operant conditioning

• Main psychologist= skinner
• suggest behaviour is learnt through consquences
• punishments discourages behaviour whilst reinforcement encourages it
• positive punishment= addition of a negative stimulus
• negative punishments= removal of a pleasant stimulus
• positive reinforcement= addition of a pleasant stimulus
• negative reinforcement= removal of an unpleasant stimulus
• Skinner and the rats

  • Placed rats in 'skinners box' with different stimuli
  • the box also had levers which deposited food
  • the rats eventually learned where the levers were and kept pressing them because it gave them something pleasant= positive reinforcement
  • skinner did variations on negative reinforcement including levers that alleviated electric shocks
  • Proof of operant conditioning- in rats atleast