Human Growth and Development / Unit 1 HGD 0043 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Operant Conditioning
Captions available
The idea
Operant conditioning, developed by B. F. Skinner from Thorndike's law of effect, holds that consequences change how often a behaviour occurs.
In practice
Praise given only as a toddler's "appah" becomes "apple," shaping the word step by step.
Where people slip
Reinforcement makes a behaviour more frequent; punishment makes it less frequent. Shaping reinforces successive approximations of the goal.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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