In addition, large-scale climate events like El Nino and La Nina redistribute vast water masses among Earth's ocean, atmosphere and land. Scientists care because, to put movements of Earth's crust into proper context, they need a frame of reference to evaluate them against.
Adj. 1. operant-having influence or producing an effect; many emotional determinants at work; an operant conscience. operative-being in force or having or exerting force; operative regulations; the major tendencies operative in the American political system. 1  Facebook.
Operant conditioning (sometimes referred to as instrumental conditioning) is a method of learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for behavior. Through operant conditioning, an association is made between a behavior and a consequence for that behavior. For example, when a lab rat presses a blue button, he receives a food pellet as a reward, but when he presses the red button he receives a mild electric shock.