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BEHAVIORIST PERSPECTIVE AND VIOLENCE:Operant Conditioning

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Lesson 14
BEHAVIORISTPERSPECTIVE AND VIOLENCE
Objectives:
To understand the basic concepts of operant conditioning
To understand the schedules of reinforcement
Fundamental Philosophical Issue
TheFundamental philosophical controversialIssue involved with the basic concept is that man is the
best of creation on earth while behavioristsare not giving them status more than an animal. We believe
man is more than an animal, butman commits violence like an animal. So, does have animalaspects?
HolyQuran talks about suchpeople:
Thereare people who livedlike four legged animals on this earth and yet there arepeople who arelike
birds, soaring up to the sky.
So there are many people whoare not better than animals and few people whoare like spiritsand
innocentbirds looking at the sky.
OperantConditioning
BF Skinner criticized that much of human learning is voluntary and intentional but Classical
conditioningonly targets involuntarybehaviors. So, operant conditioning is distinguished from
Pavlovianconditioning in that operant conditioningdeals with the modification of voluntary behavior
through the use of consequences, whilePavlovian conditioning dealswith the conditioning of
involuntarybehaviors.
Butbeing a behaviorist, Skinneralso believed that human arejust like animals so he alsoincorporated
rats and pigeons in his experiments to explain the human behavior. He took the notion of conditioned
reflexesdeveloped by Ivan Pavlov and applied it to the study of behavior.One of his best known
inventions is the Skinnerbox. It contains one or more levers which an animalcan press, one or more
stimuluslights and one or more places in which reinforcerslike food can be delivered.
Skinner's Experiment withrats
In one of Skinners' experiments a starved rat was introduced into the box. When the lever waspressed
by the rat a small pellet of food was dropped onto a tray. The rat soon learned that when he pressedthe
lever he would receive some food.In this
experiment the lever pressing behavior is
reinforced by food.
Thebasic features of experiment
Rat in a box presses a bar.
Food pellet would drop in the
box.
Rateats pellet.
Frequency of bar pressing
increases.
Anotherinteresting thing happenedthat even after fulfilling the hunger rat kept on pressing the bar.
Butwhen Skinner did notprovide any food at bar pressing, firstly ratdecreased the frequencybut
stoppedafter thousands and thousands of bar pressings.
Point to Ponder
Skinner concluded a very deep ratiocinationabout human behavior that if you have rewarded a person
initiallyfor performing any behavior and the person have learnt thatbehavior, he will persist on doing
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thatbehavior whatever is learned. No matter it was wrong or immoral. And at this point we can find a
link between instrumental conditioning and violence.
In Extinctiona "particular behavior is weakened by the consequence of not experiencing a positive
condition or stopping a negativecondition".
No reinforcement leads to extinction.
Discrimination
If pressing the lever is reinforced(the rat gets food)when a light is on but notwhen it is off,responses
(pressing the lever) continue to be made in the light but seldom, if at all, in the dark. The rat hasformed
discrimination between light and dark. When one turns on the light, a response occurs,but that is not a
Pavlovianconditioned reflexresponse.
In this experiment Skinnerdemonstrated the ideas of "operantconditioning" and "shapingbehavior."
UnlikePavlov's "classical conditioning," where an existing behavior (salivatingfor food) is shaped by
associating it with a new stimulus(ringing of a bell or a metronome), operant conditioning is the
rewarding of an act that approaches a new desired behavior.
Skinnerapplied his findings about animals to human behavior and even developedteaching machines so
studentscould learn bit by bit,uncovering answers for an immediate "reward." Computer-based self-
instructionuses many of the principles of Skinner's technique.
Generalization
If green light is also accompanied by bar pressing the rat would press the bar, whenever observe green
light.And if button pressing alongwith bar pressing alsoproduces a food pallet, ratwould learn to press
the button too. So, stimulus generalization leads to response generalization.
ResponseDiscrimination
If only one activity among manyactivities is reinforced and othersare not then otheractivities relatively
decreases.
Green light --------------------------------------Food-------------------------------------bar pressingincreases
Redlight ------------------------------------NoFood----------------------------------- bar pressingdecreases
Human behavior explanation: human beings work for rewarded activitiesand leave unrewarded
activities.
