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Operant Conditioning Superstition

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B.F Skinner, one of the most prominent psychologists in the 20th century, introduced the concept of operant conditioning in 1938. By furthering his research into the behaviours of animals, he developed his famous theory of Operant Conditioning (McLeod). Two of the major terminology Skinner used to explain the recurring or extinction of particular behaviours are reinforcement and punishment. In this paper, I would briefly introduce the meanings behind these terminology, give some daily examples for this theory, as well as describing my personal stance towards this.
Skinner described reinforcement as the chances that a particular response will happen (Cherry). Reinforcement can be divided into two separate types, positive and negative reinforcement. Positive reinforcement is when an additional object or stimulus is added to allow the response to be repeated in the future (Cherry), whereas negative reinforcement is the encouragement of a particular response in hopes of eliminating or avoiding a negative result (Cherry).
Punishment, on the other hand, is the elimination or eventual extinction of a particular response (Cherry). Similar with reinforcement, punishment can also be divided into positive and negative punishment. …show more content…

Parents, for example, may offer a toy or a child’s favourite food as a reward every time he / she scores high marks in a test or examination. This is an example of positive reinforcement. However, if parents scold or send their child to his / her room when he / she scores a low grade, this is an example of positive punishment. Other examples of Operant Conditioning includes applying insect repellent on yourself before you go hiking in order to avoid getting mosquito bites (an example of negative reinforcement) or a teacher confiscating your homework when you attempt to do it in his lesson (an example of negative

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