Explain how learning has taken place.
In operant conditioning, individuals learn through rewards and punishment for how they behave. Both Betty and her parents have experienced operant conditioning. Betty had learned that when she started crying, she will attract her parents’ attention, who will then take her downstairs with them to watch T.V. and finally sleep. Therefore, she knows that when she cries, she gets rewarded by being taken downstairs and being let to sleep on the couch in front of the T.V. Betty has learned through positive reinforcement, which involves rewarding a subject when doing something in that they keep associating the given deed with the given reward. Betty’s parents have also learned that they can get Betty to stop crying when they take her downstairs with them and let her sleep on the couch in front of the T.V. this is negative reinforcement where they have taught Betty to sleep after they have taken her downstairs to watch T.V. with them. Negative reinforcement involves removing something uncomfortable in response to a stimulus.
If Betty’s parents asked you for advice (in operant conditioning terms) on how to get Betty to stay in her room and not cry, what would you tell them?
If Betty’s parents asked me for advice, I would tell them to break the routine of taking Betty downstairs to the couch whenever she cries. They should not take Betty out of her room whenever she cries; instead, they should introduce positive reinforcement, which will encourage her to sleep while in her room. She will then get to it and will replace her initial behavior. For instance, instead of taking her downstairs, they could maybe sing her a song until she sleeps. She will get accustomed to being san to sleep instead of being taken downstairs.
References
Cherry, K., & Susman, D. (2020). What is operant conditioning, and how does it work? Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/operant-conditioning-a2-2794863