Category: Operant Conditioning

How do companies get us to buy their products. Is it magic, or is it just their stellar advertising? Every day we see advertisements on the internet, in the stores, on social media, or on billboards. Advertisers use a tactic called conditioning to get us to give them our money. There are three main types of conditioning that people use to get us to learn to buy their ‘products’. The three main types are: classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning. Before we dive into the deep end of the ways companies use conditioning in their advertising you will need to know some of the basics.

First, what even is conditioning? Conditioning is a process where a response becomes more frequent or more predictable in a given environment as a result of reinforcement. Reinforcement is typically a stimulus or reward for desired results. Conditioning is a form of learning in which: A stimulus becomes more effective in evoking a response, or response occurs with more and more regularity in a stable environment. The type of reinforcement that is used typically will determine the outcome.

There are some particular definitions that will come in handy. First, a stimulus, which rouses activity or energy in someone or something; a spur or incentive. An unconditioned stimulus, a stimulus that naturally brings about a particular response without having been learned. An unconditioned response is a response that is natural and needs no training. A conditioned stimulus is when a once-neutral stimulus is paired with an unconditioned response to bring about a response formerly caused only by the unconditioned stimulus. And lastly, a conditioned response is a response after conditioning which follows a previously neutral stimulus. Now that you know all the vocabulary we can continue with the conditioning part.

The most common type of conditioning is classical conditioning, which is when we learn to associate events or stimuli that frequently happen; as a result of this, we learn to anticipate events. Companies who want you to feel something while you are watching or listening to an advertisement use this type of conditioning. This type of conditioning is used to make you have a specific feeling when you see their ‘product’. The advertised ‘product’ is now a conditioned stimulus. The feeling you get when you see the ‘product’ is the conditioned response. (Citation) Some ways that companies use classical conditioning is by using the power of music. The results of an experiment done by Gerald J. Gorn from the University of British Columbia were that hearing liked or disliked music while being exposed to a product can directly affect product preferences. (Citation, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/002224298204600109) An example of this kind of conditioning is the “Drake Sprite: The Spark Commercial” a Sprite commercial starring Drake. In this one minute commercial, we watch Drake not able to rap very well, but when he takes a sip of a Sprite, he instantly is able to make an astonishing new rap. The unconditioned stimulus is Drake and the unconditioned response is admiring how cool Drake is when he drinks a Sprite. The conditioned stimulus is drinking Sprite and the conditioned response is thinking that by drinking Sprite you will be refreshed and cool just like Drake.

The next kind of conditioning is operant conditioning, which is a learning process in which behaviors are reinforced or punished. There are two different kinds of punishment and two different kinds of reinforcement. Positive punishment’s job is to weaken a response by applying an unpleasant stimulus, like yelling at a teenager when he or she steals a bracelet. Negative punishment consists of the removal of something pleasant, like restricting a teenager’s access to their car due to breaking curfew. Positive reinforcement is a stimulus added to the environment that brings about an increase in a preceding response, like giving an employee a raise for good performance. Negative reinforcement is an unpleasant stimulus whose removal leads to an increase in the probability that a preceding response will be repeated in the future, like having to apply ointment to relieve an itchy rash which leads to a higher future likelihood of applying ointment. (screenshot)

We see operant conditioning in advertising by watching the Friskikies Dear Kitten commercial series. First shown during the 2015 Super Bowl this commercial series uses positive and negative reinforcement. The positive reinforcement is when the cat teaches the kitten about “The Big Game”. The environment that they are in has changed because the attention of the humans is now not on them but on the television. In its effort to gain the attention of the humans the cat sits in front of the television, with the hope of getting attention and food. The behavior of sitting in front of the television while a human is watching will now increase because the cat knows that its human will reinforce it by giving the cat food. The negative reinforcement, on the other hand, the cat’s behavior is the adverse stimuli if you were in the human’s environment. When the cat decides to block the television during “The Big Game” the human picks up the cat to get away from the blocked screen. After they remove the adverse stimulus (the cat), the human can now watch “The Big Game” without being disturbed. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osWshQ4DF30)

The final type of conditioning is called observational learning. This kind of conditioning is used by learning by watching the behavior of others. Children watching television might see a commercial where they see people having fun while shopping and putting things in the cart. Children might then see that it is fun to put things in the cart and want to do it themselves. Learning by observation begins early in life, a fourteen-month child can imitate what an adult is doing in an advertisement. Modeling is the process of observing and imitating specific behavior, like a woman in an advertisement picking out healthy fruit. A person is more likely to model the behavior of someone who they think is attractive, and is being reinforced for something that they are doing that is good. If you look at most advertisements you will start to notice that most everyone is attractive. Advertisers do this in hope that you will belive that choosing your product will make you just like them, attractive (not that you aren’t). (https://www.slideshare.net/jmmmuir/observational-learning-in-advertising)

Do you ever just sit down and watch a show and see the same commercial advertisement over and over again? That is on purpose, advertisers strategically air their advertisements so you never forget what they are trying to make you buy. The interval can have a large effect on conditioning. Classical conditioning is greater if a longer period of time occurs. (screenshot)

Conditioning can be difficult to understand sometimes so here are some differences between them. While classical and operant conditioning are both types of associative learning, there are some significant differences between them. When you see classical conditioning

When there is an experience or reinforced practice in someone behavior that is permanent, then we say learning has taken place. This is very important in determining a behavior of a person in a psychological process.

Operant conditioning is a behavioral theory that assumes with positive reinforcement and negative behavior being punished then we are able to experience the best learning. It is also referred to as Instrumental learning. Ivan Pavlov and B.F Skinner were some of those instrumental in propagating on this theory.

This theory has shown to be result oriented in working environment in terms of management and is now being widely used.

When one is praised through positively being acknowledged or rewarded because of good performance. They tend to be more productive when they feel appreciated through affirmation which then tends to make them motivated. In a working environment, this can be practiced by giving awards to the best performers. This can be in the form of targets being met which make people want to do more since it acts as a positive reinforcement that needs to be furthered more. This they know at the end of the day they will get more in terms of monetary appreciation.etc.

When a conducive environment is provided for the employees at their place of work then they feel relaxed and increase productivity. Squeezed congested workplaces can bring about stress among the staff and demotivated from acquiring their maximum potential. Also, issues of work politics can negatively influence low productivity.

Employees who are weak in some areas can be grouped with others for purposes of positive reinforcement to learn from them. This too can be in terms of avoiding unwanted bad character within departments where people can be reshuffled or duties reassigned. This acts as a way of motivating each other according to abilities and working towards the same goal Embracing teamwork is key together with this pairing of strong and weak personnel to leverage their potentials then it leads to increase in targets.

Proper ways of communication especially positive energy should be embraced within the working place with words of affirmation or encouragement like you can do it rather than the use of negative words. The communication should be done in a professional way especially when giving feedback. When doing evaluations for staff then the team leaders should try as much as possible to start with the positivity than the negativities. This makes the person being evaluated to feel they have been valued for the work done. Solutions or alternatives should be provided for the weaker areas of staff improvement in a more constructive way rather than in a dismissive manner.

