What Are the Different Forms of Instrumental Conditioning?

Instrumental conditioning, more commonly known as operant conditioning, is a way of modifying behavior, described in detail by the psychologist B.F. Skinner. Whereas classical conditioning is concerned with creating an association between two stimuli leading to an involuntary response --- as in the familiar example of Pavlov's dogs salivating when they heard the dinner bell ring; operant conditioning deals with voluntary actions which are reinforced or deterred by reward or punishment. Although operant conditioning occurs in a staggering variety of contexts, it can be divided in principle into four basic patterns.

Positive Reinforcement

• Positive reinforcement is probably the most familiar kind of operant conditioning. When the subject performs the desired action, she receives a positive reward of some sort. Learning that the desired action consistently leads to the reward reinforces the behavior. In time, such conditioned behaviors can continue even when the reward is no longer offered.

Negative Reinforcement

• This is similar to positive reinforcement, except in that performing the desired action leads to removal of a negative stimulus, rather than the production of a positive one. For example, the sound of a crying baby is a powerful negative stimulus, and a parent quickly learns that picking up and holding the baby will remove that stimulus. On the other side, babies can learn to associate crying with the positive reinforcement of being picked up. Conditioning can happen in many ways at once.

Punishment

• Punishment is the opposite of positive reinforcement, in that an undesired behavior becomes associated with a negative consequence, and is thus weakened. As with positive reinforcement, for punishment to be effective, it must be prompt and consistent. Similarly, over time, the punishment may no longer be necessary as the subject has become conditioned to avoid the behavior.

Extinction

• Extinction refers to behaviors which, lacking the nourishment of positive or negative reinforcement, fade in frequency and eventually disappear. As a form of operant conditioning and thus concerned with voluntary actions, extinction depends in part on the fact that a voluntary action involves a cost --- even if it's just the effort involved --- and is aimed at some sort of objective. If the effort never pays off, it will soon be abandoned.