Russian physiologist Pavlov gave us the gift of classical conditioning. In the similar manner American psychologist gave us the gift of learning by operant conditioning. In operant conditioning, the subject will have to perform some specific activity only then the subject can get reinforcement. In this type of learning, focus is given on the operant behaviour of the subject, so it is called operant conditioning. According to Skinner, desired behaviour can be taught to humans or animals by giving reinforcement. The presence of reinforcement is must for learning.
There are two types of reinforcement: (1) Positive reinforcement (2) Negative reinforcement. (1) Positive reinforcement: This type of reinforcement increases the rate of response that precedes its
presentation. It also increases the probability of response. (2) Negative reinforcement: Generally, we consider positive reinforcement as a reward while negative reinforcement as punishment. But Skinner does not consider negative reinforcement as punishment. It is a stimulus which increases the possibility of response when removed after the response. A negative or positive reinforcement can be considered as reinforcement only when it increases A the probability of desired response.