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Operant conditioning, also called instrumental conditioning, is a learning process where voluntary behaviors are modified by association with the addition (or removal) of reward or aversive stimuli. The frequency or duration of the behavior may increase through reinforcement or decrease through punishment or extinction .
Central to operant conditioning is the use of a Three-Term Contingency (Discriminative Stimulus, Response, Reinforcing Stimulus) to describe functional relationships in the control of behavior. Discriminative stimulus (S D) is a cue or stimulus context that sets the occasion for a response. For example, food on a plate sets the occasion for eating.
The three-term contingency (also known as the ABC contingency) is a psychological model describing operant conditioning in three terms consisting of a behavior, its consequence, and the environmental context, as applied in contingency management. The three-term contingency was first defined by B. F. Skinner in the early 1950s. [1]
In simple, practical situations, for example if one were training a dog using operant conditioning, optimal stimulus control might be described as follows: The behavior occurs immediately when the discriminative stimulus is given. The behavior never occurs in the absence of the stimulus. The behavior never occurs in response to some other stimulus.
This type of learning is used in studies regarding operant and classical conditioning. Operant conditioning involves the modification of a behavior by means of reinforcement or punishment. In this way, a discriminative stimulus will act as an indicator to when a behavior will persist and when it will not. Classical conditioning involves ...
For instance, in an operant conditioning chamber, if food pellets are only delivered when a response is emitted in the presence of a green light, the green light is a discriminative stimulus. If when a red light is present. food will not be delivered, then the red light is an extinction stimulus. (Food is used here as an example of a reinforcer ...
Contingency management (CM) is the application of the three-term contingency (or operant conditioning), which uses stimulus control and consequences to change behavior. CM originally derived from the science of applied behavior analysis (ABA), but it is sometimes implemented from a cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) framework as well.
Skinner described operant conditioning as strengthening behaviour through reinforcement. Reinforcement can consist of positive reinforcement, in which a desirable stimulus is added; negative reinforcement, in which an undesirable stimulus is taken away; positive punishment, in which an undesirable stimulus is added; and negative punishment, in which a desirable stimulus is taken away. [7]