introspektiv

Barrus Frederic Skinner (Burrhus Frederic Skinner) was a behaviorist psychologist whose work is remembered in the field of learning psychology. He was engaged in the study of operant conditioning - he was interested in which factors contribute to the retention of the desired behavior in an individual, and which factors contribute to the reduction or loss of undesired behavior. The elements that influence the formation of behavior are REINFORCERS. Positive reinforcers are those whose presence encourages behavior. A negative reinforcer, with the unpleasant consequences it can produce, motivates the individual to find a way to avoid punishment. Finding a way is actually forming a desired behavior.

The experiment in the so-called "Skinner's box" aimed to examine the influence of reinforcement-reward on the formation of certain behavior in clearly controlled conditions. The research was done on the behavior of pigeons or rats. When the animal pressed the lever in the box (desired behavior), a smaller amount of food would be released. A relationship was observed between lever pressing and food, which represented a reward for the behavior to be settled.

The conclusion is: in order for a behavior to be formed, it needs to be rewarded. This type of mechanism in the formation of behavior is called operative (instrumental) conditioning.

Operant learning is one of the fundamental contributions to modern psychology. Psychopathological behaviors can be viewed as a way of obtaining some kind of reward, although it may not be obvious and logical to the observer.
Operant conditioning is used in psychotherapy as a concept that explains problematic behavior, and on the other hand, it is the backbone of behavioral techniques whose goal is to give up the previous behavior and develop new, functional behavior.