Operant conditioning examples

Johnny puts his quarter in the vending machine and gets a piece of candy.

Positive Reinforcement /PR

I put on sunscreen to avoid a sunburn.

Negative Reinforcement /NR

You stick your hand in a flame and you get a painful burn.

Positive Punishment /PP

Bobby fights with his sister and does not get to watch TV that night.

Negative Punishment /NP

A child misbehaves and gets a spanking.

Positive Punishment /PP

You come to work late regularly and you get demoted.

Negative Punishment /NP

You take an aspirin to eliminate a headache.

negative reinforcement /NR

You walk the dog to avoid having dog poop in the house.

negative reinforcement /NR

Nathan tells a good joke and his friends all laugh.

positive reinforcement /PR

You climb on a railing of a balcony and fall.

positive punishment /PP

Julie stays out past her curfew and now does not get to use the car for a week.

negative punishment /NP

Robert goes to work every day and gets a paycheck.

positive reinforcement /PR

Sue wears a bike helmet to avoid a head injury.

negative reinforcement /NR

Tim thinks he is sneaky and tries to text in class. He is caught and given a long, boring book to read.

positive punishment /PP

Emma smokes in school and gets hall privileges taken away.

negative punishment /NP

Sawa falls asleep under the sun, and gets a sunburn.

positive punishment /PP

A rat presses a lever and gets a shock.

positive punishment /PP

Joe puts on deodorant to avoid having body odor.

negative reinforcement /NP

Marco studies a lot and gets a good grade.

positive reinforcement /PR

The squirrel runs up a tree to escape a predator.

negative reinforcement /NR

Wearing sunglasses to avoid/remove the glare of the sun.

Negative reinforcement / NR

Receiving a warning from the police for speeding in your car.

Positive Punishment /PP

You get sick from drinking too much vodka so you moderate your drinking in the future.

Positive Punishment /PP

Cheng-Lin gets a mark of A on a well-written paper.

Positive reinforcement /PR

You receive an award for writing short stories.

positive reinforcement /PR

Enjoying giving a party where everyone seems to be having a great time.

positive reinforcement (PR)

I got grounded because I came home past curfew.

Negative Punishment/NP

Eating an entire batch of chocolate cookies in one sitting and feeling sick to my stomach.

positive punishment/pp

Hurting your head when you don't duck in a low doorway.

positive punishment /pp

Alix gets her allowance after she completes her weekly chores.

positive reinforcement/pr

Yusuf ducks his head to avoid hitting it on a low doorway.

negative reinforcement/nr

You receive a kiss for bringing your girlfriend or boyfriend flowers.

positive reinforcement

You refuse to be affectionate toward your partner when they forget your anniversary.

negative punishment

You receive a raise at work for doing your job well.

positive reinforcement

Your sister whacks you upside the head for getting in her personal space.

positive punishment

Losing your driver's license after getting too many demerits.

negative punishment

A repo man takes a car for your failure to make loan payments.

negative punishment

Rafael puts on his seatbelt to stop the annoying "dinging" noise in his car.

negative reinforcement

You come in late after curfew and your parents take away your car keys.

negative punishment

Snapping your wrist with a rubber band when you bite your fingernails.

positive punishment

A teenager loses his cellphone for talking back to his mom.

negative punishment

The teacher takes a student's cell phone away in class.

negative punishment

Emilie stretches to avoid a sports injury.

negative reinforcement

Giving your child dessert because he ate his vegetables.

positive reinforcement

Getting pleasure from a stimulating conversation with a colleague.

positive reinforcement

A service dog is allowed to play tug as a reward for correctly identifying the location of hidden drugs.

positive reinforcement

You take an analgesic pill and your headache goes away.

negative reinforcement

Studying for an exam reduces stress.

negative reinforcement

Chewing nicotine gum makes the craving for a cigarette go away.

negative reinforcement

Eating a meal you don't like in order to avoid hurting the cook's feelings.

negative reinforcement

Feeling good after working at a soup kitchen.

positive reinforcement

You decide to tell an interrogator everything he wants to know to get him to stop torturing you.

negative reinforcement

Someone frowns when you tell a joke.

positive punishment

You clean up your room so your mom will stop nagging you about it.

negative reinforcement

A parent punishes a child to stop his misbehaviour; this works, so the parent increasingly uses the punishment.

negative reinforcement

Tashina's cell phone rings in class; the teacher answers the phone and talks to the caller, making Tashina feel embarrassed.

positive punishment

Telling my friends how to play a game who then tell me to mind my own business!

