Close
At a Glance
Instrumental conditioning is another term for operant conditioning, a learning process attributed to B. F. Skinner.In instrumental conditioning, reinforcement and punishment are used to increase or decrease the probability that a behavior will occur again in the future.
Let’s talk about how instrumental conditioning is used in psychology and read some examples of instrumental conditioning.
Role of a Conditioned Response in the Classical Conditioning Process
Examples of Instrumental Conditioning
Here’s an example of instrumental conditioning in the classroom:
Imagine an elementary school student named Sophia. The rule in Sophia’s class is that when a student wants to speak, they have to raise their hand first.
Sophia gets rewarded with praise from her teacher every time she raises her hand in class. The praise reinforces the desired behavior (raising her hand before speaking). It’s more likely that Sophia will raise her hand in the future because she associates doing so with a positive outcome (getting praise from her teacher).
What if the teacher scolds Sophia for talking without raising her hand? Sophia will link the unwanted behavior (talking without raising her hand) to a negative consequence (being scolded). In the future, she’ll be less likely to speak in class without raising her hand first because she will associate the behavior with being punished.
Instrumental conditioning is often used in animal training. For example, training a dog to shake hands could involve giving them a treat every time the desired behavior (shaking hands) occurs.
How Classical Conditioning Works, With Examples
History of Instrumental Conditioning
PsychologistE.L. Thorndikewas one of the first to observe the effect of reinforcement in puzzle box experiments with cats.During the experiments, Thorndike observed a process that he called “trial-and-error” learning.
The experiments involved placing a hungry cat in a puzzle box. To free itself, the cat had to figure out how to escape.
Thorndike noted how long it took the cats to free themselves in each experimental trial. At first, the cats engaged in ineffective escape methods like scratching and digging at the sides or top of the box.
Eventually, trial and error led the cats to successfully push or pull the escape route. After each successive trial, the cats engaged less in the ineffective escape behaviors and more quickly responded with the correct escape actions.
In Thorndike’s puzzle box experiments, escaping the box was the satisfier. Every time the cats successfully got out of the box, the behavior that immediately came before the escape was reinforced and strengthened.
Thorndike’s work had a tremendous effect on B.F. Skinner’s later research on operant conditioning. Skinner even created his own version of Thorndike’s puzzle boxes, which he called an operant chamber (also known as aSkinner box).
The Difference Between Classical and Operant Conditioning
How Instrumental Conditioning Works
Skinner identified two types of behaviors: respondent and operant.
Respondent behaviors are actions that occur reflexively without any learning.For example, if you touch something hot, you will immediately draw your hand back in response to the heat. Classical conditioning focuses on respondent behaviors.
Whileclassical conditioningcould explain how respondent behaviors lead to learning, Skinner realized that it did not account for every type of learning. Instead, he proposed that it was the consequences of voluntary actions that led to the most learning.
Skinner described a second type, operant behaviors, as any and every voluntary behavior that acts on the environment to create a response.Voluntary behaviors are under our conscious control and are actions that can be learned. The consequences of our actions play an important role in the learning process.
How Was Classical Conditioning Discovered?
Reinforcement and Punishment
Skinner identified two key aspects of the operant conditioning process: reinforcement and punishment.
Reinforcementis meant to increase a behavior, whilepunishmentserves to decrease a behavior.There are two different types of reinforcement and two different types of punishment.
It’s clear that instrumental conditioning has a variety of real-world applications, such as pet training, child-rearing, and helping people change their habits and behaviors. Instrumental conditioning can also be used in other areas, like law enforcement, health, and marketing, as well as in a variety of settings like schools and workplaces.
What Is Operant Conditioning?
10 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.B.F. Skinner Foundation.Biographical information.Huang J, Ruan X, Yu N, Fan Q, Li J, Cai J.A cognitive model based on neuromodulated plasticity.Comput Intell Neurosci.2016;2016:4296356. doi:10.1155%2F2016%2F4296356Skinner BF.The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis.New York: Appleton-Century; 1938.Pavlov IP.Conditioned reflexes. London: Oxford University Press; 1927.APA.Operant conditioning.APA.Instrumental conditioning.APA.Positive reinforcement.APA.Negative reinforcementAPA.Positive punishment.APA.Negative punishment.
10 Sources
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.B.F. Skinner Foundation.Biographical information.Huang J, Ruan X, Yu N, Fan Q, Li J, Cai J.A cognitive model based on neuromodulated plasticity.Comput Intell Neurosci.2016;2016:4296356. doi:10.1155%2F2016%2F4296356Skinner BF.The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis.New York: Appleton-Century; 1938.Pavlov IP.Conditioned reflexes. London: Oxford University Press; 1927.APA.Operant conditioning.APA.Instrumental conditioning.APA.Positive reinforcement.APA.Negative reinforcementAPA.Positive punishment.APA.Negative punishment.
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
B.F. Skinner Foundation.Biographical information.Huang J, Ruan X, Yu N, Fan Q, Li J, Cai J.A cognitive model based on neuromodulated plasticity.Comput Intell Neurosci.2016;2016:4296356. doi:10.1155%2F2016%2F4296356Skinner BF.The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis.New York: Appleton-Century; 1938.Pavlov IP.Conditioned reflexes. London: Oxford University Press; 1927.APA.Operant conditioning.APA.Instrumental conditioning.APA.Positive reinforcement.APA.Negative reinforcementAPA.Positive punishment.APA.Negative punishment.
B.F. Skinner Foundation.Biographical information.
Huang J, Ruan X, Yu N, Fan Q, Li J, Cai J.A cognitive model based on neuromodulated plasticity.Comput Intell Neurosci.2016;2016:4296356. doi:10.1155%2F2016%2F4296356
Skinner BF.The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis.New York: Appleton-Century; 1938.
Pavlov IP.Conditioned reflexes. London: Oxford University Press; 1927.
APA.Operant conditioning.
APA.Instrumental conditioning.
APA.Positive reinforcement.
APA.Negative reinforcement
APA.Positive punishment.
APA.Negative punishment.
Meet Our Review Board
Share Feedback
Was this page helpful?Thanks for your feedback!What is your feedback?HelpfulReport an ErrorOtherSubmit
Was this page helpful?
Thanks for your feedback!
What is your feedback?HelpfulReport an ErrorOtherSubmit
What is your feedback?
