Operant conditioning

Operant conditioning theory argues that people learn to behave to get something they want to to avoid something they do not want. Operant behaviour is influenced by the reinforcement or lack of reinforcement brought about by its consequences. Therefore, reinforcement strengthens a behaviour and increases the likelihood that it will be repeated.

B.F. Skinner, one of the most prominent advocates of operant conditioning, argued that creating pleasing consequences to follow specific forms of behaviour would increase the frequency of that behaviour.
He demonstrated that people will most likely engage in desired behaviours if they are positively reinforced for doing so; that rewards are most effective if they immediately follow the desired response; and that behaviour that is not rewarded or is punished, is less likely to be repeated.

The concept of operant conditioning was part of Skinner's broader concept of behaviourism, which argues that behaviour follows stimuli in a relatively unthinking manner.

Skinner's form of radical behaviourism rejects causes of behaviour, such as:
- feelings, thoughts, other states of mind.

In short, people learn to associate stimulus and response, but their conscious awareness of this association is irrelevant.