Correct Answer - Option 3 : Skinner
B. F. Skinner, an American psychologist, propounded the "Theory of Operant Conditioning" which is also known as "Instrumental Conditioning Theory". This theory refers to the learning process where learning takes place through rewarding a certain behavior or withholding reward for undesirable behavior.
SKINNER’S EXPERIMENT WITH RAT
- Skinner developed a special apparatus known as a skinner’s box.
- This box has a grid floor, a system of light, or sound produced at the time of delivery of a pellet of food, in the food cup, on the pressing of the lever.
- Skinner placed a hungry rat in the box.
- In this experiment, pressure on the bar in a certain way, by the rat could result in the production of a click and emergence of a food pellet.
- The rat was rewarded for each proper pressing of the lever.
- The rat repeated this process and ultimately learned to press the lever desired by the experimenter.
Characteristics of Operant conditioning
- Through operant conditioning, an association is made between a behavior and a consequence, whether negative or positive, for that behavior.
- Operant conditioning is a type of associative learning process through which the strength of a behavior is modified by reinforcement or punishment.
- It is also a procedure that is used to bring about such learning.
- In his operant conditioning experiments, Skinner often used an approach called shaping.
- Instead of rewarding only the target behavior, in shaping, we reward successive approximations of a target behavior.
- Then reinforce the response that more closely resembles the desired behavior.
Therefore, Principle of successive approximation is used in shaping behaviour in Skinner’s Operant Conditioning