... when it was presented. After some time he took the food away and rang the bell by itself, a conditional stimulus. Now however, salivation occurred, a conditional response. The second type of conditioning, operant conditioning, also used animals; this time rats. Skinner was the first person to study it in the 1930s. It is called Operant Conditioning because the child is seen to operate upon the environment to cause an effect. Skinner had a box containing a lever and a food tray; this is known as the Skinner Box. When the rat pressed the lever, food would be dispensed. Requirements for gaining a food pellet start off very basic but become more difficult and specific, for example at first the rat would have to just go near to the lever to gain food, then touch it and after more time it would have to actually press the lever. Skinner found ...

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