Operant Conditioning Refers to Behavioral Thesis

Hypothetical Experimental Scenario and Real-Life Application in School:

A typical operant conditioning experiment featuring positive reinforcement would include one in which an animal is rewarded on a ratio schedule of pressing a lever. In that scenario, the subject receives a food reward for pressing a lever a specific number of times. Four presses of the lever rewarded by a single food pellet would be a ratio reward schedule of 4:1. The relative effectiveness of this type of positive reinforcement would be much greater where the subject is hungry than where the subject is relatively satiated already (Gerrig & Zimbardo, 2008). One useful application of operant conditioning would be to reward students for good conduct with additional recess time (positive reinforcement), or to eliminate homework assignments for students who participate in class (negative reinforcement).

.Conclusion: Generally, both positive and negative reinforcement are equally effective because the relative effectiveness of each is largely dependent on the intensity of the pleasure provided by the positive reinforcement or the intensity of the negative experience that the negative reinforcement reduces or eliminates (Hockenbury & Hockenbury, 2007).Both types of reinforcement work best where the consequences (whether positive or negative reinforcement) are particularly appreciated by the test subject.

Bibliography

Coleman, J.C., Butcher, J.N., and Carson, R.C. (1998). Abnormal Psychology and Human Life. Dallas: Scott, Foresman & Co.

Gerrig, R., and Zimbardo, P. (2008). Psychology and Life. New York: Allyn & Bacon.

Hockenbury, DH, and Hockenbury, S.E. (2007). Discovering Psychology. New York:

Worth Publishing.

McWilliams, N. (2004). Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy: A Practitioner's Guide. New York: Guilford.

Mitchell, S., and Black, M. (1995). Freud and Beyond: A History of Modern

Psychoanalytic….....