Operant conditioning

How it works

The dog acts, something happens as a result, and that result changes the chance of the same action next time. A behavior followed by something the dog values tends to repeat, and a behavior followed by something the dog wants to avoid tends to drop off. B. F. Skinner developed most of the vocabulary, including reinforcement, punishment and the four quadrants, which describe the possible ways a consequence can work. Almost all deliberate training, from a sit to a recall, is operant: the trainer controls what follows a behavior in order to change how often the dog chooses it. It runs outside training too, every time a dog learns that some action works.

What it looks like

A dog jumps on a visitor and the visitor laughs and pats them. The jumping is followed by attention, so it happens more often. When every visitor turns away instead and greets the dog only once all four paws are down, standing becomes the behavior that produces attention, and jumping becomes less frequent.

Commonly confused with

Classical conditioning

Operant conditioning changes what a dog does, through the results of doing it. Classical conditioning changes how a dog feels about something, through what that thing predicts, with no action required from the dog.

Related terms