Operant Conditioning Examples

Think about this for a minute...how did we learn to behave the way in which we do? How did we learn that a particular behavior is good behavior and some other behavior is bad? Our parents and the society taught us, yes. But what were the tools that were used for driving the behavior home? According to psychologist B.F. Skinner, the way in which we behave is influenced and learned by drawing an association between the way in which we behave and the consequences that our behavior leads to. This is termed as operant conditioning and to understand this important concept in psychology in more detail, let us look through it with the help of certain examples.

What is Operant Conditioning

Operant conditioning is the process of learning behavioral patterns which are based on certain stimuli from the environment. Such that external stimuli lead to certain behavior. A human being knows the kind of consequences that a particular behavior will lead to and therefore, to either encourage or discourage that consequence, he will behave in a particular way. This concept can be further explained by breaking it down into 4 sub-parts. Here is how it goes.

Positive Reinforcement
Positive reinforcement occurs when a particular behavior strengthens or increases due to the hope of experiencing a positive behavior. For example, a student will continue to do his homework because he knows he is rewarded with a candy by his parents or teachers if he completes it. This is a great example of positive reinforcement in the classroom.

Negative Reinforcement
In this a particular behavior strengthens or increases in the hope that a negative consequence can be avoided. For example, a lift in a building makes a lot of noise so a person decides to take the stairs. Taking the stairs helps avoid the negative behavior of dealing with the noise.

Positive Punishment
In this, a particular behavior pattern decreases so as to avoid dealing with something unpleasant after. For example avoiding turning in late for class so that the teacher does not shout is a great way to understand child behavior and the varied changes that are brought about.

Negative Punishment
In this, a particular behavior pattern decreases so that a positive stimulus or object is not removed after. For example, a child might stop throwing tantrums after his favorite toy is taken away after each tantrum. This is a great way of dealing with behavior problems in children.

While positive and negative reinforcement help in increasing or strengthening a particular behavior, positive and negative punishment help in decreasing or discouraging it.

Examples in Everyday Life

Examples in Children
There are certain operant conditioning behavior examples in the classroom as well as in a home set up that you can observe in children. Here are a few examples.

• A child learns to clean his/her room after being rewarded with TV time, every time he cleans it. (Positive reinforcement)
• After hitting a classmate, the child is made to sit separately and no one is allowed to talk to him. Such that the child never ever hits any classmate again (Positive punishment).

Examples in Adults
Operant conditioning does not stop in childhood itself but is something that can continue throughout a person's life, because learning of behavior does not end at any particular age. Here are some examples.

• A person decides to take a different route on his morning walk to avoid a garbage dump and therefore increases his running speed and the distance that he covers. (Negative Reinforcement)
• A person stops teasing his fiance about an issue after she gives him the silent treatment. (Negative Punishment)

These operant conditioning examples show us a pattern which dictates that most behavior patterns that we learn, are not merely as a result of our thoughts and conscience, but due to the fact that there are negative and positive stimuli in the environment that influence the way in which we act and behave. Interesting concept, isn't it?