Operant Conditioning is the forming of association between behaviors and resulting events. B.F. Skinner was the scientist best known for his work in the field of operant conditioning. His experiments involved rats and how the responded to both positive and negative reinforcement. He would place the rats into a box that had a lever inside. When demonstrating positive reinforcement the rat would accidentally bump into the lever in the box and a pellet of food would fall into the box. After this happened a few times the rat would immediately run to lever upon being placed into the box. When demonstrating negative reinforcement, the floor of the box was charged with a current of electricity, and again, by accidentally bumping the lever the current was switched off. In turn, every time the rat was placed into the electrically charged box it would run to the lever and hit it to turn off the current. Another example of Operant Conditioning is the concept of a token economy. In a token economy, individuals are given a reinforcer (token) that can later be exchanged for a reward. This system is often used in Psychiatric Hospitals and it helps promotes good behavior.
The best example of operant conditioning that pertains to my life is the training of my two Labrador Retrievers. As puppies, the two of them were nearly uncontrollable and turned my house and yard into a mess. The implementing of Operant Conditioning was necessary in order to control their tireless antics. In many ways, my family and I used this type of conditioning to control them. For example, when they successfully made it outdoors to use the bathroom they were rewarded with a treat upon coming back inside and this started to work within a week or two. However, they thought they were getting smart and would run outside and run back in right away expecting a treat for simply taking a step outside. This behavior did not earn them a treat and they learned that quickly as well.
Skinner Rat image obtained from google images