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Because our MP3s have no DRM, you can play it on any device that supports MP3, even on your iPod! KBPS stands for kilobits per second and the number of KBPS represents the audio quality of the MP3s. Here's the range of quality: 128 kbps = good, 192 kbps = great, 256 kbps =. Listen to Psychology on Spotify. Pigeons Playing Ping Pong Album 2014 13 songs.

1. Pigeons Playing Ping Pong — Pleasure. You can play it on any device that supports MP3, even on your iPod! Psychology 2014.
2. Pigeons Playing Ping Pong. Pigeons Playing Ping Pong - Live Life. 'Live Life' by Pigeons Playing Ping Pong 'Psychology' (2014) Download the full album at http.

Based out of Baltimore, MD, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong has an undeniable unique and versatile sound that ascends peaks of musical ecstasy. One of the fastest growing emerging bands in the jam and festival scene, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong is here to bring the party with their danceable electro-funk grooves and infectious ability to bring positive energy to any environment. Just last week, we caught up with Greg Ormont (guitar/vocals) to get all of the latest insight on the Pigeons.

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Pigeons Playing Ping Pong has seen drastic growth and success since hitting the road in 2009. How did it all begin, and what was that first year as a new band like?
GREG: It all began similarly to other bands’ stories. We met in college and it started out as a fun project between two guys: Jeremy Schon (lead guitar) and myself. We met freshman at the University of Maryland. We lived on the same floor, so the first day of school I walked down the hall with my guitar looking for a little help and someone to jam with. A union was formed that is definitely stronger than we anticipated. It’s always fun to look back at because it’s not something I planned for, in terms of becoming a full-time touring musician. However, it was a very natural beginning and smooth transition from two people to four people, from coffee shops to campus events, to local bars, to our first show out of town, to now full-time touring musicians. It was a very casual and natural growth.
Describing the first year is kind of hard to put your finger on because we started as a duo, so I’ll talk about our first year as a full band. The first time we left University of Maryland to play a show, we were all really excited to be travelling and playing and seeing the country. Watching that process develop into a profession has been awesome and a really cool insider’s look at the music business. But the first year, and really every year following, has really been about having fun and spreading good times to similar and different people.
For us, it’s always been about fun. I bet you can believe that from our name, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong. While we do take ourselves seriously as businessmen and musicians, we love to keep more of a lax atmosphere on stage within the band. Thankfully we’ve never lost that thirst for having fun and spreading good music during our evolution as a band.

Before ever hearing your music, I couldn’t help but be drawn to the name of the band. Can you elaborate on the story behind Pigeons Playing Ping Pong?
GREG: Oh man, yeah that question always spikes the interviewer’s curiosity. The name came when we were still an acoustic duo. I was thinking about band names a little bit, because we were starting to play more shows, but it was still a dorm project. I mean, we were playing gigs, but it still had that super lax, natural, hang out feel. So I didn’t feel a lot of pressure in terms of coming up with a band name at the time. If I tried to come up with a band name today, it would definitely feel like more of a big decision.
So Jeremy and I were sitting in Psychology class, and I was looking down at my textbook, on the wrong page, and the phrase “pigeons playing ping pong” literally jumped out at me. There was either a fluorescent light bulb above me toying with the shiny textbook paper, or some other factor at play, but the phrase had gold behind it and straight up jumped off the page. I leaned over to Jeremy, pointed to it and said, “that’s our band name right there.” He simply replied, “down.” And that was that. I’ve told that story so many times, and the more I heard it come out of my mouth, the more it sounds like total B.S. But I’m telling you the phrase jumped off the page.
As I said before, I had begun thinking about band names and decided it should either be a one-word band name, like Tool or Radiohead or Phish, or it should be a catchy phrase, like the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Just some whacky phrase that bounces off your tongue. And sure enough, it was Pigeons Playing Ping Pong. I think it even has the same amount of syllables as Red Hot Chili Peppers; another band that we all mutually love. So that’s how it happened. Either that or some aliens gave me some advice, I’m not at liberty to say.

Last summer, you guys released your first full studio album, Psychology. How much original material had been written since the previous album Funk EP, and how did you ultimately decide which tracks would make the final cut?
GREG: That’s a great question and FYI, Funk EP is actually a full-length album. We had a song on it called Funk E Zekeil, so Funk EP was a play on words regarding that. Anyway, we recorded Funk EP in roughly one night in college at our campus radio station in 2010. Psychology came out in 2014, so we had a ton of new music to choose from. In those four years, the music we wrote evolved into songs more like our current sound. If you listen to the two albums, you’ll notice that the music is very different in many ways. Still the same funky vibe, but it takes time for a band to find its voice as a unit. At some point, probably around 2011, we developed our own signature sound; our own signature brand of psychedelic funk. And that just came from jamming together for so long.
So Psychology has music that is way more like our live show these days than Funk EP, although we still play a bunch of those early songs and even revamped a few to match our current vibe. In terms of choosing music for Psychology, we had to decide what should be on this album and what should be saved for the next one, because we have a lot of original music. Off the bat, we knew that a couple of our live heavy hitters had to be on there, you know, the songs that kind of sum up this era of the band. I tend to look at our albums as snapshots of where we are and what we’ve been playing live when we release the album. So songs like “F.U.”, “Melting Lights”, and “Julia” seemed like great choices for this one. Psychology was released right at the peak of those songs.
Secondly, we try to make the album as fluid as possible. Different songs serve different purposes on albums. Sometimes you need a song that’s a little more down tempo and chill, while other times you need a pump up, depending on the overall flow of the album. It’s very similar to planning a live show, except we don’t wait to play our “hits” at the end. Most albums tend to be slightly frontloaded. We like to hit ‘em hard right off the bat, and keep that great vibe going all the way through. So if we have three down tempo songs in our repertoire and space for only one cool down, we tend to pick the most appropriate and fluid option and save the others for the next album’s chill moments, if you know what I mean. We have our different styles and we like to spread them out logically for flow’s sake.

The song “Melting Lights” tells a very entertaining and honest story that I’ve wondered a lot about. Care to share any background on that particular song?
GREG: All I can say is that after my first few years of songwriting, I finally decided to tell it how it is.

The unique sound and high energy level of the band certainly plays in your favor. Who are your biggest influences, and how do you feel your sound has evolved over the years?
GREG: This is a tough question to answer, because I can only answer as an individual. If it was just one of us playing all the instruments, it would only be one sound, one perspective, one set of influences. We’re all different people raised on different music, and had different musical preference early on. After a while, you get the amalgamation of all of it as a band.
When it comes down to answering your question simply and directly, we’ve said in the past that our music is a combination of Phish, Talking Heads, Lotus, The New Mastersounds and Red Hot Chili Peppers. But I’ve been in 20+ musicals and I grew up on classic rock, whereas our drummer listened to more 311 and hip-hop. Our sound truly is a combination of all of our musical pasts. After you jam together for a while, those influences morph and take on a unique sound that the four of us are proud to put our name on.

What’s the usual practice behind a Pigeons set list? How do you guys go about selecting the songs on any given night? How much improvisation is involved?
GREG: Well, Jeremy writes the absolute majority of our set lists so you can follow up with him. But I can tell you that we have a document on our computer of every set list we’ve ever played so we can look back at what we’ve played in certain towns or areas the last few shows there. We tour so much that it would be unrealistic to remember what songs we played at every show so the database is crucial. We want our fans to see a new show every time with interesting song choices and fun surprises.
We recently have been fortunate enough to have some fans travel with us from show to show. It challenges us tremendously when we know that there is going to be groups of people seeing a bunch of shows in a row. It really expands our set list, and more so, it expands our jamming. It encourages us to improv more with hopes of creating new and exciting musical moments at every show. It also inspires us to write more music and to focus on making each song as great as it can be every time. I think our diehard Flockers keep coming back because we’ve never played the same set twice and plan to keep it that way. It’s a lot of work but it keeps our shows interesting for the Flock and ourselves.
Once we get a feel for what our repeat customers have seen recently, we build a high-octane, fun-filled, fluid set list to blow people’s pants off. As far as improvisation goes, that lies primarily in the jams. I mean, we don’t always stick to a set list. If the mood is right, we’ll bail on the set and take the jams wherever we want. There are no rules.

Looking ahead in 2015, what can we expect from the Pigeons? Are there any events that have the band particularly excited?
GREG: That’s an easy question for me. Jeremy and I throw a festival every year called Domefest and it’s the ultimate gathering of the Flock. It started with Jeremy throwing a raging 1-day 1-night music and camping party near the University of Maryland. It was so much fun getting our friends together that it blossomed into a full on festival, with this year extending to three nights for the first time. It’s May 28-30, 2015 at Trip’s Farm (formerly known as Sunshine Daydream Memorial Park) in Terra Alta, WV, a beautiful site that has played host to a number of tremendous festivals in past years including a young All Good Festival.
Domefest attracts Flockers from all over the country, and seeing our friends and fans meet is an amazing experience. We’ve seen new couples meet at our shows, new friends meeting and eventually becoming family… the list goes on. I think that’s what the jam scene is all about; bringing people together through live music. It’s the icing on an already sweet cake and Domefest is the ultimate launch pad for that special something.
We also use Domefest as an opportunity to show our fans all of the amazing bands that we have met on the road. We have bands from all over the East Coast and Mid-West who deserve a big stage with a thirsty crowd, regardless of how well known they are. A lot of bands go on to play successful shows back in this area and that makes us so happy. We travel year-round looking for Domefest-esque music fans, so we feel it’s our bandly duty to give other bands a chance to play for new fans and share a special moment in our neck of the woods.
That’s what our live show is all about. It’s about the connection and the shared human experience. It doesn’t matter if we’re playing for 10 or 10,000 people. It’s about surrounding yourself with positive people and surrendering to the flow. We’re proud that Domefest brings likeminded people together, give bands the stages they deserve, and lets people experience something truly special in an open and ultra-fun environment. I can’t funkin’ wait for this year’s musical madness.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Define operant conditioning
• Explain the difference between reinforcement and punishment
• Distinguish between reinforcement schedules

The previous section of this chapter focused on the type of associative learning known as classical conditioning. Remember that in classical conditioning, something in the environment triggers a reflex automatically, and researchers train the organism to react to a different stimulus. Now we turn to the second type of associative learning, operant conditioning. In operant conditioning, organisms learn to associate a behavior and its consequence ([link]). A pleasant consequence makes that behavior more likely to be repeated in the future. For example, Spirit, a dolphin at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, does a flip in the air when her trainer blows a whistle. The consequence is that she gets a fish.

Psychologist B. F. Skinner saw that classical conditioning is limited to existing behaviors that are reflexively elicited, and it doesn’t account for new behaviors such as riding a bike. He proposed a theory about how such behaviors come about. Skinner believed that behavior is motivated by the consequences we receive for the behavior: the reinforcements and punishments. His idea that learning is the result of consequences is based on the law of effect, which was first proposed by psychologist Edward Thorndike. According to the law of effect, behaviors that are followed by consequences that are satisfying to the organism are more likely to be repeated, and behaviors that are followed by unpleasant consequences are less likely to be repeated (Thorndike, 1911). Essentially, if an organism does something that brings about a desired result, the organism is more likely to do it again. If an organism does something that does not bring about a desired result, the organism is less likely to do it again. An example of the law of effect is in employment. One of the reasons (and often the main reason) we show up for work is because we get paid to do so. If we stop getting paid, we will likely stop showing up—even if we love our job.

Working with Thorndike’s law of effect as his foundation, Skinner began conducting scientific experiments on animals (mainly rats and pigeons) to determine how organisms learn through operant conditioning (Skinner, 1938). He placed these animals inside an operant conditioning chamber, which has come to be known as a “Skinner box” ([link]). A Skinner box contains a lever (for rats) or disk (for pigeons) that the animal can press or peck for a food reward via the dispenser. Speakers and lights can be associated with certain behaviors. A recorder counts the number of responses made by the animal.

Link to Learning

Watch this brief video clip to learn more about operant conditioning: Skinner is interviewed, and operant conditioning of pigeons is demonstrated.

In discussing operant conditioning, we use several everyday words—positive, negative, reinforcement, and punishment—in a specialized manner. In operant conditioning, positive and negative do not mean good and bad. Instead, positive means you are adding something, and negative means you are taking something away. Reinforcement means you are increasing a behavior, and punishment means you are decreasing a behavior. Reinforcement can be positive or negative, and punishment can also be positive or negative. All reinforcers (positive or negative) increase the likelihood of a behavioral response. All punishers (positive or negative) decrease the likelihood of a behavioral response. Now let’s combine these four terms: positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, and negative punishment ([link]).