When behaviors that are not as per company policies or are deviant take place then the employee concerned should be punished accordingly to make them not repeat the same or influence others. When others to learn of the punishment they tend not to do the same hence discipline or ethical work ethics are observed hence conducive work environment maintained.

In conclusion, it is good to be consistent when applying or using the operant conditioning theory when dealing with employees at the workplace. When negative or positive reinforcement is provided selectively then it may lead to other employee’s feel they are not treated the same which may make them feel odd. This is a powerful tool that when used properly within an organization. The management can make use of it people management since most of the behaviors are learned hence control one. This can be changed by managers through manipulating the rewards system were necessary to achieve organizational goals through positive rewards and negative punishment.

There are various factors that contribute to an individual’s behavior. Three main factors that affect a person’s behavior are classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning which is often referred to as imitation or modeling. Each factor differs in the way it teaches the individual to learn and adapt. Classical conditioning teaches individuals to associate one stimulus with another while operant conditioning teaches that a behavior provokes a certain response which may be positive or negative. Modeling is learning by seeing an action take place and then repeating the action. I have personally experienced each of these factors and they have altered my behavior permanently.

Classical conditioning is the learning process in which a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a meaningful stimulus and acquires the capacity to elicit a similar response. Classical conditioning consists of five parts which include an unconditioned stimulus, conditioned stimulus, neutral stimulus, unconditioned response and conditioned response. A prime example of classical conditioning is that I check the milk before I pour it into my cereal. As a child I would immediately pour the milk into my cereal, but one day as I poured the milk, I smelled a sour aroma. When I investigated my bowl there were bits of mold, which caused me to gag from the awful sight and smell. Ever since that day I have always checked the milk before I pour it. The neutral stimulus in this instance is the milk which turned into a conditioned stimulus because I have now changed my behavior about how I pour milk. The unconditioned stimulus was the spoiled milk which elicited the unconditioned response for me to gag at the smell. Due to the unconditioned stimulus, I now have the conditioned response to check the milk before I pour it into my cereal.

Operant conditioning, also known as instrumental conditioning, is a form of associative learning in which the consequences of a behavior change the probability of the behavior’s occurrence. Positive reinforcement is reinforcing a stimulus following a behavior so that the behavior is more likely to occur again. I have experienced positive reinforcement numerous times in my favorite hobby, fishing. When fishing, I sometimes must patiently wait hours without a single bite. I wait for hours upon hours to eventually be rewarded with a fish on the end of my line. As a result of me catching a fish, I become more complacent in waiting long periods of time to receive a bite from a fish. Negative reinforcement is when a behavior is strengthened by in order to stop, remove, or avoid a negative outcome. For example, I received a hefty ticket for doing fifty-three miles per hour when the speed limit was twenty-five miles per hour. Ever since I got the ticket, I have paid much closer attention to my speedometer in order to avoid getting another ticket. The negative consequence to my action caused me to change my behavior so that I avoid the same outcome in the future.

Observational learning, also referred to as modeling, is learning that occurs when a person observes and imitates behavior. It is the most common form of learning for children as they watch from authority figures and their peers. I learned how to properly brush my teeth by watching my mother. I can remember when I first started to brush my teeth, I would clean them for no longer than a minute and would also neglect to brush my tongue. I brushed my teeth with my mother and would notice that she would take much longer to brush her teeth and was also more thorough in cleaning her teeth and brushing her tongue. This observation led me to imitate the amount of time she took to brush her teeth as well as learning to brush all areas of my mouth including my tongue.

Overall humans learn through a variety of different ways. Classical conditioning makes a typically neutral stimulus take on a particular meaning and trigger a response. Operant conditioning teaches an individual that an action or behavior will elicit a positive or negative response. Observational learning directly shows a person how to do something and then the action is simply imitated. I have personally experienced all three methods of learning and will continue to experience them throughout my life. They have altered my behavior permanently and I believe that learning to change my behavior makes me a better person.

Introduction

Swearing refers to the use of profane or obscene language (Swear, n.d.). Swearing is seen as obscene and inappropriate behaviour, and yet many people use swear words in their daily lives. Several studies support the use of swearing. Baruch, Prouska, Ollier-Malaterre & Bunk (2017) argued that swearing has positive benefits, such as stress-relief, communication-enrichment and socialization-enhancement. The notion that swearing has its uses is also supported by Stephens, Atkins & Kingston (2009), whose study found that participants who swore has increased pain tolerance, increased heart rate and decreased perceived pain compared with participants who do not swear. However, when done one too many, the behaviour becomes excessive. The benefits that were previously mentioned would not have the same effect when done excessively as they’re desensitized to the action. The habit of excess swearing does not have any benefit whatsoever and would negatively impact the users’ social image.

Trice & Parker (1983) conducted a study with two 16-year-old male students with a record of excessive use of obscene words, intending to reduce their frequency of swearing using operant conditioning in the forms of social reinforcement and response cost procedure. They were monitored during the classroom study hours. Every time a participant says one of the six selected offensive words, they would receive a mark. Social reinforcement in this study comes in the form of appraisal at the start of the new day, given if the participant manages to restrain swearing under the determined tally. Response cost refers to positive punishment, in which the student was given five minutes of detention for each mark they receive. It was found that both procedures were effective in reducing swearing in both students and had a brief period of maintenance of effect. However, the authors noted that these procedures were simple and found the need to improve the intensiveness of the intervention.

Musser, Bray, Kehle & Jenson (2001) examined the use of verbal aggression or such as swearing as part of the disruptive classroom behaviour of 3 students. The authors implemented an intervention with operant conditioning using mystery motivators, token economy and response cost procedure to decrease negative behaviours. Mystery motivators, in this case, are positive reinforcer, items that the students highly valued presented in a hidden manner to increase their anticipation for the reward. A token economy is a form of behaviour modification in which tokens are given out which could be exchanged for rewards. Tokens are represented in the study with stickers, and response cost or negative punishment comes in the form of taking stickers away. The stickers could be traded for the mystery motivator. Results of the study suggest that the intervention was able to reduce levels of disruptive behaviour. Limitations of this study are the follow-up phase was only conducted for two weeks, meaning that the long-term effect of the study is debateable.

Operant conditioning is also used in a study by Mammolite (2017) on an 18-year-old female student with the disruptive behaviour of swearing. Operant conditioning for this study comes in the form of token economy, in which if the student has less than the limit of curses in the classroom period, she will receive a token which could be exchanged for more time with her peers. The data collected shows that the use of a token economy method had improved the student’s behaviour in class. Limitations of the study occur when a teacher removes her from the classroom, hindering the progress of collecting data. The student’s broken foot during the study also affected her swear rate, increasing her curse rate in the week she first used her cast.

