Operant conditioning explains why we learn behavior through our interaction with our environments. The major factor in teaching behavior, according to B.F. Skinner is the reinforcement provided by the consequences of an action. Positive results, such as receiving food, or escaping from a cage, encourage the repetition of actions that produced them, encouraging the likelihood of those behaviors in the future. Negative results, such as pain, or being trapped inside a cage, discourage repetition of the actions that produced them.
Skinner was careful not to use the words ‘reward’ and ‘punishment’ to describe learning behaviors as he felt they had positive and negative meanings – desirable and undesirable actions. Positive reinforcement could just as easily encourage “bad behavior” – for example, a thief continuing to steal after getting away with it once. Equally, “good behavior” could be discouraged by negative reinforcement – for example, lending money to a needy person who never returns it.
