Operant Conditioning

Operant conditioning is a form of learning in which the consequences of behavior produces changes in the probability that the behavior will occur.  When using operant conditioning, the teacher needs to be aware what kind of stimulus they are using are they adding something (positive) or taking away (negative). They also need to consider what is the direction of the behavior change the stimulus is creating more (reinforcement) of the behavior or less of of the behavior. The main mechanisms of operant conditioning are reinforcement and punishment, reinforcement is a consequence that increases the probability that a behavior will occur and punishment is a consequence that decreases the probability that a behavior will occur. These create the four elements of operant conditioning: Positive reinforcement the frequency of a response increases because it is followed by a stimulus an example would be a teacher gives praise to create more of a certain behavior. Positive punishment involves the administration of an unwelcome consequence such as a teacher gives as a detention. Negative punishment involves the removal of a valued item an example of this would be taking away a recess from a student. Negative reinforcement is the frequency of a response increases because the response either removes a stimulus or involves avoiding a stimulus.  The goal of all these strategies is to increase the frequency of a targeted behavior.

Generalization in operant conditioning means giving the same response to similar stimuli.  Especially of interest is the extent to which behavior generalizes from one situation to another, an example of this would be your student behaves well in the class you want them to continue this behavior in the hall so u use a similar stimulus  to create that response.

Extinction in operant conditioning occurs when a previously reinforced response is no longer reinforced and the response decreases.  This is when reinforcement is stopped all together, there is no reaction to their actions you just ignore the student.