Background

            Operant Conditioning is fundamental to the psychological perspective of Behaviorism, which was first conceived by John B. Watson in the early twentieth century. While Behaviorists’ strict insistence on only studying observable behavior—as opposed to murkier cognitive processes—has fallen out of favor, the tenets of learning have largely stood the test of time. Operant Conditioning reveals how behaviors are ingrained through reward and punishment and is very relevant to modern-day society, from classroom policy to criminal justice rehabilitation. How do we learn what’s an acceptable level of cleanliness? Or when it’s okay to speed? Or how to deal with an annoying co-worker? B.F. Skinner’s famous work on Operant Conditioning illuminates how reward and punishment should be optimally used to facilitate learning.

 

Key Principles of Operant Conditioning

            Operant Conditioning is similar to Ivan Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning, as they are both frameworks for how behaviors and stimuli become associated through experiences. In Classical Conditioning, learning is facilitated by one stimulus becoming associated with another stimulus. For instance, a dog learns to associate the ringing of a bell with an impending meal. Or, a teenager may become excited whenever they hear a text message ping. Meanwhile, during Operant Conditioning a certain action is associated with its consequences—either a reinforcement or a punishment. Reinforcements are responses that encourage an action to continue, such as chocolate chip cookies or extra vacation days. Meanwhile, punishments are unpleasant responses that aim to discourage particular behaviors. 

            The picture gets more complicated when you consider that reinforcements and punishments are further subdivided into two categories each: they can either be positive or negative. A positive reinforcement encourages behavior by adding something (ex: a large raise) while a negative reinforcement encourages behavior by detracting something unpleasant (ex: canceling a test). Positive reinforcements light up the reward center, and negative reinforcements (the subtraction of something unpleasant) help relieve stress. As for punishments, positive punishments deter behavior by adding unpleasant stimuli (ex: extra chores) and negative punishments remove something good (ex: grounding a kid to reduce their freedom). Importantly, despite the word “negative,” negative reinforcements are still good, and in much the same way “positive” punishments are still to be avoided. 

 

To Punish or Reinforce?

            An age-long debate has been whether punishments or reinforcements are more effective at ingraining learning. Should a person be reprimanded whenever they make a mistake? Or would it be better to forgo unnecessary punishment, instead rewarding people when they succeed and remaining silent when they err? As was the common perception amongst parents and educators until relatively recently, is feeling the sting of punishment necessary for learning?

            Overall, research has generally concluded that reinforcements are a better way of learning in most circumstances. Reinforcing correct behavior encourages people to adopt a growth mindset and be willing to step out of their comfort zone and explore. A constant fear of punishment, on the other hand, causes people to become more timid and close-minded toward trying new things. The emotional toll of punishments vs. reinforcements is immense. Punishments can feed resentment and fracture relationships, while reinforcements preserve positive feelings. Moreover, reinforcing behavior is tremendously motivating and inspires the person to continue performing the correct action. 

            Some research has suggested that reinforcing feedback is more effective for young children because it is easier for the brain to process what to continue doing rather than process what not to do. Additionally, our brains may be more attentive to anticipating rewards and pay less attention to potential downsides. This difference in encoding appears to manifest on the neurological level as well—researchers found different levels of brain intensity in areas like the cerebral cortex during a computer simulation depending on whether positive or negative feedback was given. For younger kids, it appears that positive feedback is more intensely processed, while for older kids they found that negative feedback was more effective. Of course, reinforcing correct behavior is not always the better option. Indeed, parents who use a “permissive” parenting style and do not adequately punish bad behaviors tend to raise children who are deficient in social skills, self-regulation, and responsibility. In lots of cases, some form of punishment is needed to firmly establish misconduct and prevent it from happening again. 

 

Practical Applications

            In parenting, consistently using Operant Conditioning to encourage good behaviors and discourage maladaptive ones is key. Praise kids after they work hard in a soccer game or take away screen time when they skip their homework. Alternatively, only grant screentime after they complete their homework; thus, the behavior of completing homework is framed using reinforcements rather than punishments. Set clear norms about how chores should be completed, and assign extra cleaning if the behavior falls short. Or, reward a thorough completion of chores with a piece of candy. This debate between reinforcement and punishment is especially pertinent in coaching. While many coaches use punishments like running sprints or taking away playing time to teach lessons, it may be more effective, especially among younger kids, to reinforce by giving compliments and new responsibilities.

            In more institutional settings like classrooms and workplaces, setting up guidelines and standard systems of reinforcement and punishment is important. To practice reinforcement rather than punishment, many teachers praise students for raising their hands and giving the correct answer and do not punish wrong attempts. Handing out stickers or pizza parties are similar forms of reinforcement, while in older grade levels, detention for tardies or other punishments may be more practical. How workplaces are structured to motivate employees also relies on Operant Conditioning. Bosses should let their employees know when they do a good job and reward traits like integrity and collaboration. Bosses should also decide whether the company norm should be to demote underachieving colleagues (punishment), just give benefits like parking and raises to productive employees (reinforcement), or a combination of both.

