A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure of speaking on “The Attention Drug Wars” panel at South by South West (SXSW). The discussion centered on how successful social media companies like Facebook ...

Operant conditioning is B.F. Skinner’s name for instrumental learning: learning by consequences. Not a new idea, of course. Humanity has always known how to teach children and animals by means of ...

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American While second nature to many of us, driving a ...

Operant conditioning can contribute to the development of behavioral toxicology in many ways. Its techniques are useful in training animals in the various behaviors the toxicologist may wish to study.

A new study from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience brings together two schools of thought on the function of the neurotransmitter dopamine: one saying that dopamine provides a learning signal ...

Operant conditioning is a well known psychology principle -- in which "good" behavior is rewarded and "bad" behavior is punished. While positive reinforcement has found its way into everyday life, ...