operant

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It knows how to use operant conditioning — the same techniques used to train a dog — to turn young men and women into efficient killers.

From Salon

Clive Wynne, founding director of the Canine Science Collaboratory at Arizona State University, ascribed the talking dogs’ skills to operant conditioning rather than an understanding of the words they seem to use.

From Seattle Times

Even Devine says that she thinks Bunny’s “speech” is primarily operant conditioning, where Bunny has made an association between pressing a button and something happening.

From The Verge

The Twittering Machine, as a wholly designed operant conditioning chamber, needs none of the expedients of the casino or opium den.

From The Guardian

The prank had taken a page out of 20th-century behaviorist B. F. Skinner’s operant conditioning playbook by allegedly teaching pigeons to peck for a food reward whenever the birds detected a relevant search result.

From Salon