Operant Conditioning Examples

1. Your father gives you a credit card at the end of your first year in college because you did so well.

The credit card is a positive reinforcement because it is given and it increases the behavior.

2. Your car has a red, flashing light that blinks annoyingly if you start the car without buckling the seat belt. You become less likely to start the car without buckling the seat belt.The flashing light is a positive

punishment. After this consequence is given, the behavior of not buckling the seat belt decreases.

3. A lion in a circus learns to stand up on a chair and jump through a hoop to receive a food treat.

The food treat is a positive reinforcement because it is given and it increases the behavior.

4. A professor has a policy of exempting students from the final exam if they maintain perfect attendance during the quarter. His students’ attendance increases dramatically. The exemption from the final

exam is a negative reinforcement because something is taken away that increases the behavior (attendance).

5. You check the coin return slot on a pay telephone and find a quarter. You find yourself checking other telephones over the next few days.

The quarter would be a positive reinforcement because it was given and led to an increase in the behavior.

6. Your hands are cold so you put your gloves on. In the future, you are more likely to put gloves on when it’s cold.

The consequence is a negative reinforcement because the coldness is taken away and the behavior of putting on gloves increases.

7. When a professor first starts teaching about a concept, she'll praise any answer that is close to the right answer. This describes the process of shaping

the operant behavior of answering questions, using positive reinforcement (praise). In shaping you start by reinforcing anything that is close to the final response. Then you gradually require closer and closer approximations before giving a reinforcer.

8. In a weight management class, participants earn points for every healthy meal they eat and every period of exercise they complete. The awarding of points (a

version of a token system since they are exchanged for the refunds later) is a positive reinforcement.

9. When your son has gone for a week without arguing with his sister, he gets to choose which favorite activity he wants to engage in on Friday night.

An example of using Premack reinforcement by letting your son engage in a favorite activity (positive reinforcement) when he has been able to refrain from arguing for a week. This is an example of differential reinforcement of other behavior, anything other than arguing will be reinforced in this Operant conditioning paradigm.

Allan brought home a very poor report card. His parents were so disappointed they took away his IPhone and car for three weeks.

Negative punishment