The aim of this project is to examine a participant with the habit of excessive swearing from data collected from a ten-day monitoring period, find context and motivators that drive the habit, and establishing a treatment to eliminate the unwanted habit of excessive swearing.

Method

DAS is a 20-year-old male student who has conveyed an interest in reducing his frequency of swearing. The target behavior is excessive swearing, which refers to any incidence in which an offensive verbal language from any language is used to express emotions. Any offensive word from any language is counted as an instance. An example is saying “Fuck” after stubbing a toe. A questionable instance is a burst of swears. It is counted as one instance, with an example being saying “Shit” four times in a row after touching a boiling hot pan recorded only as one instance. Another questionable instance is not finishing the swear word, in which case would not count as an instance. For example, only saying “Sh-“ instead of the complete word “Shit” would not count as an instance.

The monitoring method for this behavior is event recording, in which every instance of the behavior occurring is documented. This method is suitable for the target behavior because the behavior has a low frequency, which makes it easy to document with the method. DAS recorded instances of the behavior occurring, along with how he felt before and after doing said behavior, the place and the people with him. The duration of the monitoring started at 7 AM, 21st September 2019 until 7 AM 30th September 2019.

There is a limitation for this method, which is that it requires the subject to be attentive and record every instance of the behavior, which he found difficult due to his need to divide attention with his current actions.

Results

The data gathered from the monitoring period shows that the frequency of swears has a total of 111, a mean of 11.1 per day, and a range of 17 with the highest being 20 swears on day eight and the lowest being day ten with only three swears.

The subject often feels restless because of constantly thinking about his academic scores, future plans, and money management. Another cause of his restlessness is because of his habit of playing high-paced online games, which often puts him in a stressful situation.

Swearing

Swearing refers to any incidence in which an offensive verbal language from any language is used to express emotions. Any offensive word from any language is counted as an instance. An example is saying “Fuck” after stubbing a toe. A burst of swears is counted as one instance, with an example being saying “Shit” four times in a row after touching a boiling hot pan.

Immediate

• Negative remark from others due to how impolite the behaviour is
• Sense of relief/ catharsis
• Minor reduction in stress level

Long-Term

• Adds a negative effect on others’ perception of the subject
• Desensitisation of swearing would lead to slips in inappropriate contexts (i.e. with his parents), which has negative effects (i.e. receiving punishment from parents)

DAS is a 20-year-old male who has a habit of excessive swearing. Historically, DAS reported that his habit of swearing started because he was influenced by listening to his classmates swearing at school and because of watching movies or TV shows which has the actors swearing. Contextually, DAS’s habit of swearing takes place when he’s with his roommates, his classmates from campus, and when he’s playing video games with his online friends. DAS reported that getting surprised by something, getting hurt, losing online games and dropping something results in him swearing. DAS feels his restlessness affects him to swear. DAS reported a sense of relief and a reduction of stress after swearing, which reinforces his behaviour of swearing. DAS reported that he often receives negative remarks from others around him when he swears, however, he believed that it does not bother him. DAS believed that his habit would affect him badly in the long run, as it may result in others thinking badly of him and he could accidentally swear in inappropriate contexts.

Discussion

To swear refers to use profane or obscene language. This project aims to reduce subject DAS’s habit of excess swearing. The data gathered from monitoring DAS shows that two important contexts motivate the subject to swear. The first context that motivates DAS’s swearing is when he is with his friends on campus, hanging out in the mall or the living room. Another context that motivates DAS to swear the most is when he is playing video games with his online games, consistent with the study of Stephens & Zile (2017) which stated that the use of swear word increases the more emotional arousal is felt, in this case, DAS experiences emotional arousal from the video game he’s playing.

Several factors reinforce the subject’s swearing habit. The first factor is because swearing is related with increased pain tolerance (Stephens, Atkins & Kingston, 2009), therefore every time DAS swears after injuring himself, he feels more tolerant to the pain, which in turn reinforces the behaviour. Another factor is that swearing is associated with helping stress relief (Baruch, Prouska, Ollier-Malaterre & Bunk, 2017), meaning that the subject’s swearing habit is reinforced because they feel less stress after swearing.

To help eliminate DAS’s excess swearing habit, operant conditioning can be applied. The use of operant conditioning to reduce the frequency of swearing is shown to be successful in the studies done by Trice & Parker (1983), Musser, Bray, Kehle & Jenson (2001), and Mammolite (2017), and thus the same method could be used to treat DAS’s excessive swearing. The operant conditioning process would be divided into 4 phases, with each phase shaping DAS’s behaviour step by step. The result would be that DAS would be able to restrain themselves from swearing. For operant conditioning to work, things that work as reinforcement and punishment for the subject would need to be identified. DAS stated that he enjoys consuming carbonated beverages, therefore it could be used as a positive reinforcement to increase the desired behaviour of not swearing. On the other hand, limiting DAS’s time playing video games could serve as a form of negative punishment and response cost, as it removes something that DAS enjoys doing. The negative punishment reduces the frequency of the unwanted behaviour, which in this case is swearing.

Phase one is the first implementation of reward and punishment, with a tally of a maximum of ten swears per day applied for DAS. If DAS can say less than ten swears for three days in a row, he receives a can of soda as a reinforcement. For each swearing done above the maximum score, DAS’s time playing games would be reduced by one hour. Once DAS can swear less than ten times for three days in a row, move on to step two.

In phase two, the maximum amount of swears is reduced to five. If DAS can say less than five swears for three days in a row, he receives a can of soda as a reinforcement. The same punishment still applies in this phase, with each swearing done above the maximum score, DAS’s time playing games would be reduced by one hour. When DAS can swear less than five times for three days in a row, move on to the next step.

The third phase has the maximum amount of swears reduced to three. If DAS can say less than three swears for three days in a row, he receives a can of soda as a reinforcement. The punishment is carried over from the previous phases, with each swearing done above the maximum score, DAS’s time playing games would be reduced by one hour. When DAS can swear less than three times for three days in a row, move on to the final step.

The fourth and final phase is to maintain the behaviour without the need of reinforcements and punishment and to make sure that the aim of the intervention is fulfilled, which is the elimination of DAS’s swearing behaviour. DAS would be required to not swear at all for ten days. If DAS can complete ten days without swearing, then the behaviour is successfully eliminated. However, if DAS swears during the ten days, then the behaviour persists, which in this case DAS would be reverted to the third phase.

There are limitations to this project. First, the success and the continuation of the intervention heavily relies on DAS to not quit half-way or cheat on his result, which is dependent on DAS’s self-motivation to complete the intervention. The other limitation has been previously mentioned, which is the subject has difficulty to be attentive to every instance occurring as his attention is divided with his current actions, resulting in some instances that may have happened not being recorded.

