Psychology: Conditioning

CONDITIONING : Evaluating It’s Effectiveness When Used As A Part of Modern Psychological Intervention.

FOCUS: OPERANT CONDITIONING

Psychologically speaking; there are two main types of conditioning: Classical and Operant Conditioning, which are both forms of associative learning.

Operant conditioning takes place when there is an association between a behavior and the consequence of such behavior. The consequences for the particular behavior displayed may be in the form of punishments or rewards (Cynthia Vinney, 2018).

On the other hand, classical conditioning occurs when an organism gradually learns that a prior stimulus foresees the occurrence of another stimulus.

For example, "One's heartbeat, which quickens as they cross the crossroads where a terrible accident took place; your irrepressible urge to smoke a cigarette as soon as you smell coffee...." (Georges Chapouthier & Marie-Christine Maurel,2021).

This article will explain operant conditioning by describing its major theories, the law of effect theory and Skinner's theory, and explore its effectiveness in modern psychological intervention.

In Operant Conditioning, new or sustained actions are influenced by ongoing consequences, especially if they come with reinforcements or an unpleasant response. There are four types of operant conditioning which include; positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment, and extinction (Etelvina Golofastov, 2020).

Positive reinforcement occurs when a reward is given for a particular behavior displayed. Negative reinforcement removes an unpleasant stimulus without necessarily giving a reward.

Punishment is used to stop bad behavior, while extinction, on the other hand, is when a response ceases to be reinforced.

Operant conditioning borders on consequences for a particular behavior displayed, unlike classical conditioning, discovered by Ivan Pavlov, which is more of a stimulus-response theory. A prior stimulus predicts the occurrence of another stimulus, thereby giving rise to a conditioned response. (Jamie Elmer,2020).

In the 18th and 19th centuries, behaviorists like Edward L. Thorndike and B. F. Skinner came up with theories to give a more detailed explanation of operant conditioning.

According to research, Edward L. Thorndike established the "Law of Effect" theory, which simply states that behaviors pleasing to an individual are more likely to be repeated. (Wind Goodfriend,2021).

In contrast, behaviors that bring undesired consequences are less likely to reoccur. This theory made Thorndike realize that there was not just an association between a stimulus and its response but that behavior is widely influenced by its consequences. This discovery brought about his most famous work, which was placing cats in a homemade puzzle box. (Wind Goodfriend, 2021). He recorded them trying to navigate their way around the puzzle box and then getting their reward (meat).

He observed from this study that cats tend to learn from the trial and error process, stick to the process which got them the food, and abandon that which did not help in their escape from the puzzle box.

Many other psychologists have criticized this theory as they believe that it does not account for the totality of human behavior and that Thorndike limited psychology and learning to just behavior and responses alone. (Wand of Knowledge team, 2021).

Nonetheless, this theory has its advantages and has proven to be an integral part of learning for humans and animals. Behavioral therapists and mental health professionals have used it to help shift one's focus from undesirable behaviors to pleasant behaviors through reinforcers or, in some cases, punishers.

Then, in the late 1900s, B.F. Skinner came up with an extension to the law of effect theory. He conducted some experiments on lab rats and pigeons to demonstrate the principle of operant conditioning. (Saul McLeod, 2018).

He placed the rats in the; "Skinner box" with a lever affixed to the box in his experiments. When the rat pressed the lever, it gave the rat food. The rats gradually learned that there was an association between the lever and the food.

Other psychologists have criticized this theory because his ideas cannot be applied to complex human characteristics like language and memory (Payal Naik, 2001). They claimed that the theory was mainly based on animals and not humans, so it was impossible for the theory to adequately explain the phenomenon of human language or describe human nature's complexities, which made the critics dismiss the theory.

Despite the flaws in Skinner's idea, one cannot ignore the part it plays in personality development. When behaviorism is used to treat specific problems, the results have proven astounding and effective.

There are many ways the operant conditioning theory can be used as part of a modern psychological intervention in today's world. Operant conditioning is used in exposure therapy and behavioral therapy, among other things.

In exposure therapy, the therapist aims to disconnect the operant behavior from the reinforcer to eliminate an undesired stimulus(known as extinction). This therapy was reported by Mary Jones in 1924.

She worked with a three-year-old boy who was afraid of rabbits. She aimed to replace his fear of rabbits with a conditioned response of calmness. She placed a caged rabbit with him while he was eating his snack. She kept moving the rabbit closer to where he sat. After two months with the rabbit, he could coexist with the rabbit (Jones, 1924).

This study shows how extinction can be used to conquer phobias and anxiety disorders.

Behavioral therapists use operant conditioning on their clients who have psychological issues like Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders(OCD), phobias, anxiety disorders, amongst many others.

Operant conditioning techniques, for example, are excellent behavior modification strategies for children with autism because they reinforce positive actions while punishing undesirable ones. An approved study and theory to back this point up is the "law of effect" theory by Edward L. Thorndike and Skinner's theory. Reiterating what was stated earlier, a behavior that is rewarded or brings about a desired response is likely to occur again, and that which brings about an undesired response is less likely to reoccur. For example, an autistic child's behavior is evaluated, which helps the therapist know what negative behavior reinforces such a child, focuses on such behaviors, and helps make them less reinforced. This will extinguish the behavior in that child.

Also, the effects of Operant Discrimination Training (ODT) on the vocalizations of three autistic boys were studied by some persons. An adapted alternating-treatments design compared ODT to a stimulus-stimulus pairing (SSP) condition and a control condition. ODT boosted all participants' target vocalizations compared to the control condition, and its effects were identical to SSP. All participants over SSP chose ODT.(Lepper, Tracy L; Petursdottir, Anna Ingeborg; Esch, Barbara E., 2013).

Conclusively, operant conditioning is an effective form of learning. Despite its shortcomings, it has proven effective when used as a modern psychological intervention, as explained above.