Author: kqm5753

Operant Conditioning

Since childhood, we have all experienced operant conditioning, but most of us probably aren’t sure of what this means. Operant conditioning relates to the associations we create with our behavior and events that follow as a consequence. This in turn can result in shaping, which is guiding one towards a desired behavior through reinforcement and or punishment.

Reinforcements strength the exhibited behavior. This is done through positive and negative reinforcements. Positive reinforcement is when a positive stimulus, or something that one likes, is given or shown towards an individual or animal. This summer I had the privilege to work with children and experience first hand how this works. Each day I was with them, we gave one child a special award, which symbolized that they exhibited great skills that day. Some days the child would clean up without being told to, helping a new child feel welcome, or even conquering one of their fears. This is positive reinforcement because they were given a positive stimulus as a result of behavior that we wanted to strengthen.

Negative reinforcements, on the other hand, remove a negative stimulus, or in other words, taking away something they don’t like.  For example, when the children were behaving well on certain days, we would take them to play one of their favorite games instead of going to a pre-scheduled activity where no one had fun. We didn’t do this very often, though, especially as the children had to have behaved exceptionally well. Many people struggle with the idea of negative reinforcements, so here are some other every day examples: cleaning the kitchen to avoid getting in a fight with a roommate; leaving early for work in order to beat traffic so you’re not late for work; putting on sunscreen to avoid sunburn.

Punishments are the opposite of reinforcements. Instead of trying to strength a behavior, the idea is to decrease the behavior. This is also done through positive and negative means. A positive punishment is when an aversive stimulus is administered, which means that a negative consequence is given or added. In order for positive punishment to be effective, though, the negative consequence has to be immediate and consistent. An example of this can be seen when the children were goofing around during their instructional swim time. As a result, the instructor made them swim additional laps, something they didn’t like.

A negative punishment is when a desirable stimulus is withdrawn. In other words, something they like is taken away. One time, two of the children were taking too long in the bathroom, so I went to go find them. I found that they were messing around instead of coming back right after they were done. As a result, their privilege to go to the bathroom without supervision was revoked until they showed that they were responsible enough to go by themselves.

Here is a summary table of positive and negative reinforcement as well as positive and negative punishment:

 

Chung, Cindy. “Positive Punishment.” Verywell. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-positive-punishment-2795411. Accessed 14 Nov 2019.

Olah, Jessica. “Negative Reinforcement.” Verywell. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-negative-reinforcement-2795410. Accessed 14 Nov 2019.

“Operant Conditioning.” Boundless.com. http://oer2go.org/mods/en-boundless/www.boundless.com/psychology/textbooks/boundless-psychology-textbook/learning-7/operant-conditioning-47/reinforcement-and-punishment-199-12734/images/operant-conditioning/index.html. Accessed 14 Nov 2019.

Seong, Joshua. “Positive Reinforcement.” Verywell. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-positive-reinforcement-2795412. Accessed 14 Nov 2019.

Attachment Developed in Infancy

While growing up, children form an attachment to their caregivers. They could form one of the two types of attachment, secure attachment and insecure attachment. Secure attachment means that the child trusts other people to take care of him or her. This is a result of the child experiencing positive influences with their caregiver repeatedly over time as an infant. With this type of attachment, the child has more tendencies to have reactions to stress that aren’t very extreme, explore independently, and be able to form better relationships. On the other hand, insecure attachment is the opposite. Insecure attachments have deemed adults as unreliable and do not trust them easily. This is a consequence of having either negative or unreliable experiences with the caregiver. This type of attachment can lead to the child refusing to interact or avoid others, exaggerate distress, and show anger, anxiety, or fear.

Secure and insecure attachment were studied in what is called the Strange Situation Test. This test consists of several stages, which can be seen in the following video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTsewNrHUHU . Sixty percent of the infants showed secure attachment. This can be seen as they were playing freely when the caregiver was present, they were distressed once said caregiver left the room, and sought contact with the caregiver once he or she returned. The other forty percent showed insecure attachment. This can be seen as they were not as like to explore, were highly distressed when the caregiver left the room, and continued to be distressed once the caregiver returned. The attachment type displayed is an indicator of how the child would be in the future. In the chart below, there are some examples of how this concept would be applied to a child who developed secure attachment.

In my family, I have a baby niece. Over the summer, my parents and I babysat her while her parents went to a baseball game. When her parents left, my mom could notice some behavior changes in my niece. My niece became very quiet, and when we fed her, she would not sign for food like she usually does. At certain points, she would also cry to the point where she was inconsolable. When her parents finally came home, she moved towards them, hoping to be picked up. Based off of these behaviors, it is likely that she has developed secure attachment.

“Secure vs. Insecure Attachment.” Better Brains for Babies. http://www.bbbgeorgia.org/attachSecure.php. Accessed 17 Oct. 2019.

“Some Indicators of Secure Attachment.” http://www.practicenotes.org/v19n3/matters.htm. Accessed 17 Oct. 2019.

Thibs44. “The Strange Situation- Mary Ainsworth.” Youtube. 17 Jan. 2009. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTsewNrHUHU. Accessed 17 Oct. 2019.

 

Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous Systems

Humans experience “fight or flight” situations quite frequently throughout their lives, and even in their daily lives. This reaction originates in a subsection of the Nervous System called the Sympathetic Nervous System, which lies under a more general subsection called the Autonomic Nervous System. The Autonomic Nervous System is responsible for regulating functions humans cannot necessarily control like heart rate, sweating, and pupil dilation.

This is important to note as one’s body will naturally react when placed in a situation that could be deemed as dangerous or stressful, which is a response of the Sympathetic Nervous System. The body’s reactions are due to the Sympathetic Nervous System’s signals exiting the spinal cord in the mid to lower spine region and transferring to muscles, cardiac muscles, and glands. Reactions can vary throughout the body, especially due to the release of adrenaline. The spike in this hormone causes a higher sense of alert, sweating, faster heartbeat, and short, shallow breaths.

These effects can soon disperse, though, once the Parasympathetic Nervous System takes over. The Parasympathetic Nervous System is a subset of the Autonomic Nervous System and works in conjunction with the Sympathetic Nervous System. It is considered to be a period where one “rests and digests.” This name is appropriate as the system seeks to conserve energy while lowering one’s heart rate and increasing activity in the intestines.

I have had countless moments where my Sympathetic System took precedence, and then eventually the Parasympathetic System took over. One of these moments happened recently. I was at the Career Fair, standing in line to talk to a representative from CVS Health to discuss possible internships. While waiting in line, I felt my heart start to beat both faster and harder. I noticed my hands were beginning to sweat and my breaths became shallower. Thoughts about failure began to run through my head. My body was in this “fight or flight” mode, and I so desperately wanted to “take flight”. However, I made the conscious decision to “fight” and confront my worries and fears. After talking to the representative, I felt my body start going through the Parasympathetic System as my body relaxed. I was finally able to tell myself that it wasn’t that bad, and I continued to talk to other representatives with more confidence.

 

Lanese, Nicoletta. “Fight or Flight: The Sympathetic Nervous System.” Live Science. 9 May 2019. https://www.livescience.com/65446-sympathetic-nervous-system.html. Accessed 19 Sept. 2019.

“Parasympathetic nervous system.” Science Daily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/parasympathetic_nervous_system.htm. Accessed 19 Sept. 2019.

“Sympathetic Nervous System vs Parasympathetic Nervous System.” Major Differences. https://www.majordifferences.com/2017/03/9-differences-between-sympathetic.html#.XYMBXChKhPY.