The field of behavioural psychology investigates the ways in which reinforcement schedules shape actions across both human and non-human subjects. By systematically varying the contingencies of ...

Operant conditioning is a theory that explains how behaviors are influenced by their consequences or results. It’s often used today to help people adopt new behaviors or change old habits. If you’ve ...

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 of ...

Positive reinforcement involves rewarding an employee for doing a good job. An example would be giving an employee a paid vacation day for exceeding monthly production goals. Negative reinforcement ...

When it came to figuring out the basis for motivation, one of the field's earliest psychologists had it right. B.F. Skinner wasn’t the first psychologist to study the effect of rewards on behavior.