A Week Before Break

Assalamualaikum W.B.T to all our beloved readers and also to our beloved instructor, Dr. Lihanna Borhan. First of all, I would like to apologize for the delay of updating this blog due to some circumstances. This post is related to what we have learned in the learning class before mid-semester break. Hopefully, this post will produce interesting input for the reader.

On the 19^th March 2013, we have learned a new topic which was Instrumental Conditioning. Firstly, from what we understood, instrumental conditioning is another term for operant conditioning, which is a learning process first described by B. F. Skinner. In instrumental conditioning, reinforcement or punishment are used to either increase or decrease the probability that a behavior will occur again in the future.

By a way of example, if a student is rewarded with praise every time she raises her hand in class, she becomes more likely to raise her hand again in the future. If she is also scolded when she speaks out of turn, she becomes less likely to interrupt the class. In these examples, the teacher is using reinforcement to strengthen the hand-raising behavior and punishment to weaken the talking out of turn behavior.

The various forms that reinforcement takes place which are the primary versus secondary reinforce. The primary reinforcer satisfies a built-in, physiological need and need or desire while secondary reinforcer known as conditioned reinforce. It is a previously neutral stimulus that has become reinforcing to a learner through repeated association with another reinforcer. 

Furthermore, the reinforcement is divided into two categories, which are the positive and negative reinforcement. Positive reinforcement is anything that follows a behavior that makes it more likely that the behavior will occur again in the future. One of the easiest ways to remember this is to think of something being added to the situation whereas; negative reinforcement involves strengthening a behavior through the removal of an aversive stimulus. People often confuse negative reinforcement with punishment, but the two are not the same. Remember, reinforcement is used to increase the likelihood that a behavior will reoccur, while punishment is used to decrease a behavior.

So, that’s it what we have learned during that time. In the next class, which was 21^st March 2013, there was not so much to share on the reflection because at that day we already submitted our first draft of Hafazan Project and we also got the surprised from Dr. Lihanna, which was the Pop Quiz. Therefore, I hope Dr. Lihanna will be lenient in marking our paper.

Well, I think that’s it from me. I hope you are enjoyed reading this post and help you learned something new. May Allah bless us always J…