Operant Conditioning
B.F. Skinner originated research in operant conditioning. He argued that the way we act and interact with the environment are impacted by external influences. Operant conditioning deals with controlling voluntary responses; it is the opposite of classical conditioning. It focuses on behavior; that is, the consequences of different kinds of behavior. Due to operant conditioning, individuals will repeat actions that bring on good reinforcement and stop doing actions that bring about bad reinforcement. What is reinforcement? It is anything that will keep the good actions coming and make the bad options seem like a really bad idea (because of the consequences that follow). There are two different kinds of reinforcement: positive and negative.
- Positive reinforcement: Giving someone something that they like to increase a certain kind of behavior. An example would be if a child makes all A's on their report card their father will give them $10.00 for each A.
- Negative reinforcement: Taking away something that someone doesn't like to increase a certain kind of behavior. An example would be the cessation of nagging form a parent about how messy the child room is after cleaning the room.
- Punishment I: Adding something that the person doesn't like as a consequence of a behavior that is unacceptable. For example, making a child write lines after doing something unacceptable at school.
- Punishment II: Removing something that the child likes due to an unacceptable behavior. For example, taking away the car after getting a ticket.