... nineteen-sixties. These principles detailed a simple fact of life originally developed by psychologist Edward L. Thorndike (1874-1949) which he called the "law of effect," (David, G. Myers, 2001, p. 301). This law simply states, " rewarded behavior is likely to recur," (Myers, 2001, p.301). According to Meyers (2001), the principle of operant conditioning is defined as a type of learning where the strength of a specific behavior will increase if followed by either positive or negative reinforcements. Positive reinforcement strengthens a desired behavior by presenting a stimulus after a response. Contrastingly, negative reinforcement removes an aversive stimulus to increase the desired response. Positive and negative stimuli are presented into the environment according to a schedule of which there are two basic categories: continuous and intermittent. Continuous reinforcement simply means that the behavior is followed by a consequence each time it occurs. Intermittent schedules are based either on the passage of ...

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