            While frequently reinforcing good behaviors—like acing a test, sharing with a friend, or displaying honesty—through praise is powerful, reinforcements can become too much at times. The Overjustification Effect explains that when a behavior is rewarded excessively to the point where doing it becomes all about the reward, adverse consequences will follow. For instance, a child may initially play basketball because she enjoys it, but soon the joys of basketball itself may become overshadowed by the desire to win medals and praise from her parents after successful games. By focusing on the end reward—her parent’s praise and admiration—the child may lose her intrinsic motivation to play basketball. Another key concept of Operant Conditioning is Shaping, which can help teach difficult behaviors that don’t come naturally to kids. Shaping is the process by which a close approximation of a desired behavior is rewarded until that desired behavior becomes fine-tuned and corrected over time. For instance, when teaching a young toddler how to get dressed by themselves, praise their early attempts, even if they put on a shirt backward or put their shoes on the wrong feet. Over time, avoid criticizing them when they make mistakes, and instead use reinforcements to nudge them in the right direction. The idea of Shaping is that through a process of mistakes and reinforcements evolving over time, the correct behaviors will eventually fall into place and solidify. When teaching a new skill—whether a new algebra concept or how to do the laundry—it is imperative to avoid punishment and instead reinforce attempts at correct behaviors, even if imperfect.

 

Schedules of Reinforcement

            Lastly, Schedules of Reinforcement provide a research-backed blueprint of how often behaviors should be rewarded to maximize effectiveness. Behaviors can either be rewarded continuously, which leads to rapid learning, or only rewarded partially; that is, some of the time. Partially reinforcing behaviors extends the time it takes to learn the behavior, but once learned, the behavior is more resistant to extinction (a phenomenon where a behavior is forgotten after a period when the associated results cease). Thus, teachers and coaches should use continuous reinforcement at first to teach a new behavior, but then switch to a schedule of partial reinforcement to allow the behavior to happen on its own without being tied to an immediate reward. Building on these ideas, there are four different reinforcement schedules: 1) Fixed Ratio, 2) Variable Ratio, 3) Fixed Interval, and 4) Variable Interval.

            During fixed ratio reinforcement, a reward is delivered after a consistent number of correct responses. Many company reward programs work this way, where buying 10 cups of coffee leads to a free drink. Variable Ratio reinforcement, on the other hand, rewards a behavior after an inconsistent number of attempts. Variable Ratio reinforcement is way more addicting, and casinos capitalize on this uncertainty to exploit customer behavior—it is tempting to play the slot machine just one more time because you never know on what spin you’ll hit the jackpot. Social media also utilizes Variable Ratio’s addictive quality—you never know whether the next Instagram or TikTok swipe will lead to a hilarious video or a mediocre one, but the possibility and unpredictability of the next swipe entices you to keep scrolling. If every video was equally inspiring or if every xth video was, this anticipatory quality and excitement would fade.

            Rewards can also be time-based rather than dependent on a number of responses. Fixed Interval reinforcement involves a reward occurring after a specific timeframe, and causes a person to become more responsive as the anticipated time of reward draws near. Lastly, a Variable Interval schedule provides reinforcement after unpredictable breaks, which causes slow and steady responding. In schools, pop quizzes at Variable Intervals motivate students to consistently take notes. The unpredictability of when emails will arrive causes people to refresh their inboxes throughout the day. 

            Beyond the reinforcement or punishment itself, determining the schedule of results can make a surprisingly large difference in how strongly the behavior manifests. A fitness test every two weeks (Fixed Interval) will cause players to prepare more during the final days, whereas a fitness test that could occur every week, two weeks, or three weeks (Variable Interval) will cause players to consistently stay in shape. A company reward program, say for a box of donuts, that rewards customers after every 5 boxes (Fixed Ratio) will have a less long-lasting appeal than a rewards program that randomly rewards customers after either 2 boxes, 6 boxes, or 12 boxes have been purchased (Variable Ratio). Two more examples: An employee who gets a raise every three years (Fixed Interval) may increase their efforts in the years where they are up for promotion, whereas an employee who receives a raise in some years but not others (Variable Interval) will keep up more consistent levels of productivity. A kid who gets $5 for mowing the lawn every second time (Fixed Ratio) is more likely to stop mowing the lawn if the allowance-giving stops for a few months, whereas a kid who gets $5 for mowing the lawn after a random number of times (Variable Ratio) will continue mowing the lawn for longer even if the rewards momentarily disappear.

 

References

Belsky, J. (2008, September 25). Rewards are Better than Punishment: Here’s Why. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/family-affair/200809/rewards-are-better-punishment-here-s-why 

Beltrani, A. (n.d.). Reinforcement and punishment. Palo Alto University. https://concept.paloaltou.edu/resources/business-of-practice-blog/reinforcement-and-punishment 

Meyers, D. G. (2004). Psychology (7th ed.). 

Scott, H. K., Jain, A., & Cogburn, M. (2023). Behavior Modification. In StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing.