Chapter 2 Blog Post #2

Something else that caught my attention in Chapter 2 was the section on operant conditioning. This concept was first coined by behaviorist B.F. Skinner. Operant conditioning is also known as instrumental conditioning. It involves the process of associating a behavior with a consequence. The person being "trained" learns how to act based on whether this consequence is a reward or a punishment. If the consequence is a reward, they will learn to repeat the behavior. If the consequence is a punishment, they will learn to stay away from repeating the behavior. Operant conditioning can be used on dogs or even humans. When reading this section, I thought of a scene from "The Big Bang Theory" where Sheldon tries to use operant conditioning on Penny by giving her chocolate whenever she listens to him or compliments him. Operant conditioning is something that is used in everyday life, probably more than we think.