noun, Psychology. 1. Also called operant conditioning, instrumental conditioning. a process of changing behavior by rewarding or punishing a subject each time an action is performed until the subject associates the action with pleasure or distress.
Pertussis is caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. It is an airborne disease which spreads easily through the coughs and sneezes of an infected person. People are infectious to others from the start of symptoms until about three weeks into the coughing fits.
Bordetella pertussis is a highly contagious bacterium known to cause pertussis (whooping cough) and is transmitted via airborne droplets. Although childhood vaccination has dramatically reduced reported pertussis cases, the incidence of the disease has increased over the past 20 years, most notably in previously immunized adolescents and adults.