Operant conditioning is the idea or concept that learning comes from adding rewards or punishments for a behavior. An example of this would be a student doing his homework every night knowing he will receive a piece of candy once it is completed. There are different elements associated with operant conditioning, like positive and negative reinforcement, which strengthen a desired behavior. Negative reinforcement is taking something adverse away to increase a desired behavior. Punishment refers to the idea of taking away an undesired behavior. This can happen through positive punishment, and negative punishment. Positive punishment is adding something negative in order for the behavior to decrease or go away. An example of this would be getting hot sauce to the mouth by your parents if you say a curse word. This will decrease the amount of times you are likely to curse. Negative punishment is the idea of taking away something good to decrease a specific behavior. An example of negative punishment would be taking away recess for a student who didn’t do their work. You are removing something the child likes, which will prevent the child from performing the behavior a second time. The concept of operant conditioning is used in so many places throughout the world. Humans use operant conditioning on animals they would like to tame. An example of this would be giving a dog a treat in order for it to do a specific trick for you. There are many behaviors developed today in mature adults that were specifically derived from an element in association with operant conditioning. There are effects directly in response to the concepts of positive and negative punishment, and positive/negative reinforcement. It is important to note that this theory has lots of evidence provided through given examples and stories, and can be used at any moment to promote or take away a behavior.