REINFORCEMENT

The most effective way to teach a person or animal a new behavior is with positive reinforcement. In positive reinforcement, a desirable stimulus is added to increase a behavior.

For example, you tell your five-year-old son, Jerome, that if he cleans his room, he will get a toy. Jerome quickly cleans his room because he wants a new art set. Let’s pause for a moment. Some people might say, “Why should I reward my child for doing what is expected?” But in fact we are constantly and consistently rewarded in our lives. Our paychecks are rewards, as are high grades and acceptance into our preferred school. Being praised for doing a good job and for passing a driver’s test is also a reward. Positive reinforcement as a learning tool is extremely effective. It has been found that one of the most effective ways to increase achievement in school districts with below-average reading scores was to pay the children to read. Specifically, second-grade students in Dallas were paid $2 each time they read a book and passed a short quiz about the book. The result was a significant increase in reading comprehension (Fryer, 2010). What do you think about this program? If Skinner were alive today, he would probably think this was a great idea. He was a strong proponent of using operant conditioning principles to influence students’ behavior at school. In fact, in addition to the Skinner box, he also invented what he called a teaching machine that was designed to reward small steps in learning (Skinner, 1961)—an early forerunner of computer-assisted learning. His teaching machine tested students’ knowledge as they worked through various school subjects. If students answered questions correctly, they received immediate positive reinforcement and could continue; if they answered incorrectly, they did not receive any reinforcement. The idea was that students would spend additional time studying the material to increase their chance of being reinforced the next time (Skinner, 1961).

In negative reinforcement, an undesirable stimulus is removed to increase a behavior. For example, car manufacturers use the principles of negative reinforcement in their seatbelt systems, which go “beep, beep, beep” until you fasten your seatbelt. The annoying sound stops when you exhibit the desired behavior, increasing the likelihood that you will buckle up in the future. Negative reinforcement is also used frequently in horse training. Riders apply pressure—by pulling the reins or squeezing their legs—and then remove the pressure when the horse performs the desired behavior, such as turning or speeding up. The pressure is the negative stimulus that the horse wants to remove.

PUNISHMENT

Many people confuse negative reinforcement with punishment in operant conditioning, but they are two very different mechanisms. Remember that reinforcement, even when it is negative, always increases a behavior. In contrast, punishment always decreases a behavior. In positive punishment, you add an undesirable stimulus to decrease a behavior. An example of positive punishment is scolding a student to get the student to stop texting in class. In this case, a stimulus (the reprimand) is added in order to decrease the behavior (texting in class). In negative punishment, you remove a pleasant stimulus to decrease a behavior. For example, a driver might blast her horn when a light turns green, and continue blasting the horn until the car in front moves.

Punishment, especially when it is immediate, is one way to decrease undesirable behavior. For example, imagine your four-year-old son, Brandon, runs into the busy street to get his ball. You give him a time-out (positive punishment) and tell him never to go into the street again. Chances are he won’t repeat this behavior. While strategies like time-outs are common today, in the past children were often subject to physical punishment, such as spanking. It’s important to be aware of some of the drawbacks in using physical punishment on children. First, punishment may teach fear. Brandon may become fearful of the street, but he also may become fearful of the person who delivered the punishment—you, his parent. Similarly, children who are punished by teachers may come to fear the teacher and try to avoid school (Gershoff et al., 2010). Consequently, most schools in the United States have banned corporal punishment. Second, punishment may cause children to become more aggressive and prone to antisocial behavior and delinquency (Gershoff, 2002). They see their parents resort to spanking when they become angry and frustrated, so, in turn, they may act out this same behavior when they become angry and frustrated. For example, because you spank Brenda when you are angry with her for her misbehavior, she might start hitting her friends when they won’t share their toys.

While positive punishment can be effective in some cases, Skinner suggested that the use of punishment should be weighed against the possible negative effects. Today’s psychologists and parenting experts favor reinforcement over punishment—they recommend that you catch your child doing something good and reward her for it.

Shaping

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. Why is shaping needed? Remember that in order for reinforcement to work, the organism must first display the behavior. Shaping is needed because it is extremely unlikely that an organism will display anything but the simplest of behaviors spontaneously. In shaping, behaviors are broken down into many small, achievable steps. The specific steps used in the process are the following:

Reinforce any response that resembles the desired behavior.
Then reinforce the response that more closely resembles the desired behavior. You will no longer reinforce the previously reinforced response.
Next, begin to reinforce the response that even more closely resembles the desired behavior.
Continue to reinforce closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior.
Finally, only reinforce the desired behavior.

