Classroom Connections
[Teachers] induce students to learn by threatening them
for not learning"-Skinner, 1968
Skinner believed that school were often very weak from an operant conditioning perspective. In his opinion, the reinforcements were not consistent and did not follow immediately after the rewards as they should. He also believed that many classroom reinforcements are too artificial (i.e. sticker and grades) because they cannot be used in the future and therefore never lead to natural reinforcement. Because of this, as the quote above describes, teachers result in punishing the children for negative behavior instead of rewarding them for positive. Skinner believes that teachers need to focus on the successes of students and reinforce them rather than punishing their failures. Skinner believed in individualized instruction for students through technology, shaping, and consistent and immediate responses.
Applications of Operant Conditioning:
Programmed and Computer-Assisted Instruction