Although Thorndike was a pioneer of operant conditioning, B.F. Skinner is probably the most well known, not only for his work with operant conditioning, but the development of operant conditioning into behavior therapy. He coined the term operant to refer to behavior that operates or acts on the environment to produce specific consequences. Skinner built a small cage with solid walls with a lever mounted on the wall. This box came to be known as the Skinner Box. He would place a bird or rodent in the box. Eventually the bird or rodent would learn to press a lever to receive food pellets. For a brief survey of operant behavior in Skinner's own words, go to http://bfskinner.org/
Although all reinforcers (both positive and negative) increase the likelihood that a behavior will occur again, punishment is any event whose presence decreases the likelihood that ongoing behavior will recur. Reinforcement always strengthens behavior; punishment weakens it. Primary reinforcers are innate and satisfy biological needs such as food for hunger, water for thirst. Secondary or conditioned reinforcers are learned by association. For instance, if I earn all A's, my parents will give me money.
Positive reinforcement focuses on the presenation of something, someone, or a situation as a reward for behavior. Negative reinforcement is the removal of an unpleasant stimulus that increases the probability of a behavior. Punishment, on the other hand, decreases the likelihood that the behavior will occur. This may occur through positive punishment or the addition of a stimulus that may increase behavior such as spanking to stop an undesirable behavior. Negative punishment, on the other hand, is the removal of a stimulus in order to decrease the behavior. An example of negative punishment would be taking a teenager's cell phone away for breaking a curfew.
Another way to speed up operant conditioning is through shaping, or reinforcement of successive approximations of the desired behavior. Avoidance training involves learning a desirable behavior that prevents an unpleasant condition, such as punishment, from occurring.
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