formulate the law of effect: that behaviors are more likely to be repeated if they
lead to satisfying consequences and less likely to be repeated if they lead to un-
satisfying consequences. Thorndike ’s cats repeated the required behaviors be-
cause they led to the satisfying consequences of escape and food.
At first glance Thorndike ’s observations hardly seem insightful. Do you
know any parents who don’ t occasionally try rewards and punishments to
mold their children ’s behavior? Teachers, judges, and employers also regu-
larly rely on the connection between actions and consequences to shape be-havior. But vague feelings that such a connection exists are not the same as
understanding how this learning works or the most efficient and productive
way to use it. Ask a group of parents the best way to deal with a problemchild, and you will soon understand how little agreement there is among non-
scientists on how to use rewards and punishments.
This poor understanding of basic learning principles is unfortunate, given
the power of conditioning processes. It is especially tragic because several dec-
ades of research have provided psychologists with a relatively good under-
standing of how reinforcement and punishment shape and control behavior.Unlike classical conditioning, which begins with an existing S-R bond, operant
conditioning begins with behaviors the organism (human or lower animal)
emits spontaneously. We can observe these operant behaviors when a labora-
tory rat is placed in a new cage. The animal moves about, scratches, sniffs,
and claws in a haphazard manner, for none of these responses have been
Much of what we know about the basic principles of conditioning was first demon-
strated with laboratory animals. Here a researcher uses operant conditioning to teach arat to press a bar. The rat receives positive reinforcement (a pellet of food) whenever itpresses the bar.“Happiness is a …
by-product of oper-
ant reinforcement.
The things whichmake us happy are
the things which
reinforce us. ”
B. F. SkinnerBasic Principles of Conditioning 347