References

1. Baruch, Y., Prouska, R., Ollier-Malaterre, A., & Bunk, J. (2017). Swearing at work: the mixed outcomes of profanity. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 32(2), 149–162. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMP-04-2016-0102
2. Mammolite, C., Jasmine, Joanne, & Vivinetto, James. (2012). Decreasing Student Negative Behavior With A Token Economy System. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1010410678/
3. Musser, E., Bray, M., Kehle, T., & Jenson, W. (2001). Reducing disruptive behaviors in students with serious emotional disturbance. School Psychology Review, 30(2), 294–304. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/219652928 /
4. Stephens, R., Atkins, J., & Kingston, A. (2009). Swearing as a response to pain. NeuroReport, 20(12), 1056–1060. https://doi.org/10.1097/WNR.0b013e32832e64b1
5. Stephens, R., & Zile, A. (2017). Does Emotional Arousal Influence Swearing Fluency? Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 46(4), 983–995. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-016-9473-8
6. Swear (n.d.) In Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/swear
7. Trice, A. D., & Parker, F. C. (1983). Decreasing Adolescent Swearing in an Instructional Setting. Education and Treatment of Children, 6(1), 29–35.

ABSTRACT

Psychologists define attitudes as a learned tendency to evaluate things in a certain way. The behavioural component of attitudes is important because people draw inferences about the attitudes, beliefs, values, and intentions of an individual by observing what they say and what they do. In this situation a tea plantation in Jorhat has brought in an automatic machine for cutting tea leaves which the workers are resisting. Operant conditioning can be used to strengthen desirable attitudes and weaken undesirable ones, in following report we are trying to change the attitudes of workers towards the usage of machines, using operant conditioning.

INTRODUCTION & OBJECTIVE

INTRODUCTION

Tea Estate in Jorhat is used to the traditional handpicking of the tea leaves. The management has decided to bring in tea leaves plucking machine into use for more productivity and resolve the problem of labour shortage. This was also done with a motive to reduce cost of production. By using the machine harvesting method the estate wants to reduce the harvest time as well as increase the per cycle yield. But the workers are resisting the transition to the new technology and have refused to work as it may endanger their job security.

Be it any machine ultimately, it’s the labour only who operate those machines to produce the desired results. When the automatic machine for cutting tea leaves were brought in, the workers started resisting its use as they were unfamiliar to use it. This was a major setback for the whole management as its very important to have all the employees/labours brought in to the change. This needs to be dealt with utmost care in order to successfully bring the change. The management should understand the various reasons behind this resistance and try to overcome those and work accordingly.

OBJECTIVE

• To know the various reasons behind the resistance of the labour
• To find different ways that can be adopted by managers to tackle the situation (focusing on operant conditioning)
• To understand how operant conditioning can help to bring a major change.
• To come to the conclusion of what this measure can result in.

WHY PEOPLE RESIST CHANGE?

Managing resistance to change starts with understanding it. The introduction of recent technology within the workforce has historically posed a significant threat to workers’ sense of security, stability and purpose. Key reasons people resist change can include:

• Fear of the unknown
• Not being consulted
• Lack of communication
• Threat to expertise or status
• No clear benefits or value
• Unclear on the need for change
• Effort required to learn
• Lack the skills to use it
• Distrust management
• Hardwired habits

SUGGESTED MEASURES TO BE TAKEN BY THE MANAGEMENT

Anticipate the most reasons your employees could be reluctant to use your new tool before you introduce it. It is also suggested to actively consult them during the tool research stage. It’ll assist you to lead from an edge of empathy and adopt strategies that actually address people’s concerns and reservations.

The different ways in which it can be done are:

Overcome opposition: Be it any way of how a company (in this case Tea Plantation) manages a change, there will always be some amount of resistance. The tea plantation should engage those labourers who are resting to change as this would make them understand what actually is the concern and what is the reason behind labourer’s resistance. This would make them feel to be the part of the team and believe that the team actually cares about its employees.

Communicate change effectively: one of the ways a manager should adopt is to communicate to the employees what exactly is going on. This can be done by using a mixture of both formal and informal communication. The different ways will help the employees understand the exact visions, goals and expectation of the firm.

Implementing Changes ibn several stages: “Roam was not built in a day” similarly, changes don’t happen all at once. The plantation firm should first prepare the employees for the change, then finally take action and implement it.

Connect to peoples need: This is simple to hear but it’s actually very difficult to implement. The manager should always portray the benefits to the employees as to what impact will the change have on their working pattern. They don’t want to hear that what benefits will the company get or how cost effective it will be for the company.

Unfortunately, this is very difficult as technology adoption follows a complicated calculation. The degree of adoption and learning is different from person to person depending on their experience, interest and familiarity with technology.

The most effective way can be using of Operant conditioning which would be explained further.

OPERANT CONDITIONING

Management can take concrete steps to deal constructively with these labour attitudes. One way the manager can use is by operant conditioning. Operant conditioning states that behaviour is a function of its consequences. People learn to behave to get something they want to or to avoid something they don’t want. Operant conditioning means voluntary or learned behaviour instead of reflexive or unlearned behaviour. This is influenced by the reinforcement or lack of it which is brought about the consequences of that behaviour. The reinforcement strengthens the behaviour and increases the likelihood that it will be repeated. The managers by using this method can communicate with the labourers and inform them that now onwards they will be emphasizing on new standards of performances and encouraging them to think in a different way. They should also state that resistance to this can serve as a practical warning signal for the employees.

Positive Reinforcement: According to conditioning, positive reinforcement is that the positive response that’s given to an employee who displays good behaviour. This positive response increases the prospect that the worker will display great behaviour more often. Rewards are a sort of motivation to repeat good behaviour, but aren’t essential. However, if rewards are chosen, they might be financial bonuses, days off, or other encouraging measures. After Herzberg’s research, we all know that rewards boost extrinsic motivation.

Negative Reinforcement: According to conditioning, negative reinforcement occurs when someone is rewarded by removing negative or undesired consequences of a certain behaviour to encourage positive behaviour. Negative reinforcement is usually confused with punishment, but those are certainly different. Negative reinforcement tries to strengthen positive behaviour, whereas punishment is aimed toward reducing the prospect of bad behaviour.

Punishment: Punishment refers to the negative behavioural consequences and must not be confused with negative reinforcement, which involves removing a negative behavioural consequence. Punishment is aimed toward reducing the prospect of specific negative behaviours. It’s one of the most frequently used methods to control behaviour, but many experts suggest that it shouldn’t only be used as positive and negative reinforcement, or as eradication.

Extinction: In the operant conditioning paradigm, Extinction refers to the process of no longer receiving the reinforcement that has sustained a behaviour, in the operant conditioning model. Operating extinction differs from forgetting in that the latter refers to a loss in a behaviour ‘s intensity over time because it was not transmitted.

SUGGESTION FOR THE TEA PLANTATION TO USE OPERANT CONDITIONING METHOD TO CHANGE THE ATTITUDE OF THE EMPLOYEES

The manager should use the reinforcement techniques stated in operant conditioning in the following ways:

Highlight quick wins:

The management should reinforce the employees in a positive way when they begin to use the technology more and more. It should also highlight the positive impact it will have on the organisation. Moreover, if the quick wins are publicized it not only encourages further adoption but also encourages other employees. Employees should always be aware of the fact and get motivated through the fact that if they adapt the new technology efficiently, they will be rewarded and recognised in the organisation.

