Operant Conditioning in Practice

[Ready for Fall 2026]

Modified: 2026-09-03 11:35 AM CDST

• Operant conditioning is not only limited to laboratory situations. On another page, I will discuss behavior modification more thoroughly. Here, I want to illustrate some ways that operant conditioning can be used daily.
  • Call forwarding--When I call forward to another extension, I turn the handset on my wired office phone upside down,.
    • When I return I do not have to remember that I set the phone to call forward.
    • The upside down receiver is a discriminative stimulus for me to turn off call forwarding. I
    • did have to tell the building custodian not to turn the handset over, however.
  • Piles on the floor--Before I go to class, I make a pile of the materials I will need in front of my door.
    • The pile has to be in a location that I will have to step over it before I walk out.
    • Again, the pile serves as a discriminative stimulus for the behavior of picking up the pile. In fact, I often have to admonish (helpful) visitors not to pick up the pile!
  • Put it on my chair--Over the years, I have conditioned my colleagues NOT to put items on my desk; they will be lost forever.
    • Instead, I reward them for putting those items on my chair.
    • If they do, I am guaranteed to see them because I will not sit down without picking them up and looking at them.
  • Brat prevention--Children are good operant conditioners because they are so persistent.
    • Take the following situation, for example.
      • A child is riding with an adult, and the child is thirsty.
      • So, the child asks to stop and get a drink.
      • The adult says no, the child asks again, and again, and again...
      • Finally, the adult gives in, saying, "All right, just this once." Big mistake, right?
      • Why? The adult has now put the child on a partial schedule, guaranteeing a repetition of the same behavior later on.
      • Instead, the adult should have said, "All right, I'll get you a drink IF you don't ask for one for the next 10 (time may have to vary, depending on the child) minutes."
      • Then, the adult is providing the child with positive reinforcement for being quiet.
  • Breaking relationships--College students often want to end a relationship.
    • Again, they should realize that the person being dumped should not be placed on a partial schedule.
      • If, for example, that person persists in calling, then the dumper should not reinforce the calling by conversing.
    • Further, if the dumper agrees to go out on occasion, real problems will occur.
      • Many relationships show an off-and-on pattern because of such partial reinforcement.
      • (Of course, if the dumper is not really sure that the relationship is over, another set of problems exists.)