Question

For this assignment, imagine you are the parent of Tommy, an eleven-year-old boy. He is a good child and rarely gets into trouble. He maintains good grades at school and is a responsible big brother, always keeping a watchful eye out for his little sister. In his free time, Tommy loves playing video games. He would play them every day, all day long if allowed, but you have set a rather strict time limit. Tommy can only play video games for one hour through the week and two hours each day over the weekend.

Your one frustration with Tommy is his constant forgetting to take out the trash on Mondays and Thursdays. This is his one and only household chore. Most often it is you that must take out the trash and bring in the empty cans. Tommy apologizes for forgetting and explains how he will remember next time. However, next time repeats the process of forgetting and apologizing.

Step 1: You have decided to use operant conditioning to get Tommy to consistently take out the trash. To develop an effective plan to operantly condition Tommy, answer the following questions:

Prompt 1: In no more than two complete sentences, explain why using operant conditioning is a more effective strategy than using classical conditioning to obtain the desired behavioral outcome.
Prompt 2: What type of consequence will be more effective in modifying Tommy’s behavior, reinforcement or punishment? Why?
Prompt 3: Describe in detail the operant conditioning process you would implement to modify Tommy's behavior. What reinforcement or punishment would use for Tommy? Be sure to identify the attributes of the reinforcement or punishment, such as primary or secondary/conditioned reinforcer of positive reinforcement; escape or avoidance conditioning of negative reinforcement; and/or positive or negative punishment.
Prompt 4: What sort of schedule would you use with Tommy, such as continuous or partial? If you select partial, what kind of schedule of reinforcement would you use? What is your rationale for your selected schedule?

Answer 1

Prompt 1: Operant conditioning is a more effective strategy than classical conditioning for obtaining the desired behavioral outcome because it involves reinforcing or punishing specific behaviors, rather than simply associating a stimulus with a response.

Prompt 2: Reinforcement would be more effective in modifying Tommy's behavior because it involves providing a consequence that strengthens the behavior, while punishment involves providing a consequence that weakens the behavior. In this case, reinforcing Tommy for taking out the trash would be more effective in getting him to consistently remember and complete his chore.

Prompt 3: To modify Tommy's behavior, I would implement positive reinforcement by providing a reward each time he takes out the trash on his assigned days. The reinforcement could be a primary reinforcer, such as a small amount of money, or a secondary/conditioned reinforcer, such as additional screen time for his video games. The key is to identify a reinforcer that is meaningful to Tommy and that he will consistently work towards earning. For example, I could offer him an extra 15 minutes of video game time for each day he successfully takes out the trash. If Tommy forgets to take out the trash, he would not receive the reinforcement.

Prompt 4: I would use a partial schedule of reinforcement, specifically a fixed-ratio schedule. This means that Tommy would need to complete a certain number of desired behaviors (taking out the trash) before receiving the reinforcement. For example, I could set a ratio of four completed chores per additional 15 minutes of video game time. This schedule would be effective because it provides a clear goal for Tommy to work towards, and once he has completed the required tasks, he knows he will receive the reinforcement. This can motivate him to consistently complete his chore and build a habit of remembering to take out the trash.