Operant conditioning is B.F. Skinner’s name for instrumental learning: learning by consequences. Not a new idea, of course. Humanity has always known how to teach children and animals by means of ...

The basis of social learning theory is simple: People learn by watching other people. We can learn from anyone—teachers, parents, siblings, peers, co-workers, YouTube influencers, athletes, and even ...

Learning can lead to changes in the intrinsic excitability of neurons. However, the extent to which these changes persist and the role they have in the expression of memory remain unclear. We found ...

Researchers at Tel Aviv University have discovered that the brain cannot learn simultaneously through both classical conditioning and operant conditioning. In fact, the brain actively prevents the ...

What is the self-reinforcement hypothesis? A new theory explains how the mesolimbic dopamine system rewards future-oriented mental time travel.

This refers to a form of learning wherein certain forms of voluntary behaviour are either encouraged or discouraged through the appropriate use of rewards and punishment. Such learning happens because ...

WASHINGTON -- A competition held by the U.S. Army to find and develop new tools and concepts that can locate, track and trace different learning traits -- also known as "Brain Operant Learning ...

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 ...