ABSTRACT
There are several concepts of operant conditioning with which the people should familiarise themselves. Primary reinforcers are stimuli that innately 'reinforce' a behaviour and produce a desired response. Secondary reinforcers, including money, are stimuli that are associated with primary reinforcers. Secondary reinforcers are associated with primary reinforcers through classical conditioning. Continuous reinforcement schedules are more likely to result in extinction. Extinction (unlearning of a behaviour) is fastest with fixed ratio schedules. Variable interval schedules are most resistant to extinction as the individual has learnt that the reinforcement can occur at any time, therefore they will continue the behaviour until they receive the expected reward. Escape conditioning is a form of operant conditioning whereby an individual engages in a particular behaviour to terminate an aversive stimulus. Long-term memory can be further subdivided into declarative and non-declarative memory.
