Operant Health Dictionary

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Operant: From 1 Different Sources

adj. (in psychology) describing a unit of behaviour that is defined by its effect on the environment. See conditioning.
Health Source: Oxford | Concise Colour Medical Dictionary
Author: Jonathan Law, Elizabeth Martin

Conditioning

The formation of a specific response to a specific stimulus.

In classical conditioning, a stimulus that consistently evokes a particular response is paired repeatedly with a second stimulus that would not normally produce the response.

Eventually, the second stimulus begins to produce the response whether the first stimulus is present or not.

In operant conditioning, attempts to modify behaviour are made through a system of rewards and/or punishments.

The theory that inappropriate behaviour patterns in some psychological disorders are learned through conditioning and can be modified by the same process underlies behavioural psychology (see behaviour therapy).... conditioning

Behaviour Therapy

A form of psychiatric treatment based on learning theory. Symptoms are considered to be conditioned responses, and treatment is aimed at removing them, regardless of the underlying diagnosis. Desensitisation, operant conditioning, and aversion therapy are examples of behaviour therapy. (See MENTAL ILLNESS.)... behaviour therapy

Behaviour Modification

the use of the methods of behaviourist psychology (see behaviourism) – especially operant *conditioning – to alter people’s behaviour. Behaviour modification has wider applications than *behaviour therapy, since it is also used in situations in which the client is not ill; for example, in education. See also chaining; prompting.... behaviour modification

Biofeedback

n. the giving of immediate information to a subject about his or her bodily processes (such as heart rate), which are usually unconscious, by means of monitoring devices. This may enable some voluntary control over such processes. These processes can then be subject to operant *conditioning. This is an experimental treatment for disturbances of bodily regulation, such as hypertension.... biofeedback

Reinforcement

n. (in psychology) the strengthening of a conditioned reflex (see conditioning). In classical conditioning this takes place when a conditioned stimulus is presented at the same time as – or just before – the unconditioned stimulus. In operant conditioning it takes place when a pleasurable event (or reinforcer), such as a reward, follows immediately after some behaviour. The reinforcement schedule governs how often and when such behaviour is rewarded. Different schedules produce different effects on behaviour.... reinforcement

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