Principals of Learning Theory
1. Learning by Association
Contiguity is the principle stating thatevents that occur togetherwill become associated.Giving a sugar
lump to a horse two minutes after a pat on the neck will not develop a useful association. The lump and
the pat have to arrive together if the pat is to become reinforcing. Timefactor is very important in
learning by association as basic connection is time. If there are longintervals in the action and reward, it
willnot lead to learning.
Action________________________Gap___________________________Reward
If action is not immediatelyfollowed by reward it willlead to in effective learning.One interesting
thing is that human beings can be rewarded by words and some time words are more important than any
physicalreward and result in more effective learning.
2. Association of stimulus and stimulus
Association of stimulus and stimulus develops by linking two stimuli.
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Bell
_________________Food
Greenlight _______________
Food
3. Association of response andresponse
Association of stimulus and stimulus develops by linking tworesponses.
Barpressing _____________________________ Food
ButtonPressing __________________________ Food
4. Association chains
Chaininginvolves linking disconnected behaviorstogether in a series, doglearn to salivate at bellthen
at whistle and buzzer etc. so a behavioral chain is formed.
Schedules of Reinforcement
People do not get rewarded for all actions. People go to job for the wholemonth but get salary once at
the end of month. So Skinner challengedthat I will explain this human behavior with the help of
experiments on rats and devised the concept of Schedules of Reinforcement.
Stimuliare presented in the environmentaccording to a schedule of which there are two basic
categories:
1. Continuous
2. Intermittent
Continuous reinforcementsimply means that the behavior is followed by a consequenceeach time it
occurs.
Intermittentschedules arebased either on the
a. Passage of time
OR
b. Number of correctresponses
Fixed Interval Schedule
VariableInterval Schedule
Fixed Ratio Schedule
VariableRatio Schedule
Fixed Interval Schedule
Thefirst correct response after a set amount of time haspassed is reinforced
Thetime period required is always thesame.
Schedulesdeliver reinforcement afterevery fixed and specific number of responses (like foodpallet
afterevery 15 bar presses). Thisschedule causes high amounts of responding near the end of the
interval,but much slower respondingimmediately after the delivery of the reinforcer. (Frequency of bar
pressingincreases in the last minutes). People show good performance towards the end of month in the
organizationsthat award performance basedsalaries.
VariableInterval Schedule
Thefirst correct response after a set amount of time haspassed is reinforced
Afterthe reinforcement, a new time period (shorter or longer) is set withthe
average equaling a specific number over a sum total of trials.
Example: Pop quiz
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When a response is rewarded after an unpredictable amount of time haspassed. This scheduleproduces
a slow, steady rate of response.(Food pallet some timeafter 5 minute and some timeafter 8 minutes)
Fixed Ratio Schedule
A reinforcer is given after a specifiednumber of correct responses. This schedule
is best for learning a new behavior.
Thenumber of correct responses required for reinforcement remains thesame.
Fixedratio schedule are those where a response is reinforced onlyafter a specified number of responses.
Thisschedule produces a high,steady rate of responding withonly a brief pause after the delivery of the
reinforcer.(Food pallet after every 15 bar pressings)
VariableRatio Schedule
After reinforcement the number of correctresponses necessary for reinforcement
changes. This schedule is best formaintaining behavior
Variableratio schedule occur when a response is reinforced after an unpredictable number of responses.
Thisschedule creates a highsteady rate of responding. Gambling and lottery games are goodexamples
of a reward based on a variableratio schedule.