Considering Penalties:

If the plantation still suffers from the same problem, they should consider instituting penalties for non-use of the technology. The degree depends on how damaging it proves for the organisation. For example, they can say only the worked done with the help of the automated machine would be counted and rest will be gone in vague. Be it any firm there should be a fear of loosing a job or being punished in the subconscious mind of the employees that they will suffer if not done work according to the organisation they work in, in this case the resistance of the employees from adopting new technologies.

Do’s and Don’ts

Do’s

• Capture hearts and minds by emphasizing how the new technology enhances the corporation and makes life easier for the employees.
• Promotes adoption by rewarding workers in ways that benefit them best.
• Build the new technology into working-day routines and rhythms as soon as possible.

Don’ts

• Choose a technology that is more challenging than it needs to be; choose an approachable and intuitive framework for fast adoption
• Neglect the importance of having the most prominent workers on board early on in the process; it will help you get along with others
• Skip to discipline non-technology employees; fines should be a last resort in the absence of bonuses and benefits

If these above-mentioned suggestions are used by the plantation there is a high chance to reduce the resistance level and persuade the employees to adopt the new technology.

CONCLUSION

The theory of operant conditioning can be used to modify actions. By using either positive or negative reinforcement, we can promote or discourage a certain trait that we desire. We will be able to form actions by following this principle suggested by Skinner. This can be achieved by either rewarding actions, or punishment. Studies have shown that operant conditioning is the most effective learning technique that can be used in both humans and animals to alter behaviours.

The operant conditioning is totally relevant in this tea plantation case and would prove to be effective once used by the management. The manager needs to only understand in how effective they can make this operant conditioning implementation. No employee wants to lose their job and if the consequences are clearly mentioned to them, they will definitely work according in the fear of the repercussion. In the similar way every employee wants success and have a desire to be awarded and recognised. They work towards the goal and will not resist if the rewards are clearly mentioned by the organisation.

REFERENCES

1. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/agriculture/tea-expert-recommends-mechanised-plucking-of-tea-leaves/articleshow/59504911.cms
2. https://www.toolshero.com/psychology/operant-conditioning-bf-skinner/
3. https://www.thebalancecareers.com/how-to-reduce-employee-resistance-to-change-1918992
4. https://hbr.org/1969/01/how-to-deal-with-resistance-to-change
5. https://www.paycor.com/resource-center/change-management-in-the-workplace-why-do-employees-resist-it

In understanding operant conditioning, a human person has to first define what are the things he or she likes (reward) and does not like (punishment). In the case of Mr. Tan’s class, the behavior to influence is the students’ disinterest in learning. That the behavior is adopted uniformly across the classroom may be due each individual student’s doubt on their sense of self. Skinner proposes that if a behaviour is followed by reinforcement, that behaviour is more likely to be repeated, but if it is followed by some sort of aversive stimuli or punishment, it is less likely to be repeated. This learned association could end, or become extinct, if the reinforcement or punishment was removed. The various methods of Operant conditioning are positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, Positive punishments, negative punishments, Shaping and Extinction.

Positive Reinforcement involves favourable events or outcomes that are presented after the behaviour. Negative Reinforcements involve the removal of an unfavourable events or outcomes after the display of a behaviour.

Positive punishments add an aversive stimulus to decrease a behaviour or response.Negative punishments remove a pleasant stimulus to decrease a behaviour or response.

Shaping is a method of operant conditioning by which successive approximations of a target behaviour are reinforced. In shaping, behaviours are broken down into many small, achievable steps.

As the subject moves through each behaviour trial, rewards for old, less approximate behaviours are discontinued in order to encourage progress toward the desired behaviour. Extinction is the loss of conditioning overtime when the conditioning stimuli are no longer present. Over time the person will become less conditioned unless the stimuli that conditioned them in the first place is reapplied.

Skinner found that when and how often behaviors were reinforced played a role in the speed and strength of acquisition. In other words, the timing and frequency of reinforcement influenced how new behaviors were learned and how old behaviors were modified. Continuous reinforcement involves delivering a reinforcement every time a response occurs. Learning tends to occur relatively quickly, yet the response rate is quite low. Extinction also occurs very quickly once reinforcement is halted. Fixed-ratio schedules are a type of partial reinforcement. Responses are reinforced only after a specific number of responses have occurred. This typically leads to a fairly steady response rate. Fixed-interval schedules are another form of partial reinforcement. Reinforcement occurs only after a certain interval of time has elapsed. Response rates remain fairly steady and start to increase as the reinforcement time draws near, but slow immediately after the reinforcement has been delivered. Variable-ratio schedules are also a type of partial reinforcement that involves reinforcing behavior after a varied number of responses. This leads to both a high response rate and slow extinction rates. Variable-interval schedules are the final form of partial reinforcement. This schedule involves delivering reinforcement after a variable amount of time has elapsed. This also tends to lead to a fast response rate and slow extinction rate.

With respect to the above theories let us analyse the scenario in Mr Tan’s Class. Mr Tan is teaching in a senior secondary 2 class where he is dealing with students in their adolescent age. The class typically shows indifference to studies and a lack of commitment to class works and commitment. It can result from an expression of defiance, lack of interest in the subject, peer pressure or the need of peer acceptance, not seeing a positive role model in Mr Tan. From the psychological point of view, Mr Tan can do a self-analysis regarding his teaching styles, the attention given to individual student needs, knowledge depths, his behaviour toward the students like arrogance, friendliness, approachability. This will help him to make changes in his behaviour to improve interaction with the students. Of the various Operant Conditioning techniques that can be used here, positive reinforcements and negative reinforcements can be used for changing these behaviours.

Various positive reinforcement strategies like rewarding the students who finish their assignments and homework on time, making them popular on name boards, personal gifts and goodies etc can be tried. This can be done in partial reinforcements also.

Some negative reinforcements can be tried, like cutting on boring tasks, giving free time etc when the required behaviour is done. Shaping can be done to increase the desired behaviour over longer time. When these strategies do not work on a small population of students who are more defiant, punishments in the form of positive and negative punishments can be tried. Some strategies like giving tasks like an imposition, cleaning the class, etc can be used as positive punishments. Whereas strategies like cutting of sport period, and time outs can be tried as negative punishment.

These strategies can be combined with strategies for Mr Tan to improvise his method of teaching, interaction, to make classes more lively and fun-based. This can change him to be a better role model and according to Banduras Social learning theory, he can impart positive behaviours to the class

Considering Secondary Two students are at their age where they are undergoing puberty, their perpetual “who am I” question to ponder as suggested by the identity versus role confusion theory by Erikson could be a factor in their every action and inaction. As adolescents, recognition from friends is of top significance to them. One could be in danger of being perceived as an eager beaver, a goody two-shoes or even a teacher’s pet for showing enthusiasm and generally doing the right things in class. The constant battle with oneself results in not being able to “live harmonious with himself or herself, his or her family, friends and peers” (Erikson, 1968, as cited by Scheck, 2014).

