Chapter 5 in Psychology

Okay, I think from now on each of my blogs are going to have a question (pertaining to psychology) and an answer to that question. This week, the Chapter is devoted to learning.


Question: What is "operant conditioning" and what are the more significant concepts?

Operant conditioning is defined as "the kind of learning that applies to voluntary behavior" (White 180). One of the more important concepts is called reinforcement, or any event that when following a response, increases the probability that the response will occur again. The concept of reinforcement can be basically represented by the question "What's in it for me?" Generally, reinforcement is a consequence that is somehow pleasurable to the person, animal, organism, etc. There are two main types of reinforcers, primary and secondary. A primary reinforcer is something that fulfills any basic need such as hunger, pleasure, thirst, etc. A secondary reinforcer is something that receives its importance from being associated with other primary reinforcers. Here is an example that illustrates both concepts; someone hires you to move furniture and you are allowed to pick from 2 rewards: $25 or an ice cream cone. Anyone that understands the concept of money would choose $25 without having to think about it for long. Money is an example of a secondary reinforcer because the paper itself is next to useless, but that money can be exchanged for more valuable primary reinforcers such as more ice cream or anything else. To someone that doesn't understand money, for example, a three year old, the more probable choice would be the ice cream cone. Since the ice cream cone satisfies a basic need (hunger) it is considered a primary reinforcer.  The reinforcing properties of an ice cream cone do not need to be learned unlike the properties of money (ice cream/food/ basic needs are learned about much earlier). Also, there are two main types of reinforcement, negative and positive. Positive reinforcement is the addition of something pleasurable or wanted, therefore negative reinforcement is the opposite or removal of something pleasurable/wanted.