Shaping is often used in teaching a complex behavior or chain of behaviors. Skinner used shaping to teach pigeons not only such relatively simple behaviors as pecking a disk in a Skinner box, but also many unusual and entertaining behaviors, such as turning in circles, walking in figure eights, and even playing ping pong; the technique is commonly used by animal trainers today. An important part of shaping is stimulus discrimination. Recall Pavlov’s dogs—he trained them to respond to the tone of a bell, and not to similar tones or sounds. This discrimination is also important in operant conditioning and in shaping behavior.

Link to Learning

Here is a brief video of Skinner’s pigeons playing ping pong.

It’s easy to see how shaping is effective in teaching behaviors to animals, but how does shaping work with humans? Let’s consider parents whose goal is to have their child learn to clean his room. They use shaping to help him master steps toward the goal. Instead of performing the entire task, they set up these steps and reinforce each step. First, he cleans up one toy. Second, he cleans up five toys. Third, he chooses whether to pick up ten toys or put his books and clothes away. Fourth, he cleans up everything except two toys. Finally, he cleans his entire room.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY REINFORCERS

Rewards such as stickers, praise, money, toys, and more can be used to reinforce learning. Let’s go back to Skinner’s rats again. How did the rats learn to press the lever in the Skinner box? They were rewarded with food each time they pressed the lever. For animals, food would be an obvious reinforcer.

What would be a good reinforce for humans? For your daughter Sydney, it was the promise of a toy if she cleaned her room. How about Joaquin, the soccer player? If you gave Joaquin a piece of candy every time he made a goal, you would be using a primary reinforcer. Primary reinforcers are reinforcers that have innate reinforcing qualities. These kinds of reinforcers are not learned. Water, food, sleep, shelter, sex, and touch, among others, are primary reinforcers. Pleasure is also a primary reinforcer. Organisms do not lose their drive for these things. For most people, jumping in a cool lake on a very hot day would be reinforcing and the cool lake would be innately reinforcing—the water would cool the person off (a physical need), as well as provide pleasure.

A secondary reinforcer has no inherent value and only has reinforcing qualities when linked with a primary reinforcer. Praise, linked to affection, is one example of a secondary reinforcer, as when you called out “Great shot!” every time Joaquin made a goal. Another example, money, is only worth something when you can use it to buy other things—either things that satisfy basic needs (food, water, shelter—all primary reinforcers) or other secondary reinforcers. If you were on a remote island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and you had stacks of money, the money would not be useful if you could not spend it. What about the stickers on the behavior chart? They also are secondary reinforcers.

Sometimes, instead of stickers on a sticker chart, a token is used. Tokens, which are also secondary reinforcers, can then be traded in for rewards and prizes. Entire behavior management systems, known as token economies, are built around the use of these kinds of token reinforcers. Token economies have been found to be very effective at modifying behavior in a variety of settings such as schools, prisons, and mental hospitals. For example, a study by Cangi and Daly (2013) found that use of a token economy increased appropriate social behaviors and reduced inappropriate behaviors in a group of autistic school children. Autistic children tend to exhibit disruptive behaviors such as pinching and hitting. When the children in the study exhibited appropriate behavior (not hitting or pinching), they received a “quiet hands” token. When they hit or pinched, they lost a token. The children could then exchange specified amounts of tokens for minutes of playtime.

Parents and teachers often use behavior modification to change a child’s behavior. Behavior modification uses the principles of operant conditioning to accomplish behavior change so that undesirable behaviors are switched for more socially acceptable ones. Some teachers and parents create a sticker chart, in which several behaviors are listed ([link]). Sticker charts are a form of token economies, as described in the text. Each time children perform the behavior, they get a sticker, and after a certain number of stickers, they get a prize, or reinforcer. The goal is to increase acceptable behaviors and decrease misbehavior. Remember, it is best to reinforce desired behaviors, rather than to use punishment. In the classroom, the teacher can reinforce a wide range of behaviors, from students raising their hands, to walking quietly in the hall, to turning in their homework. At home, parents might create a behavior chart that rewards children for things such as putting away toys, brushing their teeth, and helping with dinner. In order for behavior modification to be effective, the reinforcement needs to be connected with the behavior; the reinforcement must matter to the child and be done consistently.