positive punishment

Taking out the garbage to quiet a nagging significant other.

negative reinforcement

Your dog jumps on you when you return home, so you turn your back on your dog and ignore him.

negative punishment

You're trying to study, but there's annoying noise from the traffic outside coming through an open window; you decide to close the window to reduce the sound of the traffic.

negative reinforcement

Lindsay breaks the law to go to jail so she can get free meals, free healthcare, and a roof over her head.

positive reinforcement

An employee is consistently late for work; the employee therefore loses the right to listen to music while working.

negative punishment

A child ignores her chores, so her parents take away her video game play time.

negative punishment

An employee's inappropriate behavior at work stops after she is criticized by a supervisor.

positive punishment

Tasting bitter nail chemical when you try to bite your nails.

positive punishment

Getting a super wedgie for mouthing off to your older brother.

positive punishment

Making a basket in basketball after using correct form.

positive reinforcement

Mouthing off to a bully and receiving a super wedgie because you think super wedgies are nice.

positive reinforcement

You receive a sticker for bringing your ID to class.

positive reinforcement

You have your vehicle regularly serviced to avoid a break-down.

negative reinforcement

You put gas in your car so you can go out to meet your friends.

positive reinforcement

Kari follows the laws to avoid going to jail.

negative reinforcement

The teacher yells "stop talking!" in the middle of the lecture to the class, and all the other students glare at the offenders

positive punishment

Angelina is convicted of breaking the law and goes to jail, which removes her freedom to do as she pleases.

negative punishment

Asad gets a cookie after finishing a reading assignment.

positive reinforcement

I walk into a pole while texting.

positive punishment

You put up an umbrella to avoiding getting wet in the rain.

negative reinforcement

If I yell "You're the king of the world!" my brother will let me up off the floor.

negative reinforcement

Zachary is very naughty one afternoon, so his mom tells him he cannot go on a camping trip with his best friend that weekend.

negative punishment

After a child slams a door in anger, the parent removes the bedroom door from its hinges, removing privacy.

negative punishment

Martha breaks the law and goes to jail, where she is forced to live in a small, smelly room.

positive punishment

Wearing a helmet, pads, etc. to avoid getting injured when playing hockey.

negative reinforcement

Chewing nicotine gum brings a dopamine release in the brain, which feels good.

positive reinforcement

Sean spanks his child for playing in the street.

Positive Punishment

An "A" on exam that you studied real hard for.

Positive Reinforcement

Amanda cleans her room to keep her parents off her back.

Negative Reinforcement

Getting a pay check.

Positive Reinforcement

Reducing anxiety by smoking a cigarette

Negative Reinforcement

Embarrassing a student for giving a wrong answer.

Positive Punishment

Taking an aspirin to relieve a headache

Negative Reinforcement

Receiving a hug from your parents after throwing a temper tantrum.

Positive Reinforcement

A patient in a mental hospital is very disruptive at mealtimes. She grabs food from the plates of those sitting near her and tries to cram the food into her mouth. Because this behavior of stealing food is very undesirable and needs to stop immediately, a plan is developed whereby every time the patient steals food from other plates, she is immediately taken to a room without food.

Negative Punishment

Santa wasn't doing well in her 6th grade math class. Her teacher told her parents that Santa handed in less than 50% of her assignments. Her parents told Santa that any day on which she did not hand in her homework she would be sent to bed right after dinner. As a result of this threat, Santa has handed in her assignment 97% of the time.

negative reinforcement

In order to receive his allowance Travis cleans up his room regularly.

Positive Reinforcement

John does not go to the dentist every 6 months for a check-up. Instead, he waited until a tooth really hurts, then goes to the dentist. After 2 emergency trips to the dentist, John now goes to the dentist every 6 months like he should

Negative Reinforcement

A student jumps up and down, hand raised, yelling "me, me, me!" until the teacher calls on her. The child jumps and yells even more in the future.

Positive Reinforcement

Police randomly stop drivers and give tickets to those who are not wearing their seat belts; as a result of this program seat belt use increases in town.

Negative reinforcement

John's parents want him to stop smoking cigarettes. Every time John gets caught smoking a cigarette he owes his parents 20 dollars.

positive punishment

Mary is on the track team and is competing in the 1 mile event. Each time she runs her mile under 6 minutes at practice her coach gives her 100 dollars.

positive reinforcement

Mr. Wilson teaches AP Calculus. Every student that shows up late to his class is forced to do an additional homework assignment that night.

positive punishment