Operant Conditioning

Operant Conditioning

Instructions

1. Choose any fast food restaurant(McDonald’s, Burger King, Chick-Fil-A, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, etc.).
2. Observe the parent-child interactions for a sufficient length of time that you can address the questions below. You are to observe how parents use the principles of operant conditioning, where they misuse them, and where they fail to use them but should. You can observe in the main dining area or the play area, if they have one, or both. You may not include any drive up observations.
3. Answer the following in your initial posting:
   • What do parents do, at a fast food restaurant, to encourage desirable behaviors and discourage undesirable behaviors? Describe the restaurant (including if it has a play area), date, and time of observation. Also, describe those observed (adults and children) including age, gender, and race.
   • Are the principles of operant conditioning being used? What did you observe that demonstrated the principle being discussed? How effective was the technique? Specifically describe where you see:
     • Thorndike’s Law of Effect
     • Positive reinforcement
     • Negative reinforcement
     • Punishment
     • Extinction
     • Schedules of reinforcement
   • Include any comments, such as misuse or failure to use learning principles, questions that came up, or surprises.

Answer preview………..

The observation took place on October 6, 2018, at 2.00pm at Burger King in Vernon, New Jersey. It was a sunny Saturday afternoon, so there were many people in the dining area with others walking by the sidewalks. The restaurant had a nice play area for children with a couple of families and young kids. The fast-food restaurant was well maintained, an aspect that was enhanced further by the welcoming staff members. Besides, the restaurant has a drive-thru to enable quick-service provision for the driving clients. When we arrived at the restaurant, there were 20 people including five couples who had children. We stayed at the restaurant for one hour to have a better observation of the subjects……….

APA 388 words