Time-out is another popular technique used in behavior modification with children. It operates on the principle of negative punishment. When a child demonstrates an undesirable behavior, she is removed from the desirable activity at hand ([link]). For example, say that Sophia and her brother Mario are playing with building blocks. Sophia throws some blocks at her brother, so you give her a warning that she will go to time-out if she does it again. A few minutes later, she throws more blocks at Mario. You remove Sophia from the room for a few minutes. When she comes back, she doesn’t throw blocks.

There are several important points that you should know if you plan to implement time-out as a behavior modification technique. First, make sure the child is being removed from a desirable activity and placed in a less desirable location. If the activity is something undesirable for the child, this technique will backfire because it is more enjoyable for the child to be removed from the activity. Second, the length of the time-out is important. The general rule of thumb is one minute for each year of the child’s age. Sophia is five; therefore, she sits in a time-out for five minutes. Setting a timer helps children know how long they have to sit in time-out. Finally, as a caregiver, keep several guidelines in mind over the course of a time-out: remain calm when directing your child to time-out; ignore your child during time-out (because caregiver attention may reinforce misbehavior); and give the child a hug or a kind word when time-out is over.

REINFORCEMENT SCHEDULES

Remember, the best way to teach a person or animal a behavior is to use positive reinforcement. For example, Skinner used positive reinforcement to teach rats to press a lever in a Skinner box. At first, the rat might randomly hit the lever while exploring the box, and out would come a pellet of food. After eating the pellet, what do you think the hungry rat did next? It hit the lever again, and received another pellet of food. Each time the rat hit the lever, a pellet of food came out. When an organism receives a reinforcer each time it displays a behavior, it is called continuous reinforcement. This reinforcement schedule is the quickest way to teach someone a behavior, and it is especially effective in training a new behavior. Let’s look back at the dog that was learning to sit earlier in the chapter. Now, each time he sits, you give him a treat. Timing is important here: you will be most successful if you present the reinforcer immediately after he sits, so that he can make an association between the target behavior (sitting) and the consequence (getting a treat).

Link to Learning

Watch this video clip where veterinarian Dr. Sophia Yin shapes a dog’s behavior using the steps outlined above.

Once a behavior is trained, researchers and trainers often turn to another type of reinforcement schedule—partial reinforcement. In partial reinforcement, also referred to as intermittent reinforcement, the person or animal does not get reinforced every time they perform the desired behavior. There are several different types of partial reinforcement schedules ([link]). These schedules are described as either fixed or variable, and as either interval or ratio. Fixed refers to the number of responses between reinforcements, or the amount of time between reinforcements, which is set and unchanging. Variable refers to the number of responses or amount of time between reinforcements, which varies or changes. Interval means the schedule is based on the time between reinforcements, and ratio means the schedule is based on the number of responses between reinforcements.

Now let’s combine these four terms. A fixed interval reinforcement schedule is when behavior is rewarded after a set amount of time. For example, June undergoes major surgery in a hospital. During recovery, she is expected to experience pain and will require prescription medications for pain relief. June is given an IV drip with a patient-controlled painkiller. Her doctor sets a limit: one dose per hour. June pushes a button when pain becomes difficult, and she receives a dose of medication. Since the reward (pain relief) only occurs on a fixed interval, there is no point in exhibiting the behavior when it will not be rewarded.

With a variable interval reinforcement schedule, the person or animal gets the reinforcement based on varying amounts of time, which are unpredictable. Say that Manuel is the manager at a fast-food restaurant. Every once in a while someone from the quality control division comes to Manuel’s restaurant. If the restaurant is clean and the service is fast, everyone on that shift earns a $20 bonus. Manuel never knows when the quality control person will show up, so he always tries to keep the restaurant clean and ensures that his employees provide prompt and courteous service. His productivity regarding prompt service and keeping a clean restaurant are steady because he wants his crew to earn the bonus.

