Instrumental Conditioning

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Instrumental conditioning provides positive and negative reinforcement to obtain desired behaviors. This paper discusses learning strategies like punishment, extinction, escape and avoidance, stimulus generalization and discrimination techniques. It also look at implications like once the stimulus is master, then the reinforcement is no longer needed. The benefits and drawbacks are also discussed. Rewards being a major benefit for progress. Drawbacks happen when the child losses the motivation and start to misbehave again. Fortunately, this system is continuously progressing. The positive reinforcements can begin at any time to start the positive behavior back on the right track again.

Instrumental conditioning is a form of behaviorism where, according to Shteingart, Neiman and Loewenstein (2013), a positive reinforcement is given to elicit a desired behavior and negative reinforcement is given when an undesirable behavior is performed. In many experiments with animals, the positive reinforcement is food and the negative reinforcement is having to start over without receiving the food. Instrumental conditioning involves behaviors that must be learned and the behaviors can be adjusted so that the participant can obtain the desired results frequently. For example, if you place a mouse in a maze with food at the end, the mouse may hit a wall and then adjust itself to find the correct way to the food. This paper will focus on learning strategies, how instrumental conditioning is implicated in everyday life, the benefits and the drawbacks of instrumental conditioning.
Learning Strategies
There are several different learning strategies that are associated with instrumental conditioning. Some of the things that shape our be...

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...on, J. P. (2002). Operant conditioning concepts in introductory psychology textbooks and their companion web sites. Teaching Of Psychology, 29(4), 281-
285. doi:10.1207/S15328023TOP2904_04
Shnidman, S. R. (1970). Instrumental conditioning of orienting responses using positive reinforcement.Journal of Experimental Psychology, 83(3), 491-494. doi: 10.1037/h0028858
Shteingart, H., Neiman, T., & Loewenstein, Y. (2013). The role of first impression in operant learning. Journal Of Experimental Psychology: General, 142(2), 476-488. doi:10.1037/a0029550 Staddon, J. E. (2003). Operant conditioning. Annual Review of Psychology, Vol 54, 2003. pp. 115-144., 30. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145124
Taylor, G. T. (1974). Varied functions of punishment in differential instrumental conditioning. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 102(2), 298-307. doi: 10.1037/h0035968.

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