Description of Operant Conditioning and Explanation on How it can influence an Individual's Personality Development.

Operant conditioning is also referred to as instrumental conditioning. It is a reward and punishment behavioral learning method that defines the link between behavior and consequence. It simply states that actions that are supported by reinforcement or implementation are likely to reoccur in the future. For instance, if a song is sung and an audience likes to, the chances of singing the song in another place are higher and vice versa. Which means the reoccurrence of the same event is strengthened by the consequences of the action performed initially. This is referred to as operant conditioning where a certain behavior is followed by a respective consequence. Operant conditioning is used for learning purposes because is accounted for both respondent behavior and learning processes. The main components of operant conditioning include reinforcement and punishment (Friedman& Schustack, 2012).

Reinforcement; is a response that either increases or strengthens following a certain behavior or action. The reinforcer can either be positive or negative. A positive reinforcer favors or supports a certain behavior upon its occurrence. It is usually a reward or praise response following a certain action or behavior occurrence. On the other hand, a negative reinforcer disapproves the occurrence of a certain behavioral occurrence supporting. It propagates for removal of unpleasant behavior action. According to Skinner, 1938, there are several reinforcement schedules namely;

Continuous reinforcement; where both delivery response and learning occur quickly. Also, once a response is stopped, extinction of the relative behavior also occurs quickly.

Fixed ratio schedules; where reinforcement of responses only occurs to a specified number of behavioral actions. This creates a platform for a steady response although it is a partial reinforcement.

Fixed-interval schedules; where reinforcement is done periodically or within certain intervals of time in a fixed manner. The response rate occurs steadily and rises towards the climax of the interval time.

Variable ratio schedules; where varied responses are considered before reinforcement of a certain behavioral action. As a result, high and low response rates are captured.

Variable interval schedules; where varied responses are reinforced within a specified period or intervals. Once the varied time elapses, reinforcement is halted. As a result, both fast and slow response rate occurs within a varied interval of time.

Punishment; this is a response that either decreases or reduces following a certain behavior or action. The punishment can be either positive or negative. Positive punishment is an action aimed to weaken the response following the occurrence of an event. On the other hand, negative punishment is an action that supports the removal of punishment upon an occurrence of a favorable behavior.