The dysfunctionality in Mr. Tan’s class has two options to choose as to which way to pursue to remedy the situation. On one hand, applying punishment to discourage the behavior may lead to two possible outcomes: whether the students would participate in class grudgingly or the mass apathy deepens. On the other hand, reinforcing rewards to encourage participation in class may lead to either no takers or increased participation – regardless of the quantity and quality of the act of participating. Weighing these two options and their possible outcomes, reinforcing rewards would be the better choice to take as it has less risk and more chance of success.

According to consort Albert Francis Charles Augustus Emmanuel Bandura’s empirical learning theory, children imitate the behaviors through observations of those they raise positive role models or people who are dear or favored. Such effects of empiric learning have a stronger impact on adolescents, particularly ones who lack a secure attachment to their parents or caregiver. Learning from a task model is commonly referred to as identification and students acquire new social roles that continue throughout adulthood. In absence of good behavior to imitate, teenagers may engage in rebellious behavior instead, such as playing hooky, not bothering to come to school, be violent and hostile.

Mr. Tan as the teacher and a figure of authority, their caretaker during school hours, has a potentially important role to play if he decides to seize the opportunity. In the current situation, the students are “partaking with a social circle of recalcitrant peers or compounding with unhealthy firms at school, these students are in danger of delinquency and college dropout that affects the event of ethical values (Gibbs, 2019)”. What Mr. Tan can do is to appeal to both the students are a group of peers and the students as individuals.

The aim of Mr. Tan’s actions is that the students will “get motivated by positive teacher-student relationship and grade retention is attributable to the presence of positive role models (Farrelly, 2014)”. In appealing to the class as a whole, Mr. Tan may come up with missions they can all do together, for example: participating in a competition against another class, doing something of value towards the neighbourhood/community or learning current trends and suggesting they do them together. In appealing to an individual sense of self, he may appoint leaders in compartmentalized matters in class, each person in the field of his or her interest.

The carrot dangled by Mr. Tan is empowerment. Being empowered in an age where one’s sense of self is unsure could be worth showing some enthusiasm for. Once a sense of self is restored it influences the students’ instructional accomplishment. The understanding of himself or herself “develops an everlasting temperament of confidence, equipped to face the challenges after they embark on the consequent stage – early adulthood (Erikson, 1968, as cited by Scheck, 2014)”.

When Mr. Tan facilitates positive peer culture the students would want to learn and achieve as well as wanting to help their classmates to learn and achieve along with them. “The capable students who have the talents and maturity will facilitate to help those delinquent students to attain behavioral modification (Brendtro, Mitchell, & McCall, 2009, as cited by Gibbs, 2019)”.

References

1. Berg, I. K., & Steiner, T. (2003). Children’s Solution Work. New York: W.W. Norton.
2. CAHILL, H., Beadle, S., Forster, R., Smith, K. & Farrelly, A. (2014). Building Resilience in Children and Young People: A Literature Review for the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD).
3. Crone, D. A., Hawken, L. S., & Bergstrom, M. K. (2010). Responding to Problem Behavior in Schools: The Behavior Education Program. (2nd ed.). New York: The Guilford Press.
4. Gibbs, J. C. (2019). Moral Development and Reality: Beyond the Theories of Kohlberg, Hoffman, and Haidt. (4th ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
5. Havik, T., Bru, E., & Ertesvåg, S. K. (2015). School Factors Associated with School Refusal- and Truancy-Related Reasons for School Non-Attendance. Social Psychology of Education, 18(2), 221-240. doi:10.1007/s11218-015-9293-y
6. Santrock, J. W. (2013). Life-Span Development (14th Edition), McGraw-Hill International (Chapter 12).
7. Scheck, S. (2014). The Stages of Psychosocial Development According to Erik H. Erikson. Munich, Germany: GRIN Verlag GmbH

Burrhus Frederic Skinner was born and raised in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania. During high school, Skinner developed a interest in scientific reasoning from his studying the works of Francis Bacon. He went on to receive a B.A. in English literature in 1926 from Hamilton College. After earning his undergraduate degree, he decided to become a writer. During this time, he wrote a few short newspaper articles and quickly grew to dislike his own writings despite receiving needed encouragement and mentorship from the poet Robert Frost. While working at a bookstore as a clerk, Skinner read the studies of Pavlov and Watson, which became a turning point in his life and career.

Skinner decided to abandon his career as a novelist and entered the psychology graduate program at Harvard University. After receiving his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931, Skinner worked for the next 5 years at Harvard under the fellowship program. During this period, he continued his research on operant behavior and operant conditioning. He married Yvonne Blue in 1936, and the couple went on to have two daughters, Julie and Deborah. Skinner spent a portion of his time inventing. A couple of these inventions were the skinner box and the baby tender.

While at Harvard, Skinner became interested in studying human behavior in a scientific way. He developed what he referred to as an operant conditioning apparatus, which later become known as a “Skinner box”. The device was a chamber that contained a bar or key that an animal could press in order to receive food, water, or some other form of reinforcement. This was also the time that he also invented the cumulative recorder, a device that recorded responses as a sloped line. By looking at the slope of the line, which indicated the rate of response, Skinner was able to see that response rates depended upon what happened after the animal pressed the bar. That is, higher response rates followed rewards while lower response rates followed a lack of rewards. The device also allowed Skinner to see that the schedule of reinforcement that was used also influenced the rate of response. Using this device, he found that behavior did not depend on the preceding stimulus as Watson and Pavlov maintained. Instead, Skinner found that behaviors were dependent on what happens after the response. Skinner called this operant behavior.

The Baby Tender was an invention by skinner and is well laid out in the very well article, stating In 1943, B.F. Skinner also invented the “Baby Tender” at the request of his wife. He created an enclosed heated crib with a plexiglass window in response to his wife’s request for a safer alternative to traditional cribs. Due to bad press and what was perceived as an overly clinical experience for the child, Skinner was admonished for his invention, as outlined in the article, “Ladies Home Journal” printed an article on the crib with the title “Baby in a Box,” contributing in part to some misunderstanding over the crib’s intended use. A later incident also led to further misunderstandings over Skinner’s baby crib. “As often happens with rumors they grew and unfortunately became rather ghastly” the article goes on to say. In her 2004 book Opening Skinner’s Box: Great Psychology Experiments of the Twentieth Century, author Lauren Slater mentioned the oft-cited rumor that the baby tender was actually used as an experimental device. The rumors were that Skinner’s daughter had served as a subject and that she had committed suicide as a result. This of course was nonsense but it led to a ferocious rebuttal of the rumors by Skinner’s very much alive daughter Deborah. Skinner also developed a math teaching machine after attending his daughter’s math class in 1953. Skinner noticed that none of the students received any sort of immediate feedback.

