Describe Operant conditioning, its key concepts, and how it works Essay

Describe Operant conditioning, its key concepts, and how it works - Essay Example The drive to the hospital, the telephone call reminding the patient that chemotherapy is scheduled for tomorrow, can stimulate nausea before the actual physiological trigger, the chemotherapy. The remainder of this discussion will outline the key concepts in operant conditioning. This portion of the discussion will be based on a brief historical outline of the development of operant conditioning. The final section of the paper will focus on the dynamics – the whys and hows – of operant conditioning. It will also expand the discussion from psychological experimentation to real-life situations and examples. The foundational demonstration of operant conditioning is Thorndikes cat puzzle box. Unlike an involuntary stimuli (a bell) Thorndikes cat was placed in a box which it could only get out of by triggering a door opening device, and it could only get food if it was out of the box. The cat had to learn the stimuli (batting the door latch) to earn the reward of food. This is a critical difference from classical conditioning. The subject, the cat, must learn, the stimuli, opening the latch. In classical conditioning the stimuli (Pavlovs ringing bell) is imposed on the dog it is not learned and salivating is an automatic response. In Thorndikes experiments the cat must learn to open the door by stepping on a pedal to open the door, to attain the reward of food. (See illustration on following page.) Websters Online Dictionary defines operant conditioning as, â€Å"conditioning in which an operant response is brought under stimulus control by virtue of presenting reinforcement contingent upon the occurrence of the operant response.† (Websters Online Dictionary, â€Å"Operant Conditioning†) Prior to analyzing how operant conditioning works and discussing the variations and developments that have occurred in operant conditioning a selection of key concepts must be understood. First, what is now referred to as operant