Psychology: A Self-Teaching Guide

Learning: Understanding Acquired Behavior 79

It is also important to note that a negative reinforcer is notpunishment. In the

case of punishment, an operant is followedby an adverse stimulus. For example, a

child sasses a parent and then gets slapped. Getting slapped comes afterthe child’s

behavior. In the case of a negative reinforcer, the adverse stimulus is firstin time.

Then the operant behavior of escape or avoidance follows.

(a) Operant behavior takes a subject from a negative reinforcer.

(b) In the case of punishment, an operant is by an adverse stimulus.

Answers: (a) away; (b) followed.

Another important way to classify reinforcers is to designate them as having

either a primary or a secondary quality. A primary reinforcerhas intrinsic value

for the organism. No learning is required for the worth of the reinforcer to exist.

Food when you are hungry and water when you are thirsty are not only positive

reinforcers, as indicated above, they are also primary reinforcers.

A secondary reinforcerhas acquired value for the organism. Learning is

required. Money when you’re strapped for cash is a positive reinforcer, as indi-

cated above, but it is a secondary one. You have to learn that cash has value. An

infant does not value cash, but does value milk. A medal, a diploma, and a trophy

all provide examples of secondary reinforcers.

(a) A has intrinsic value for an organism.

(b) A has acquired value for an organism.

Answers: (a) primary reinforcer; (b) secondary reinforcer.

One of the important phenomena associated with operant conditioning is

extinction. Earlier, we discussed how extinction takes place when the conditioned

stimulus is presented a number of times without the unconditioned stimulus.

Extinction also takes place when the frequency of a category of operant responses

declines.If, using the operant conditioning apparatus, reinforcement is withheld

from a rat, then lever pressing for food will decline and eventually diminish to

nearly zero. The organism has learned to give up a given operant because it no

longer brings the reinforcer.

Both animal and human research on extinction suggest that it is a better way

to “break” bad habits than is punishment. If a way can be found to eliminate the

reinforcer (or reinforcers) linked to a behavior pattern, the behavior is likely to

be given up. Punishment tends to temporarily suppress the appearance of an

operant, but extinction has not necessarily taken place. Consequently, the

unwanted operant has “gone underground,” and may in time surface as an

unpleasant surprise. Also, punishment is frustrating to organisms and tends to

make them more aggressive.