Operant Conditioning

In the Post and Courier on July 21, 2008 there was a great comic that shows behavior modification. The mother had a set of twins, and another boy that was a little older than the twins. The mother said to her oldest son, “the twins are ok now, Jojo. I caught ‘em trying to climb up the stairs!” Then she says to Jojo, “When I ask you to keep an eye on them, it’s a very important job! You must take your job seriously!” Jojo responded, “I hope this won’t affect my allowance.”


This shows that Jojo’s behavior has already been modified. He knows that watching his twin siblings meant he usually got a reward of allowance. Since he failed to watch the twins he knows that in return he should not get the allowance. The mother using allowance for Jojo watching the twins is operant conditioning. This was discussed in chapter 5. Operant conditioning uses reinforcement and punishment. In this case positive reinforcement was used. The allowance is a positive reinforcement, because it is a reinforcement that increases the behavior of Jojo watching his twin brothers. Allowance is also a secondary reinforcement because it is something people have learned to like.