Definition: A form of learning where behaviour is modified by consequences (good or bad).
Reference: Operant conditioning was first studied by American psychologist Edward Thorndike who places cats into puzzle boxes to reach food. He proposed the Law of Effect: behaviour is likely to be repeated when there are pleasant consequences, and not repeated with unpleasant consequences.
Reference: B.F Skinner went deeper into operant conditioning with the concepts of reinforcement and punishment - positive reinforcement can strengthens a behaviour through rewards, negative reinforcement can strengthen a behaviour that removes negative stimulus.
Example: The backbone of Atomic habits is the four step model - cue, craving, response, reward - an example of a model of operant conditioning.
Insight: If you offer the right reward or punishment you can get people to act in a certain way.
Reference: B.F Skinner: "stimulus, response, reward" as a operant conditioning model of behaviour change.
Reference: B.F Skinner's model explained how external stimuli influence habits, but lacked a good explanation for how internal factors - thoughts, feelings, and beliefs - influence behaviour.
Reference: Charles Duhigg, The Power of Habit: "cue, routine, reward" as a operant conditioning model of behaviour change.
Insight: Operant conditioning seeks to alter voluntary behaviour by means of rewards and punishments, a process called reinforcement.
Insight: Operant conditioning is used by some psychiatrists to treat humans with behavioural disorders.
Reference: B.F. Skinner: developed the principles of operant conditioning through stimulus using the "Skinner Box" to teach simple actions to animals like rats and pigeons.
Reference: B.F. Skinner: all human behaviour is the product of operant conditioning.
Reference: B.F. Skinner: "When a bit of behaviour is followed by a certain kind of consequence, it is more likely to occur again, and a consequence having this effect is called a reinforcer."
Reference: B.F. Skinner: the process of operant conditioning as a consequence of evolution: "The process of operant conditioning presumably evolved when those organisms which were more sensitively affected by the consequences of their behaviour were better able to adjust to the environment and survive."
Insight: Operant conditioning is used to train humans and animals by designing a specific consequence that follows action.
Insight: Rewards tend to reinforce behaviours, punishments tend to discourage them.
Insight: Habits can be created through the process operant conditioning.
Example: Rats pressing a lever and being rewarded with food, or humans playing slot machines.
Insight: Reinforcement of behaviour only requires an occasional hit of positive feedback.
Insight: Humans (and animals) have to understand what they are being rewarded or punished for in order for operant conditioning to work. If the correlation between behaviour and consequence is not strong enough, behaviour change will not happen.
Insight: Cues that lead to rewards create habits: if you are rewarded after doing something, you are likely to do it again.
Reference: B.F. Skinner - the concept of operant conditioning.
Reference: B.F. Skinner - the idea that all animal behaviour can be driven by external rewards and punishments.
Reference: B.F. Skinner's experiments include putting rats in "Skinner boxes" and teaching them to pull levers and push buttons, and teaching pigeons to dance.
Definition: A form of learning where is reinforcer (food, praise, money etc.) is given after a performing a very specific act.
Example: SBC model of new habit formation: Stimulus-Behaviour-Consequences:.
Insight: Operant conditioning describes how people learn particular behaviours or habits.
Reference: B.F. Skinner, behaviourism, and the role of pleasurable and painful stimuli in shaping behaviour.
Key Insights & Principles
Habit formation & behaviour change
Habits can be created or removed through operant conditioning.
Rewards tend to reinforce behaviours, punishments tend to discourage them.
The link between action and reward or punishment must be well understood for operant conditioning to work.
Develop clear and strong connections between the habits you want to create and the rewarding reinforcements, and between the behaviours you want to eliminate and punishments.
