Operant behavior

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Operant Behavior is the network of factors and events involved in the behavior of animals. The operant is the behavior that acts on the environment to produce a consequence. This consequence is known as a reinforcer, which is meted out by the environment in response to the operant. This response encourages the operant to repeat the behavior or causes it to cease the behavior. For example, if a child were to cry out at night when her parents put her to bed. The child's crying would be an operant behavior. When the parents attempted to soothe the child when it behaved as such, the parents' attention would be the reinforcer. If crying at night resulted in this immediate consequence (reinforcer), the child's crying(Operant) would be encouraged by the consequence(reinforcer): She would then be more likely to cry out at night in the future. Conversely, acting the same child with different parenting techniques, would result in a differing behavior. The child would cry out at night when her parents put her to sleep (operant behavior). The differing parenting techniques (change in the environment) would then dictate that the parents(environment) were to punish the child. This action would be reinforcer for the behavior, being quiet. This would then discourage the child(operant) to repeat the behavior. There is, however, a third option, this being that the parents do not respond at all, thus removing all reinforcers. Without reinforcers(parents) acting on the operant(child) the behavior is decided entirely by the child, and therefore completely random.