BEH 225 Assignment: operant conditioning

BEH 225 Assignment: operant conditioning

BEH 225 Assignment: operant conditioning

Patty Partygoer has discovered a new favorite beverage: banana daiquiris. Because the drink tastes like one of her favorite fruits, she barely notices its strong alcohol content. However, after a night of over-indulging, she awakes feeling dreadful and spends the day very sick to her stomach. Wisely, she swears off banana daiquiris forever. The following day, hearing that Patty was under the weather and wanting to be helpful, her mother arrives with one of Patty’s favorite treats: a lovely, homemade banana cream pie. Patty takes one look and runs for the bathroom. She never consumes bananas in any form again. Each of the three questions below is worth five points.

1. This is an example of what type of conditioning?

2. Explain each type of stimulus and response (US, UR, CS, and CR)

3. Identify where these elements can be found in the example of Patty Partygoer.

9-year old Matilda hates doing math problems. Every time her teacher hands out math worksheets, Matilda begins dawdling and chatting with classmates. To change this behavior, her teacher moves Matilda’s desk into the hall during math time, thinking that this unpleasant consequence will stop Matilda from wasting time from now on. Matilda settles quickly into her seat in the hallway, where she happily passes the time drawing unflattering pictures of her teacher at the back of her notebook. The next day during math time, Matilda again dawdles and chats with her classmates. Each of the questions below is worth three points.

Answer each of the questions below.

1. What was the undesired behavior, from the perspective of the teacher?

2. What was the desired behavior, from the perspective of the teacher?

3. What conditioning strategy was the teacher attempting to use? Explain.

4. What type of conditioning actually occurred? Explain.

5. What conditioning strategy might have been more successful in changing Matilda’s behavior? Explain why in terms of operant conditioning. Utilize the information in the text to support your answer:

Little Freddy Fisticuffs is fast becoming the neighborhood bully. He dominates the other kids, and when he doesn’t get his way he resorts to punching or kicking. Whenever he misbehaves this way, Freddy’s mother punishes him by sending him to his room. Freddy’s father considers the behavior a typical phase that boys go through, so he sometimes overrules the punishment and allows Freddy to go free. Freddy continues to torment the other children on the block.

Answer each of the questions below. Utilize the information in the text to support your answer. Each of the questions in the Freddy Fisticuffs example is worth five points.

1. Punishment is known to be a powerful controller of behavior, but mother’s punishments aren’t changing Freddy’s behavior. From the perspective of conditioning, why not?

2. If Freddy needs to be punished, what are some tips his parents should keep in mind in order to make sure the punishment is effective?

3. Would spanking Freddy be a better solution? Why or why not? Use the information from the text to support your answer. Explain the drawbacks to using punishment as a strategy to change behavior.