Conditioning

:This article is about the psychological term. Conditioning is also an engineering term for putting something (for example, a communications link) into a particular condition. It is also a math term; the conditioning of a matrix is expressed by its condition number. Conditioning is also a term used in athletics for exercises designed to improve one's general fitness.

Operant conditioning

See also: Operant conditioning

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Operant conditioning, also called "instrumental conditioning", involves the modification of behavior due to the consequences of behavior. When a response or act is followed by a reinforcing consequence, the future probability of the response increases. When a response or act is followed by a punishing consequence, the future probability of the response decreases. Operant conditioning is generally associated with B.F. Skinner (1938, 1953, 1957). During reinforcement and punishment, the behavior of an organism is changed by the experience of the coincidence of the response and consequence (some would say the contingency between the response and consequence). The organism (or the response) is thus said to have been conditioned.

Related Topics:
Reinforcing - Punishing - B.F. Skinner

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:A typical example of operant conditioning in the laboratory would be a comparison of the response rates of rats under two conditions. In the first, rats are allowed to press a lever with no programmed consequence. In the second, rats are allowed to press a lever with the result that each lever press is immediately followed by giving the rat a small portion of food. Generally, the rate of lever pressing is higher in the second condition. It is then said that lever pressing was reinforced by the presentation of food, or that the response-contingent presentation of food strengthed lever pressing.

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:Consequences can be either reinforcing (strengthening the response) or punishing (weakening the response).

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The application of the principles of operant conditioning to social situations such as parenting or therapy is called "behavior modification."

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