Operant conditioning is a theory that explains how behaviors are influenced by their consequences or results. It’s often used today to help people adopt new behaviors or change old habits. If you’ve ...

A long-standing debate in neuroscience is whether classical and operant conditioning are mechanistically similar or distinct. The feeding behavior of Aplysia provides a model system suitable for ...

When you are trying to teach a new skill, whether it's teaching your dog to sit or getting yourself to stop doomscrolling before bed, rewarding good behavior is often better than punishing mistakes.

Positive punishment means giving an undesirable consequence after an unwanted behavior to make it less appealing. It aims to stop the behavior from happening again. However, long term, there may be a ...

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American While second nature to many of us, driving a ...

Negative reinforcement encourages specific behaviors by removing or avoiding negative consequences or stimuli. It is different than punishment, which aims to discourage a specific behavior. Negative ...

I have written previously about the fact that in today’s increasingly digital world, not every person who is compulsive with pornography is a traditional (trauma-driven) compulsive person. (See my ...