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An operant conditioning chamber (also known as a Skinner box) is a laboratory apparatus used to study Animal Behavior. The operant conditioning chamber was created by B. F. Skinner while he was a graduate student at Harvard University. The chamber can be used to study both operant conditioning and classical conditioning.
Skinner created the operant conditioning chamber as a variation of the puzzle box originally created by Edward Thorndike. (2014). 9781464155284, Macmillan. ISBN 9781464155284 While Skinner's early studies were done using Rat, he later moved on to study Columbidae. The operant conditioning chamber may be used to observe or manipulate behaviour. An animal is placed in the box where it must learn to activate levers or respond to light or sound stimuli for reinforcement. The reward may be food or the removal of Noxious stimulus such as a loud alarm. The chamber is used to test specific Hypothesis in a controlled setting.
Skinner designed the operant conditioning chamber to allow for specific hypothesis testing and behavioural observation. He wanted to create a way to observe animals in a more controlled setting as observation of behaviour in nature can be unpredictable.
Skinner's pigeon studies involved a series of levers. When the lever was pressed, the pigeon would receive a food reward. This was made more complex as researchers studied animal learning behaviours. A pigeon would be placed in the conditioning chamber and another one would be placed in an adjacent box separated by a plexiglass wall. The pigeon in the chamber would learn to press the lever to receive food as the other pigeon watched. The pigeons would then be switched, and researchers would observe them for signs of cultural learning.
Operant conditioning chambers have at least one response mechanism that can automatically detect the occurrence of a response or action (i.e., pecking, pressing, pushing, etc.). This may be a lever or series of lights which the animal will respond to in the presence of stimulus. Typical mechanisms for primates and rats are response levers; if the subject presses the lever, the opposite end closes a switch that is monitored by a computer or other programmed device. Typical mechanisms for pigeons and other are telegraph key with a switch that closes if the bird pecks at the key with sufficient force. The other minimal requirement of an operant conditioning chamber is that it has a means of delivering a primary reinforcer such as a food reward. simple configuration, such as one response mechanism and one feeder, may be used to investigate a variety of psychological Phenomenon. Modern operant conditioning chambers may have multiple mechanisms, such as several response levers, two or more feeders, and a variety of devices capable of generating different stimuli including lights, sounds, music, figures, and drawings. Some configurations use an LCD panel for the computer generation of a variety of visual stimuli or a set of LED lights to create patterns they wish to be replicated.
Some operant conditioning chambers can also have electrified nets or floors so that shocks can be given to the animals as a positive punishment or lights of different colors that give information about when the food is available as a positive reinforcement. (2025). 9780471220367, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.. ISBN 9780471220367
There are a variety of applications for operant conditioning. For instance, shaping the behavior of a child is influenced by the compliments, comments, approval, and disapproval of one's behavior. An important factor of operant conditioning is its ability to explain learning in real-life situations. From an early age, parents nurture their children's behavior by using reward and praise following an achievement (crawling or taking a first step) which reinforces such behavior. When a child misbehaves, punishment in the form of verbal discouragement or the removal of privileges are used to discourage them from repeating their actions.
Skinner's studies on animals and their behavior laid the framework needed for similar studies on human subjects. Based on his work, developmental psychologists were able to study the effect of positive and negative reinforcement. Skinner found that the environment influenced behavior and when that environment is manipulated, behaviour will change. From this, developmental psychologists proposed theories on operant learning in children. That research was applied to education and the treatment of illness in young children. Skinner's theory of operant conditioning played a key role in helping psychologists understand how behavior is learned. It explains why reinforcement can be used so effectively in the learning process, and how schedules of reinforcement can affect the outcome of conditioning.
Gamification, the technique of using game design elements in non-game contexts, has also been described as using operant conditioning and other behaviorist techniques to encourage desired user behaviors.
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