Operant & Classical Conditioning

Part A – Operant Conditioning

For each of the following examples of consequences, identify which type is occurring: a)Positive Punishment, b) Negative Punishment, c) Positive Reinforcement, or d) Negative Reinforcement. The chart on page 187 of your textbook might be helpful to review before completing this assignment. Remember, the behavior must increase or decrease as a result of the reinforcer or punishment.  Each correct response is worth 1 point for a total of 10 points for Part A

__Positive Punishment__ 1.  A man was stopped by a cop for speeding and given a ticket. The man stopped speeding.

__Positive Reinforcement_ 2.  A third grader realized one afternoon that when she worked on her homework in the allotted time the teacher provides instead of socializing with her friends, she has more play time once she gets home. So, she works hard to complete as much of her homework each day as possible so that she spends less time inside to do it once she gets home.

__Positive Reinforcement_ 3.  A woman begins to notice that she is losing weight as a result of her diet and exercise routine, resulting in the woman staying on track with her routine in spite of temptation.

__Negative Punishment_ 4.  A child stays up 15 minutes past his bedtime, so the parents take away t.v. time and by making him go to bed 15 minutes earlier the next night. This results in the child going to bed on time.

__Positive Punishment__ 5. A soldier is required to do 50 pushups for not lining his shoes up correctly and therefore not passing room inspection. He makes certain his shoes are lined up properly for the next inspection.

___Negative Reinforcement__ 6.  A wife stops nagging once her husband takes out the trash. The husband takes out the garbage the next time the trash can is full.

Now provide an example of each from your own life:

Positive reinforcement:

            I have noticed that if i study hard, i am included in the honor list so i kept on                              studying even harder to be a consistent honor student

Negative reinforcement:

            I used the umbrella when it rained so that i will not be wet.

Positive punishment:

            I stole the coins in my mother’s purse so she got very furious at me. I did not try stealing            anything again after that incident.

Negative punishment:

            I always go to the entertainment center to play computer games after class so my mother            reduced my allowance. After that, i did not visit the entertainment center again.

Part 2 – Classical Conditioning

Activity

For each experience, identify each of the following elements:

1. a) Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
2. b) Unconditioned response (UCR),
3. c) Conditioned stimulus (CS)
4. d) Conditioned response (CR)

You should have four answers for each of the following 5 experiences. Each experience is worth 2 points: 1 point for the stimuli (both must be correct) and 1 point for the responses (both must be correct). The activity is worth 10 points total and there is no partial credit.