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There are multiple uses of the behavioral approach in therapies or treatment. One way is exposure therapy, because that is taking a stimulus and reconditioning the response. Another way is through applied behavior analysis, which is a therapy for strictly modifying behavior, with no "talk therapy" involved. Finally, the most popular form of therapy that the behavioral approach is used in is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. CBT combines the cognitive approach and behavioral approach to use talk therapy to modify behaviors.

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Another goal of psychologists using the behavioral approach is to predict behavior based on previous situations or knowledge, and also predict the stimulus that caused a certain reaction.  This is also a belief, that all reactions are predictable and controllable, and the reason for the reaction or stimulus is predictable as well.

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The behavioral approach to psychology uses only observable behavior to draw conclusions.  The reasoning behind this is because of simplicity, and also the idea that we are essentially unreliable narrators of our thoughts.  This approach focuses on experiments and data, and often uses animals in experiments.  One example of the behavioral approach is using reinforcement, which is essentially consequences. Another example is conditioning, which is association based.

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After the retirement of John B. Watson from the world of Academic psychology, psychologists and behaviorists were eager to propose new forms of learning other than the classical conditioning. The most important among these theories was Operant Conditioning proposed by Burrhus Frederic Skinner, commonly known as B.F. Skinner.

Skinner based his theory in the simple fact that the study of observable behavior is much simpler than trying to study internal mental events. Skinner's works concluded a study far less extreme than those of Watson (1913), and it deemed classical conditioning as too simplistic of a theory to be a complete explanation of complex human behavior.

B.F. Skinner is famous for his pioneering research in the field of learning and behavior. He proposed the theory to study complex human behavior by studying the voluntary responses shown by an organism when placed in the certain environment. He named these behaviors or responses as operant. He is also called the father of Operant Conditioning Learning, but he based his theory known as "Law of Effect", discovered by Edward Thorndike in 1905.

Operant Conditioning Learning

B.F. Skinner proposed his theory on operant conditioning by conducting various experiments on animals. He used a special box known as "Skinner Box" for his experiment on rats.

As the first step to his experiment, he placed a hungry rat inside the Skinner box. The rat was initially inactive inside the box, but gradually as it began to adapt to the environment of the box, it began to explore around. Eventually, the rat discovered a lever, upon pressing which; food was released inside the box. After it filled its hunger, it started exploring the box again, and after a while it pressed the lever for the second time as it grew hungry again. This phenomenon continued for the third, fourth and the fifth time, and after a while, the hungry rat immediately pressed the lever once it was placed in the box. Then the conditioning was deemed to be complete.

Here, the action of pressing the lever is an operant response/behavior, and the food released inside the chamber is the reward. The experiment is also known as Instrumental Conditioning Learning as the response is instrumental in getting food.

This experiment also deals with and explains the effects of positive reinforcement. Upon pressing the lever, the hungry rat was served with food, which filled its hunger; hence, it's a positive reinforcement.

B.F. Skinner's Second Experiment

B.F. Skinner also conducted an experiment that explained negative reinforcement. Skinner placed a rat in a chamber in the similar manner, but instead of keeping it hungry, he subjected the chamber to an unpleasant electric current. The rat having experienced the discomfort started to desperately move around the box and accidentally knocked the lever. Pressing of the lever immediately seized the flow of unpleasant current. After a few times, the rat had smartened enough to go directly to the lever in order to prevent itself from the discomfort.

The electric current reacted as the negative reinforcement, and the consequence of escaping the electric current made sure that the rat repeated the action again and again. Here too, the pressing of the lever is an operant response, and the complete stop of the electric current flow is its reward.

Conclusion

Both the experiment clearly explains the working of operant conditioning. The important part in any operant conditioning learning is to recognize the operant behavior and the consequence resulted in that particular environment.

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Skinner's theory on Operant Conditioning - Psychestudy

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Cite this article as: Praveen Shrestha, "Skinner's theory on Operant Conditioning," in Psychestudy, November 17, 2017, https://www.psychestudy.com/behavioral/learning-memory/operant-conditioning/skinner. After the retirement of John B. Watson from the world of Academic psychology, psychologists and behaviorists were eager to propose new forms of learning other than the classical conditioning.

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Simple Explanation of Classical vs Operant Conditioning

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Simple Explanation of Classical vs Operant Conditioning

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This website has a lot of information about founders of this approach, and some of the core beliefs of the different groups within behavioral psychology.

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Behaviorism, also known as behavioral learning theory, is a theoretical perspective in psychology that emphasizes the role of learning and observable behaviors in understanding human and animal actions.

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There are two sides of the behavioral approach, although both believe similar things. One side, called methodological behaviorism, believes that humans are a blank slate at birth, and all behavior is learned. Everything has to do with environment. The other faction believes that some behavior is innate. This approach is called radical behaviorism. It is a sort of nurture vs nature kind of debate.

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Because of the scientific standpoint used in the behavioral perspective, experiments observing the physical and tangible are most common. Animals are frequently used, because behaviorists believe that there is no difference between how "conscious" humans and animals are.  Another belief that impacts the work behaviorists do is whether or not they believe all behavior is learned.

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Some behavioral psychologists don't believe in free will. As they only use scientific facts and observable behavior, they think that what goes on inside your head is only a result of conditioned responses, unconditioned responses, reinforcement, and your environment.

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Psychologists who use the behavioral approach believe in using scientific facts and only observable behavior.  They also try to use reductionism, which is where you study small parts to understand the big picture.

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Pavlov was a scientist who used his dogs to prove that classical conditioning works.  His dogs salivated when he walked into the room with food, which is called an unconditioned response because it is natural.  Then, he noticed that they still salivated when he walked into the room without food.  So, he wondered if he could make them salivate on command with something else.  So, he conditioned his dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell, as shown in the graphic below.

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Some important scientists in the field, experiments, and vocab

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Behaviorism: Pavlov, Watson, and Skinner

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One goal that behaviorists have is to use analysis of small behaviors to make generalizations about humans' big, overarching behavior patterns that apply to all people.  This is called a nomothetic approach.