A dog, a cat in a box and a lecture under a tree! (By David Meagher, Social Science & Technology Instructor)

While many of us are familiar with Pavlov’s work on dogs, making them salivate when a bell is rung (known as Classical Conditioning), there is an even more influential form of learning, known as Operant Conditioning.

On Wednesday students in AP psychology class started examining this form of learning. And what better way to study how we learn than with a live dog outdoors.

Behavior training has increasingly become more focused on positive reinforcement for behavior correction, and students had a chance to experience that in the classroom. Building on the pioneering work of Edward Lee Thorndike (1874 –1949) students in the AP Psychology class saw how a reward system (dog treats) reinforces positive behavior, such as shaking a hand (paw). This led to Thorndike's Law of Effect; positive results are strengthened, and negative results are weakened.

This law would later form the basis of Operant Conditioning, and is used in behavior modification, therapeutic settings and education systems all over the world.
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