Operant Conditioning
The timing of reinforcement is crucial in maintaining desirable behavior.
Factors that Influence the Effectiveness of Reinforcement:
Timing: It is very important that the reinforcement immediately follow the desired behavior.
Magnitude and appeal: The larger and more appealing the reinforcement, the faster a response will be learned and the more frequently it will be displayed.
Shaping: As parts of experiments, a new behavior is generally learned using a shaping procedure. Shaping involves providing a pleasant stimulus after the emitted behaviors more closely resemble the desired response.