A Historical Context Of Reinforcement - 2347 Words

Part A: Historical Context of Reinforcement In the behavioral science the term, reinforcement signifies strengthening a behavior. Many learning theories consist of some form of strengthening or weakening a behavior, in which withholding or presenting reinforcement may decrease or increase the future occurrence of a behavior (Skinner, 1953). The application of reinforcement varies between theorists and the type of learning implied. Ivan Pavlov (1928) demonstrated the use of reinforcement was connected between the pairings of an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) and a conditioned stimulus (CS). Pavlov’s experiments consisted of presenting meat powder, an unconditioned stimulus to a dog and as a result the dog produced salivation. A bell tone,†¦show more content†¦His subjects were placed in a puzzle box and Thorndike timed how long it took for the cats to escape. Throughout the experiment, the cats found a lever that opened the cage door. After their escape, Thorndike placed the cats back into the cage and after repeated trials the cats learned that pressing the lever would result in a satisfying consequence. The cats’ behaviors of opening the lever were reinforced by the favorable consequence of escape. His work led to the development of instrumental conditioning, which focuses learning from the consequences of responses. Ten years after his first study, the notion of response reinforcement w as introduced through the â€Å"Law of Effect†, which stated, â€Å"responses made to the same situation, those which are accompanied or closely followed by satisfaction to the animal will, other things being equal, be more firmly connected with the situation, so that, when it recurs, they will be more likely to recur† (Thorndike, 1911, p. 250). Essentially, a response that is followed by a favorable consequence is likely repeat and a response that is followed by an aversive consequence will not reoccur. B.F. Skinner modified Thorndike’s law of effect principle into what Skinner (1938) called the term, operant conditioning, in which through the application of reinforcement, a behavior changes for a more desire response. Skinner (1948) observed operant conditioning through his experiment