Psychology Discussion

1. Make sure you read the chapter in the book first regarding operant conditioning and watch this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_ctJqjlrHA BEFORE you do this activity.

2. Go to the following link. http://www.kscience.co.uk/animations/anim_5.htm#top (There are no instructions other than to select option 1, 2, or 3. It is up to you to figure out how to get things to happen. Some of the things you may encounter are “virtual candy” and noises. Make sure your speakers are on.)

If you have any problems accessing the skinner box, try right clicking in the box and then click play.

3. What principles of operant conditioning did the activity use (positive or negative reinforcement or positive or negative punishment)? Discuss your experiences with the activity (was it frustrating, how did you figure it out, etc.). (Warning.. this activity may get very frustrating… but stick with it for a little bit)

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.

4. Then for fun (to de-stress from this activity!) , check out this link that demonstrates classical conditioning http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfZfMIHwSkU

Psychology Discussion11