With a fixed ratio reinforcement schedule, there are a set number of responses that must occur before the behavior is rewarded. Carla sells glasses at an eyeglass store, and she earns a commission every time she sells a pair of glasses. She always tries to sell people more pairs of glasses, including prescription sunglasses or a backup pair, so she can increase her commission. She does not care if the person really needs the prescription sunglasses, Carla just wants her bonus. The quality of what Carla sells does not matter because her commission is not based on quality; it’s only based on the number of pairs sold. This distinction in the quality of performance can help determine which reinforcement method is most appropriate for a particular situation. Fixed ratios are better suited to optimize the quantity of output, whereas a fixed interval, in which the reward is not quantity based, can lead to a higher quality of output.

In a variable ratio reinforcement schedule, the number of responses needed for a reward varies. This is the most powerful partial reinforcement schedule. An example of the variable ratio reinforcement schedule is gambling. Imagine that Sarah—generally a smart, thrifty woman—visits Las Vegas for the first time. She is not a gambler, but out of curiosity she puts a quarter into the slot machine, and then another, and another. Nothing happens. Two dollars in quarters later, her curiosity is fading, and she is just about to quit. But then, the machine lights up, bells go off, and Sarah gets 50 quarters back. That’s more like it! Sarah gets back to inserting quarters with renewed interest, and a few minutes later she has used up all her gains and is $10 in the hole. Now might be a sensible time to quit. And yet, she keeps putting money into the slot machine because she never knows when the next reinforcement is coming. She keeps thinking that with the next quarter she could win $50, or $100, or even more. Because the reinforcement schedule in most types of gambling has a variable ratio schedule, people keep trying and hoping that the next time they will win big. This is one of the reasons that gambling is so addictive—and so resistant to extinction.

In operant conditioning, extinction of a reinforced behavior occurs at some point after reinforcement stops, and the speed at which this happens depends on the reinforcement schedule. In a variable ratio schedule, the point of extinction comes very slowly, as described above. But in the other reinforcement schedules, extinction may come quickly. For example, if June presses the button for the pain relief medication before the allotted time her doctor has approved, no medication is administered. She is on a fixed interval reinforcement schedule (dosed hourly), so extinction occurs quickly when reinforcement doesn’t come at the expected time. Among the reinforcement schedules, variable ratio is the most productive and the most resistant to extinction. Fixed interval is the least productive and the easiest to extinguish ([link]).

Connect the Concepts: Gambling and the Brain

Skinner (1953) stated, “If the gambling establishment cannot persuade a patron to turn over money with no return, it may achieve the same effect by returning part of the patron’s money on a variable-ratio schedule” (p. 397).

Skinner uses gambling as an example of the power and effectiveness of conditioning behavior based on a variable ratio reinforcement schedule. In fact, Skinner was so confident in his knowledge of gambling addiction that he even claimed he could turn a pigeon into a pathological gambler (“Skinner’s Utopia,” 1971). Beyond the power of variable ratio reinforcement, gambling seems to work on the brain in the same way as some addictive drugs. The Illinois Institute for Addiction Recovery (n.d.) reports evidence suggesting that pathological gambling is an addiction similar to a chemical addiction ([link]). Specifically, gambling may activate the reward centers of the brain, much like cocaine does. Research has shown that some pathological gamblers have lower levels of the neurotransmitter (brain chemical) known as norepinephrine than do normal gamblers (Roy, et al., 1988). According to a study conducted by Alec Roy and colleagues, norepinephrine is secreted when a person feels stress, arousal, or thrill; pathological gamblers use gambling to increase their levels of this neurotransmitter. Another researcher, neuroscientist Hans Breiter, has done extensive research on gambling and its effects on the brain. Breiter (as cited in Franzen, 2001) reports that “Monetary reward in a gambling-like experiment produces brain activation very similar to that observed in a cocaine addict receiving an infusion of cocaine” (para. 1). Deficiencies in serotonin (another neurotransmitter) might also contribute to compulsive behavior, including a gambling addiction.

It may be that pathological gamblers’ brains are different than those of other people, and perhaps this difference may somehow have led to their gambling addiction, as these studies seem to suggest. However, it is very difficult to ascertain the cause because it is impossible to conduct a true experiment (it would be unethical to try to turn randomly assigned participants into problem gamblers). Therefore, it may be that causation actually moves in the opposite direction—perhaps the act of gambling somehow changes neurotransmitter levels in some gamblers’ brains. It also is possible that some overlooked factor, or confounding variable, played a role in both the gambling addiction and the differences in brain chemistry.