Things to remember
1. Variable Ratio Schedulegenerated the most barpressing.
2. Variable Interval Schedulewas next best.
3. Then comes the Fixed Interval Schedule
4. Fixed Ratio Schedule produceslearning to the lowestdegree
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Table of Contents:
  1. INTRODUCTION TO FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY:Future of Forensic Psychology
  2. INTRODUCTION TO FORENSIC PSYCHOOGY:Way of police investigation
  3. FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY AND POLICE:Violent Criminals
  4. POLICE PSYCHOLOGY:Use of excessive force, Corruption, Personnel Selection
  5. POLICE PSYCHOLOGY:Fitness-for-Duty Evaluation (FFDE), False Confessions
  6. INVESTIGATIVE PSYCHOLOGY:For instance, Empirical and logical approach
  7. INVESTIGATIVE PSYCHOLOGY:Crime Scene Investigation, Staging
  8. PSYCHOLOGY OF VIOLENCE:Law of Conservation of Energy, Super ego
  9. PSYCHOANALYTIC MODEL AND VIOLENCE:Fixation at Oral Stage
  10. PSYCHOANALYTIC MODEL AND VIOLENCE:Defense Mechanism, Rationalization
  11. JUNGIAN PSYCHOLOGY AND VIOLENCE:Freudian Methods, JUNGIAN PSYCHOLOGY
  12. JUNGIAN PSYCHOLOGY AND VIOLENCE:Religion and mental illnesses
  13. BEHAVIORIST PERSPECTIVE AND VIOLENCE:Shadow’s violence, Child’s violence
  14. BEHAVIORIST PERSPECTIVE AND VIOLENCE:Operant Conditioning
  15. BEHAVIORIST PERSPECTIVE AND VIOLENCE:Schedules of Punishment
  16. SOCIAL LEARNING MODEL AND VIOLENCE:Observational learning, Vicarious punishment
  17. MORAL DEVELOPMENT AND VIOLENCE:Symbolic functioning, Formal operational stage
  18. BIO-PSYCHO-SOCIAL MODEL:Mental hospitals are factories of abuse
  19. ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE ABOUT VIOLENCE:Morality is essential
  20. ISLAMIC MODEL:Nafs al-Ammara, Nafs al-Lawwama, Nafs ul Naatiqa
  21. TREATMENTS FOR THE SOUL:Tawba, Sabr o Shukr, Niyyat o Ikhlaas, Taffakkur
  22. CRIMINOGENIC PERSONALITY:Personality Disorders, Common Crimes
  23. CRIMINOGENIC PERSONALITY AND VIOLENCE:Mnemonic, Similarities
  24. CRIMINOGENIC PERSONALITY AND VIOLENCE:Terrorism and Psychopaths
  25. LEARNING DISABILITIES/MENTAL RETARDATION AND VIOLENCE
  26. ASSESSMENT OF PERSONALITY DISORDERS:Reasons for referral, Personality Inventories
  27. ASSESSMENT OF PERSONALITY DISORDERS:Different cutoff scores
  28. RISK ASSESSMENT:Violence reduction scale, Stability of Family upbringing
  29. TREATMENT OF VIOLENT BEHAVIOR / PERSONALITY PSYCHODYNAMIC PSYCHOTHERAPY
  30. JUNGINA THERAPEUTIC MODEL:Limits of re-parenting, Personality Typologies
  31. GROUP THERAPY FOR OFFENDERS:Learning in Groups, Humanistic Groups
  32. PSYCHOTHERAPIES IN FORENSIC SETTINGS:Narrative Therapy
  33. PSYCHOTHERAPIES IN FORENSIC SETTINGS:Solution Focused Therapy
  34. PSYCHOTHERAPIES IN FORENSIC SETTINGS:Avoiding reactance, Externalization
  35. PSYCHOTHERAPY IN FORENSIC SETTINGS AND SPECIAL CHALLENGES
  36. FORENSIC PSYCHOTHERAPY:Exploring therapeutic alliance, Music Therapy
  37. VIOLENCE REDUCTION PROGRAM:Target Population, Lack of motivation
  38. VIOLENCE REDUCTION PROGRAM:Criminal attitude, Interpersonal Aggression
  39. VICTIM SUPPORT:Main features of PTSD, Emotional Support
  40. VICTIM SUPPORT:Debriefing, Desensitization, Eidetic Therapy, Narrative Therapy
  41. SUBSTANCE MISUSE TREATMENT PROGRAM:Marijuana, Unconventional drugs
  42. SUBSTANCE MISUSE TREATMENT PROGRAM:Stages of Change, Homosexuality
  43. EXPERT WITNESS:Insanity Pleas, Sexual Offence Risk, Instructions
  44. COUNTER TERRORISM:Misconceptions, Psychologists & Propaganda war
  45. SUMMING UP FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY:Problems with Risk Assessment, Expert Witness