Skinner's Operant Conditioning

Paper Summary:

This paper, while acknowledging that the operant conditioning theory does not, in isolation, seem to be fully adequate for explaining the human learning process or analyzing human behaviour, attempts to highlight its limitations and its significance in the field of social psychology. The paper accomplishes this by means of comparison against symbolic interactionism and the observational learning theory.

Table of Contents
Introduction
Operant Conditioning (Reinforcement)
Operant Conditioning versus Symbolic Interactionism
Operant Conditioning versus Observational Learning
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"As shown by the above example, operant conditioning lays emphasis on consequences as the "prime movers" (Baldwin 1986:7) or determining force of the antecedent cues and behaviour. The consequences influence the frequency of a certain behaviour in the future, and transform the antecedent cues into discriminative stimuli (Baldwin 1986:11) which indicate the occasion for appropriate behaviour. Looking at another tall tree, the boy may decide that it would not be prudent to climb it."

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