Operant Conditioning: Positive and Negative Reinforcement

Paper Summary:

This paper defines and examines operant conditioning. It describes the four classifications of operant conditioning and then focuses on understanding positive reinforcement and negative reinforcment. Next, the paper presents a brief case study of a child exhibiting negative behaviors and discusses how the mother can use operant conditioning as a way to prevent these behaviors from occurring in the future.

Table of Content:
Positive Reinforcement vs. Negative Reinforcement
Scenario
Timeline

From the Paper:

"The timeline for such a plan is to effect the punishment first. The mother must be firm but must carefully observe Frankee to be able to introduce negative reinforcement, which could be appropriate within the week, or the next. All throughout, the mother must show that she is no longer affected by Frankee's silent treatment by continuing to talk to her, not show any excessive reaction to the silence, in short, act as if it were a normal day. Once Frankee decides that it's not working and breaks the silent treatment, that's when positive reinforcement is applied."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Daniels, A. Bringing Out the Best in People. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994.
• Huitt, W., & Hummel, J. (1997). An introduction to operant (instrumental) conditioning. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved 1 May 2008 from, http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/behsys/operant.html
• Operant Conditioning Basics. (1999). Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction. Retrieved 1 May 2008 from http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/proj/nru/opcond.html

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