Some students struggled while others finished quickly but really didn’t learn anything new. Instead, Skinner believed that the best approach would be to create some sort of device that would shape behavior. Using the basis for operant conditioning he used incremental feedback until a desired response was made. This machine offered immediate feedback although no skills were learned. The article noted that eventually, he was able to develop a machine that delivered incremental feedback and presented material in a series of small steps until students acquired new skills, a process known as programmed instruction. Skinner later published a collection of his writings on teaching and education titled The Technology of Teaching.

Skinners contributions to psychology are numerous. The article outlines his career saying “Skinner was a prolific author, publishing nearly 200 articles and more than 20 books. In a 2002 survey of psychologists, he was identified as the most influential 20th-century psychologist.” Behaviorism is no longer a dominant school of thought, Skinner’s work in operant conditioning is still vital today. Mental health professionals often utilize operant techniques when working with clients, teachers frequently use reinforcement and punishment to shape behavior in the classroom, and animal trainers rely heavily on these techniques to train dogs and other animals. Skinner’s legacy has left both a lasting mark on psychology and numerous other fields ranging from philosophy to education. Skinner’s biggest focus was on operant conditioning. The article states that in Skinner’s operant conditioning process, “an operant referred to any behavior that acts on the environment.” He would contrast operant behaviors with respondent behaviors, which he described as anything that occurs reflexively or automatically such as pivoting when stepping on a sharp object.

Skinner identified reinforcement as any event that strengthens the behavior it follows. The two types of reinforcement he identified were positive reinforcement (favorable outcomes such as reward or praise) and negative reinforcement (the removal of unfavorable outcomes). Punishment would play an important role in the operant conditioning process. According to Skinner, “punishment is the application of an adverse outcome that decreases or weakens the behavior it follows.” Positive punishment involves an unwanted outcome while negative punishment involves removing a favorable outcome following a behavior. Skinner in his studies of operant conditioning developed the schedules of reinforcement these four are fixed and variable ratio, and fixed and variable interval. Fixed-ratio schedule is a schedule of reinforcement where a response is reinforced only after a specified number of responses. Essentially, the subject provides a set number of responses and then the trainer offers a reward. Variable-ratio schedule is a schedule of reinforcement where a response is reinforced after an unpredictable number of responses. This schedule creates a steady, high rate of responding. Fixed-interval schedule is a schedule of reinforcement where the first response is rewarded only after a specified amount of time has elapsed. variable-interval schedule is a schedule of reinforcement where a response is rewarded after an unpredictable amount of time has passed.

Skinners research and writing made him a figurehead of the behaviorist movement. His work advanced the development in experimental psychology. Leaning back on his writing career the article states Skinner also used fiction to present many of his theoretical ideas. In his 1948 book Walden Two, Skinner described a fictional utopian society in which people were trained to become ideal citizens through the use of operant conditioning. His writings both dealing with psychology and not are fascinating and controversial. In his later life he would continue to write about his life and theories. He was diagnosed with leukemia in 1989 and in the week before his death he was awarded the lifetime achievement award by the American Psychological Association.

One new thing i learned was how varied the operant conditioning is how many different fields it is used in. I found that this article was very informative and fascinating. Following the life of B.F. Skinner was interesting his inventions were unbelievable, seemingly odd and futuristic. The website was very informative, but I would have liked to see more focus on the psychological aspects of Skinner. Operant conditioning is mentioned in the book on page

It is pretty cut and dry about associative learning about a behavior being modified by reinforced or punishment.

Works Cited

1. Cherry, Kendra. “B. F. Skinner: The Life of Psychology’s Radical Behaviorist.” Verywell Mind, Verywell Mind, 19 June 2019, www.verywellmind.com/b-f-skinner-biography-1904-1990-2795543.

Introduction and Thesis

Various type of behaviors will be performed by the secondary school student in the classroom and these behaviors can be explained by developmental theories, such as Piaget’s cognitive development theory and Erikson’s psychosocial development theory. All this behavior can cause positive and negative impact in the classroom. Majority of the students often perform a negative behavior which lack of motivation, lose focus and lose track of the purpose being at school mainly because of the transition from primary school to secondary school (Madjar & Cohen-Malayev, 2016). During this transition period, adolescence will have many developmental changes that might bring negative impact on class performance (Holas & Huston, 2012), motivation and engagement (Wang & Holcombe, 2010). All these negative/disruptive behaviors can be modified by using several types of behavior modification.

This thesis will discuss how the operant condition interventions works on achieving the behavioral change of the students, strength and weakness of applying operant conditioning and also comparison with other theories. Besides, will also discuss the suitability of using operant conditioning to modify student’s behavior in a scenario which the students are not participative during the class and not completing their assignment and homework.

Evaluation of Scenario

Most of the secondary school student will be adolescence. Adolescence is a transition period between childhood and adulthood (Brittany,2017) and a the same time they will have transition from primary school to secondary school. In this period, they will have many changes when undergo developmental stage. These changes will impact their behaviour in classroom both positive and negative.

During the class, some student will be interesting and some will not. According to cognitive development theory, during adolescence, cognitive development is invisible but intense and it can be shown in an individual’s intellectual development (California Education, 1987; Kellough & Kellough, 2008 ; Manning, 2002; Scales, 2003; Stevenson, 2002; VanHoose, Strahan, & L’Esperance, 2001) including logical reasoning abilities, independent thought, intellectual and language development (Andrea,2003).They tend to be curious and interest to the subject that they found useful, interesting and is relevant to their real life experience (Brighton, 2007). On the other hand, they often less interested in those traditional academic subjects (Kellough et al., 2008).

In the classroom, a student’s behaviour often affect a classmate’s behaviour or being affected by behaviour of classmates (Berndt and Keefe, 1999; Kindermann, McCollam, & Gibson, 1996). This happen due to peer influence. According to studies, peers/classmates’ behaviours, attitudes or other characteristics can influence behaviour of the adolescence (You, 2011). They may reinforce desirable behaviours such as social skill and academic skill. At the same time they may also reinforce undesirable behaviours such as being disruptive during the lesson (Smith & Fowler,1982).

Most of the adolescence’s action will guided by own values. Adolescence evaluate the consequences, outcomes and the worthwhileness before making decision or doing an action. (Hartley & Somerville, 2015). They are sensitive to gains and losses (Duijvenvoorde & Crone, 2013). Some student are motivated, eager to learn more because they know that if they pay attention and work hard, they will have a good result. The motivation of adolescence increase when they obtain a beneficial or positive outcome.

