1. Forming and Strengthening Operant Behavior: EQ: How do we form operant behavior and how do we strengthen that behavior?

2. How does life operantly train us?  Part of what and how we learn comes from the situations we are in  If we are in school, for example, we learn through rewards and punishments  We also learn in the workforce that we are rewarded for good work  This also applies to relationships  In short, we are always being reinforced or punished based on our behavior  There are, however, certain variables that can strengthen these reinforcements

3. Shaping:  Shaping is the concept that we progressively reward for getting closer a to demonstrating the desired response we are training a subject for  An example would be in potty training  If junior pees next to the toilet, we might reinforce him with something like, “Good job, you almost got it in the potty.”  If a week later, Junior gets most of it in the potty, we might reinforce the almost success  Eventually, the subject will be shaped into demonstrating the correct response

4. Primary and Secondary Reinforcers:  A primary reinforcer is a given to a subject when they demonstrate the operant that is rewarding to them  A secondary reinforcer is a reward given to a subject that the learn to like  An example of a primary enforcer would be the treat you give your dog when he demonstrates good behavior  The secondary reinforcer might be the belly rub you give him when he rolls over

5. Delay and Size of Reinforcers:  Occasionally, we might delay the reinforcer until we are satisfied with the result we want to see  To lose weight, for example, we might want decide to give ourselves a tasty treat for every 5 pounds we lose  This reinforcer does not directly impact us today, but it will eventually be a reward that we work toward  Sometimes, if the reward is huge, we may have to work for a long time to get it EX: If I save an extra $100 per month, I can retire at 58 instead of 64

6. Schedule Reinforcement:  In Schedule reinforcement, we are trying to use schedules to reinforce our behavior  A Continuous Reinforcement Schedule is designed to reward a subject every time they demonstrate a desired response  A Partial Reinforcement Schedule is designed to reward only some of the time

7. Schedules and Extinction:  If the goal of Conditioning is extinction, then we must work toward either getting rid of the unwanted behavior or to get rid of the reinforcement  To do this we can slowly stop reinforcing as we begin to see the result that we wish to see  Eventually, we should completely get rid of the behavior EX: none of us gets rewarded for going peepee on the potty 