COGNITION AND LATENT LEARNING

Although strict behaviorists such as Skinner and Watson refused to believe that cognition (such as thoughts and expectations) plays a role in learning, another behaviorist, Edward C. Tolman, had a different opinion. Tolman’s experiments with rats demonstrated that organisms can learn even if they do not receive immediate reinforcement (Tolman & Honzik, 1930; Tolman, Ritchie, & Kalish, 1946). This finding was in conflict with the prevailing idea at the time that reinforcement must be immediate in order for learning to occur, thus suggesting a cognitive aspect to learning.

In the experiments, Tolman placed hungry rats in a maze with no reward for finding their way through it. He also studied a comparison group that was rewarded with food at the end of the maze. As the unreinforced rats explored the maze, they developed a cognitive map: a mental picture of the layout of the maze ([link]). After 10 sessions in the maze without reinforcement, food was placed in a goal box at the end of the maze. As soon as the rats became aware of the food, they were able to find their way through the maze quickly, just as quickly as the comparison group, which had been rewarded with food all along. This is known as latent learning: learning that occurs but is not observable in behavior until there is a reason to demonstrate it.

Latent learning also occurs in humans. Children may learn by watching the actions of their parents but only demonstrate it at a later date, when the learned material is needed. For example, suppose that Ravi’s dad drives him to school every day. In this way, Ravi learns the route from his house to his school, but he’s never driven there himself, so he has not had a chance to demonstrate that he’s learned the way. One morning Ravi’s dad has to leave early for a meeting, so he can’t drive Ravi to school. Instead, Ravi follows the same route on his bike that his dad would have taken in the car. This demonstrates latent learning. Ravi had learned the route to school, but had no need to demonstrate this knowledge earlier.

Everyday Connection: This Place Is Like a Maze

Have you ever gotten lost in a building and couldn’t find your way back out? While that can be frustrating, you’re not alone. At one time or another we’ve all gotten lost in places like a museum, hospital, or university library. Whenever we go someplace new, we build a mental representation—or cognitive map—of the location, as Tolman’s rats built a cognitive map of their maze. However, some buildings are confusing because they include many areas that look alike or have short lines of sight. Because of this, it’s often difficult to predict what’s around a corner or decide whether to turn left or right to get out of a building. Psychologist Laura Carlson (2010) suggests that what we place in our cognitive map can impact our success in navigating through the environment. She suggests that paying attention to specific features upon entering a building, such as a picture on the wall, a fountain, a statue, or an escalator, adds information to our cognitive map that can be used later to help find our way out of the building.

Link to Learning

Watch this video to learn more about Carlson’s studies on cognitive maps and navigation in buildings.

Summary

Operant conditioning is based on the work of B. F. Skinner. Operant conditioning is a form of learning in which the motivation for a behavior happens after the behavior is demonstrated. An animal or a human receives a consequence after performing a specific behavior. The consequence is either a reinforcer or a punisher. All reinforcement (positive or negative) increases the likelihood of a behavioral response. All punishment (positive or negative) decreases the likelihood of a behavioral response. Several types of reinforcement schedules are used to reward behavior depending on either a set or variable period of time.

Self Check Questions

Critical Thinking Questions

2. What is the difference between negative reinforcement and punishment?

3. What is shaping and how would you use shaping to teach a dog to roll over?

4. Explain the difference between negative reinforcement and punishment, and provide several examples of each based on your own experiences.

5. Think of a behavior that you have that you would like to change. How could you use behavior modification, specifically positive reinforcement, to change your behavior? What is your positive reinforcer?

Answers

1. A Skinner box is an operant conditioning chamber used to train animals such as rats and pigeons to perform certain behaviors, like pressing a lever. When the animals perform the desired behavior, they receive a reward: food or water.

2. In negative reinforcement you are taking away an undesirable stimulus in order to increase the frequency of a certain behavior (e.g., buckling your seat belt stops the annoying beeping sound in your car and increases the likelihood that you will wear your seatbelt). Punishment is designed to reduce a behavior (e.g., you scold your child for running into the street in order to decrease the unsafe behavior.)

3. Shaping is an operant conditioning method in which you reward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior. If you want to teach your dog to roll over, you might reward him first when he sits, then when he lies down, and then when he lies down and rolls onto his back. Finally, you would reward him only when he completes the entire sequence: lying down, rolling onto his back, and then continuing to roll over to his other side.

Glossary

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