reinforced or punished. However, if one of these behaviors is always followed
by a pellet of food, its frequency will increase.
Operant conditioning concerns the effect certain kinds of consequences
have on the frequency of behavior. A consequence that increases the fre-
quency of a behavior that precedes it is called a reinforcement, one that de-
creases the behavior is called a punishment. Whether a consequence is
reinforcing or punishing varies according to the person and the situation. If
you are hungry, strawberry ice cream is probably a reinforcement. But if youdon ’t like strawberry ice cream or if you are cold, the ice cream may serve as
a punishment.
Psychologists have discovered two basic reinforcement strategies for in-
creasing the frequency of a behavior (Table 13.1). With positive reinforce-
ment, the behavior increases because it is followed by the presentation of a
reward. Hungry rats that receive a pellet of food every time they press a barwill begin to press the bar frequently. Students who receive an A after dedi-
cated studying for a test are likely to study hard for subsequent tests. We can
also increase the frequency of a behavior by using negative reinforcement, the
removal or lessening of an unpleasant stimulus when the behavior occurs.
Rats that can turn off an electric shock by pulling a string will quickly learn
to pull the string. People whose headaches go away when they take a few
minutes to relax will soon learn to relax.
The other side of operant conditioning is the reduction of unwanted be-
haviors. As with the task of increasing desired behaviors, operant condition-ing provides two methods for decreasing undesired behaviors. The most
efficient method is to cease reinforcement and thereby allow the behavior to
extinguish. Although this concept is simple enough, people often reinforce
problem behaviors without realizing what they are doing. A teacher may re-
act to a child who acts up in class by criticizing the child in front of the other
students. The teacher may not realize that the attention the child gainsfrom other students in the form of laughter and classroom status has turned
the intended punishment into a reinforcement. An observant teacher might
take disruptive children out into the hall for discipline, thereby removing thereinforcer.TABLE 13.1
Operant Conditioning Procedures
Procedure Purpose Application
Positive reinforcement Increase behavior Give reward following behavior
Negative reinforcement Increase behavior Remove aversive stimulus
following behavior
Extinction Decrease behavior Do not reward behavior
Punishment Decrease behavior Give aversive stimulus following
behavior or take away positive
stimulus348 CHAPT ER 13 The Behavioral/Social Learning Approach