Key Concepts In Operant Conditioning

Operant conditioning is a type of learning in which a response increase in frequency as a result of its being followed by reinforcement. Operant condition have been studied by many behaviorists including Edward Thorndike’s who introduced the low of effect by absorbing the behavior of animals trying to escape from puzzle box. B.F. Skinner who is often regarded to as the father of operant conditioning is another major behaviorist who took Thorndike’s low and add to it. Skinner research on the principle of istimilate response behavior was first preformed on animals, which was known as “Skinner box.” Through this experiment Skinner found that the consequences for the animals played a large role in their response behavior, for example when a rat pulled a lever, he would receive food, subsequently, the rat made a frequency pulls on the lever to get more food. Key concepts in operant conditioning are positive and negative reinforcement, which is an act of following a response with a reinforcer. …show more content…
Their are two type of reinforce primary like shelter, food, and oxygen; secondary like money success and praise. Second concept in operant conditioning is positive and negative punishment which is the delivery of unpleasant consequence- following an undesirable response. Punishment is used to reduce the probability of the undesirable behavior occurring again over time. Punishment is a learning process in which consequence determines whether the behavior will be repeated. Positive punishment involves presenting a stimulus to weaken behavior. While negative punishment, is a form of punishment which occurs when a stimulus is removed after a response is made in order to decrease the probability of response occurring