Evaluation of the Operant Conditioning Theory

Operant conditioning is one of the behavior modifications, which let an individual makes an association between the performed behavior and the feedback of the behavior by rewarding or punishing the individual after performing the particular behavior (Skinner, 1938). Reinforcement and punishment can be positive and negative. Positive reinforcement refers to reward or giving something desirable to doer, to encourage the repetition of desired behavior. Negative reinforcement refers to take away or remove something undesirable from the doer, to encourage the repetition of desired behavior. Positive punishment refers to give something undesirable to the doer to stop or weaken the undesired behavior. Negative punishment refers to take away or remove something desirable to doer, to stop or weaken the undesired behavior.

To effectively modify the student’s behavior, first, positive reinforcement alone (DeLeon, Neidert, Anders, & Rodriguez-Catter, 2001; Lalli, 1999) or in combination with negative reinforcement (Kodak, Lerman, Volkert, & Trosclair, 2007; Piazza, 1997) can be used. Combination of positive and negative reinforcement is effective to modify student’s behaviour (Bouxsein, Roane & Harper, 2011). Mr Tan can do this by praising the student (Conroy, 2009)or giving things they desirable such food, candy or more break time when they participate in class discussion (positive reinforcement) and reduce their homework when all of the student complete their homework and submit assignment on time (negative reinforcement). Besides that, is important to implement reinforcement continuously and immediately (Pettit, 2013), according to the experiment an immediate reward has better effect on modifying a person behavior rather than an interval reward (Deleon,2001).

Continuous reinforcement and partial reinforcement will be two form of reinforcement schedule (Benson, Nesmith, Shervey & Sarah, 2015). In a classroom setting, continuous reinforcement could mean that the student received a reward from the teacher after they perform a correct/desired behavior. Mr Tan can apply continuous reinforcement by rewarding the things that student desirable such as candy, food or more break time to the student whenever the question is answer correctly by the student. It is impractical to reinforce a behaviour whenever it occurs (Benson et al., 2015). Behaviors reinforced by continuous reinforcement schedule have a least resistance to extinction when the reinforcement is withdrawn (Cooper, 2007; Hulac, Terrell, Vining & Bernstein, 2011). Besides that, a same reward won’t motivate every student (Jung,1971) and students might be used and lose interest to the same reward (Fefer, 2016).

Partial Reinforcement schedule will be more practical in a classroom setting. There are several types of partial reinforcement, they are fixed/variable ratio reinforcement and fixed/variable interval reinforcement. Fixed ratio reinforcement means that student will received reinforcement each time when they already perform three correct/desired behavior and in variable ratio reinforcement, the reinforcement will be vary but will be average out in three. Behaviors reinforced by ratio reinforcement will acquire more slowly but is resistant to extinction (Weiner, 1970).

Fixed interval reinforcement means that the student will be reinforced after a period of time, one of the examples will be the assignment due date, student will only be graded if the assignment submitted at a certain date or time (Benson et al., 2015). The behaviour reinforced by fixed interval reinforcement will only be learn or perform when the certain date or time arrives (Kinyanjui, Aloka, Mutisya, Ndeke & Nyang, 2015). Variable interval reinforcement means that the student will be reinforced based on an unpredictable varying period of time. Behaviours which reinforced by variable ratio and variable interval reinforcement have a remarkable resistance to extinction. Comparing all types of schedule, Skinner suggest that to have a better result in modifying, learning a behaviour, reinforcement schedule should start with fixed reinforcement schedule and then follow with variable reinforcement schedule (Kinyanjui et al., 2015).

Positive punishment and negative punishment can also be used to modify student’s undesired behavior (Mather & Goldstein, 2001), however, reinforcement is generally effective than punishment which punishing the student for undesired behavior (Pettit, 2013). Mr Tan can give more homework or assignment when the student didn’t finish their homework and didn’t submit assignment on time, this is called positive punishment. Negative punishment will be Mr Tan reduce the breaktime when the students are not participating class discussion.According to research, reinforcement and punishment will be more effective if the interval between the desired/undesired behaviour and reinforcement/punishment is short, reinforcement / punishment consistent with desired / undesired behaviour and the intensity of the reinforcement / punishment match desired / undesired behaviour (Mather & Goldstein,2001).

According to Bandura’s social cognitive learning theory, an individual learns to perform or display a behavior or an action by observing other individual’s behavior or action and evaluating the consequences and worthwhileness of the behavior or action (Bandura, 1977). Individual usually will observe other individual in their social environment (Patterson, 2018). For student in a classroom, classmate will be the one they observe. This theory will support the operant conditioning, because of when other students observe that one of a student is rewarded by the teacher due to the student’s desired behavior, they will realize that perform the desired behavior will be rewarded. Hence, they will start performing the behavior to get the reward (Jung,1971).

According to Kohlberg’s moral development theory, an individual will undergo four identified level which include six stages. Student in class will be in conventional level. In Conventional level there is two stages, stage 3, interpersonal concordance and stage 4, ‘Law and Order’ orientation (Kohlberg, 1971). In stage 3, individual make a decision based on whether their decision will approve by the primary group or not. Primary group refers to those people which is close and important to the individual, such family, group of friends, club or school. If the individual’s decision approved by the primary group, the individual will feel that he/she belongs to the group (Ma, 2013). In stage 4, individuals know that rules exist in society. They know that obeying the rule is each individual’s duty and will obey the rules to maintain social order. Students which undergo conventional level will have both positive and negative impact on using operant conditioning in a classroom setting. Students which reach stage 3 will react and decide their behavior based on the opinion and reaction of their friends. If their friends have accepted the rewarding or punishment system and become more participative during the class due to the operant conditioning system, students will follow their friend. For those students who reach stage four, they will follow the rules (which is the operant conditioning system) that set by the teacher to maintain classroom order.

The operant conditioning may not be effective due to the egocentrism of adolescence. The theory of egocentric is suggested by Elkind and is a future research about Piaget’s cognitive development. According to Piaget’s theory, adolescence will be in formal operational stage. In this stage, individual’s cognitive ability is fully developed. In this stage, individual can have logical reasoning, forming own theories for issues and can think about other’s thought that leads to egocentrism (Harvey, 2013). Personal fable and the imaginary audience are the two components of egocentrism. Personal fable is corollary to imaginary audience. Adolescence have their own theory about what is wrong and right due to the personal fable. Adolescence believe they are unique and special, because they always feel that they will attract others attention and will be the center of attraction. Besides that, it is common that they have a feeling of invulnerability (Elkind, 1967). Operant conditioning in a classroom may be not effective because students will have a feeling of invulnerability, this feeling will let them ignore and not about the punishment. For examples, the feeling of invulnerability makes the student doesn’t care about the assignment due date (Fixed interval reinforcement), they submit late and being surprised when they assignment has poor grades due to the late submission (Curious, 2010).

Conclusion

According to the research, operant conditioning is a behavioral modification that can effectively modify student’s undesired behavior to desired behaviour, however there is some weaknesses of applying operant conditioning. Weaknesses of applying operant conditioning are student might not be motivated by same reward and getting bored, loss interest with same reinforcement, these can be overcome by preparing various types of reward and larger variety of reinforcement strategies. It will be more effective and long-lasting if successfully overcome the weakness

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