B.F. Skinner is credited as the creator of operant conditioning, which is the science of altering the mannerisms of animals or humans through reinforcement. Rather than focusing on the complex thinking that spawns an idea or mannerism, Skinner focused on mannerisms that actually occurred. He discovered that animals respond best when an intentionally performed action has a direct influence on the world around them; these actions were dubbed operants. When operants were reinforced the associated action was more likely to continue; otherwise they would slowly stop. Both positive and negative reinforcement are effective reinforcers of actions. Positive reinforcement is carried out to “[strengthen] a behavior by providing a consequence an individual
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Five schedules of reinforcement were tested: continuous reinforcement, fixed ratio reinforcement, fixed interval reinforcement, variable ratio reinforcement, and variable interval reinforcement. Continuous reinforcement is simply providing a reward whenever a desired action takes place. Fixed ratio reinforcement is when a reward is awarded after a set amount of desired actions. Fixed interval reinforcement can be explained as a reward being given after a set amount of time has passed if the appropriate action has taken place once in the time interval. Variable ratio reinforcement is defined by reinforcing actions after a random amount of times the action is performed. Variable Interval reinforcement is similar to fixed interval reinforcement, except that the reward will be given after a random amount of time has passed, again only under the condition that the action has taken place at least once during this time.
By using operant conditioning and both positive and negative reinforcement, Skinner discovered what “type of reinforcement which produces the slowest rate of extinction […] is variable-ratio reinforcement” (Skinner-Operant Conditioning). This form of reinforcement was determined to have a slow extinction rate as well as a fast response rate. A fast response rate is defined as “how hard the [acting party] worked” (Skinner-Operant
Five schedules of reinforcement were tested: continuous reinforcement, fixed ratio reinforcement, fixed interval reinforcement, variable ratio reinforcement, and variable interval reinforcement. Continuous reinforcement is simply providing a reward whenever a desired action takes place. Fixed ratio reinforcement is when a reward is awarded after a set amount of desired actions. Fixed interval reinforcement can be explained as a reward being given after a set amount of time has passed if the appropriate action has taken place once in the time interval. Variable ratio reinforcement is defined by reinforcing actions after a random amount of times the action is performed. Variable Interval reinforcement is similar to fixed interval reinforcement, except that the reward will be given after a random amount of time has passed, again only under the condition that the action has taken place at least once during this time.
By using operant conditioning and both positive and negative reinforcement, Skinner discovered what “type of reinforcement which produces the slowest rate of extinction […] is variable-ratio reinforcement” (Skinner-Operant Conditioning). This form of reinforcement was determined to have a slow extinction rate as well as a fast response rate. A fast response rate is defined as “how hard the [acting party] worked” (Skinner-Operant