Instrumental Conditioning Essay

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Instrumental Conditioning Mandana Smith PSY/550 May 21, 2012 Maya Aleksic, Ph.D. Instrumental Conditioning Terms such as operant or instrumental conditioning lead individuals to the Skinner box. Classic experiments conducted by Skinner while training pigeons and rats to press levers to obtain food as their reward. Experiments such as Skinners chose outputs suited to pair with consequences. Upon completion of training, subjects display behaviors, such as, pressing the lever without rewards as association was memorized, (Terry, 2009). Classical and instrumental conditioning differ in the sense that instrumental conditioning functions on and individuals surroundings and refers to modifications of intended behaviors. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate applications of instrumental conditioning in potty training a child. Descriptions of the learning process, comparison ,and contrasting of concepts involving positive and negative reinforcement, the use of rewards and punishments in potty training, and evaluation of which form of instrumental conditioning is most effective during potty training (Terry, 2009). Learning Situation The situation I have chosen is that of putting forth some effort when it comes to my son’s report card and the kinds of grades he gets. The first step to the learning situation is to ensure my son knows how important good grades are in the future. The second step is to come up with a plan not only for him, but also his father and I want to ensure he does well in school. The third step is to decide how he will or will not punish depending on his grades by way of positive or negative reinforcement

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