Operant conditioning
Operant conditioning is learning from consequences: behaviour that is followed by a good outcome becomes more frequent, and behaviour followed by a bad one becomes less frequent. Skinner separated it from classical conditioning by pointing out that the animal acts first and the environment responds, rather than the environment signalling first. The unit of study is the operant, a class of actions defined by their effect rather than by their exact muscle movements, such as "pressing the lever" however the rat happens to do it. Skinner built the operant chamber so a rat or pigeon could produce thousands of responses while a machine recorded them.
Why it matters
Almost every deliberate behaviour-change programme, from animal training to token economies in clinics and classrooms, is applied operant conditioning.
Also written: instrumental conditioning
Where it comes up
Read about Operant conditioning on Wikipedia
Sources
- Operant conditioning Wikipedia
- Are Theories of Learning Necessary? Classics in the History of Psychology, York UniversitySkinner's 1950 argument that describing the relation between behaviour and consequence is enough, and inner explanations are not needed.
- Behavior modification WikipediaWhere the laboratory findings ended up in clinical and educational practice.
