(Photo credit: E+/Getty Images) Operant conditioning was first described by psychologist B.F. Skinner. His theory was based on two assumptions. First, the cause of human behavior is something in a ...

B.F. Skinner gave us concepts like “conditioned behavior,” “positive reinforcement,” and even “time-outs” for children. But he was also a radical among psychologists who cast aside ...

By the late 1930s, B.F. Skinner (Burrhus Frederic, if you’re wondering) had expanded Watson’s ideas, developing the theory of operant conditioning. Operant conditioning is learning that occurs ...

Operant conditioning is B.F. Skinner’s name for instrumental learning: learning by consequences. Not a new idea, of course. Humanity has always known how to teach children and animals by means ...

B.F. Skinner dubbed his own method of observing behavior “operant conditioning,” which posited that behavior is determined solely by its consequences—either reinforcements or punishments.

Operant conditioning is a behavioral theory created by famed psychologist B.F. Skinner that suggests that behavior is most easily modified when it produces a negative consequence. This theory can ...