operant conditioning

2 definitions found

operant conditioning - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  operant conditioning \op"er*ant con*di"tion*ing\, n. (Psychol.)
     A process for causing animals to behave in a specific manner
     by rewarding or punishing the animal each time it performs a
     certain act; after a time, the animal comes to associate the
     reward or punishment with the act, and will increase or
     decrease the frequency of performing that act.
     [PJC]

operant conditioning - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  operant conditioning
      n 1: conditioning in which an operant response is brought under
           stimulus control by virtue of presenting reinforcement
           contingent upon the occurrence of the operant response