The training methods militaries use are brutalization, classical conditioning,
operant conditioning, and role modeling.
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Operant conditioning. The third method is called
operant conditioning, which the military and law enforcement community have used to make killing a conditioned response.
One of his most important findings was that of "
operant conditioning." Behavior, he noted, is shaped by consequences.
While Hirschhorn explains this example in psychoanalytic terms, other psychological theories, such as
operant conditioning and social learning theory, may represent alternative explanations.
Today, simple
operant conditioning thrives in classrooms.
A trainer, in effect, is vulnerable to a type of
operant conditioning, where the reinforcing events are improvements in the performance and/or happiness of trainees" (Bjork, 1994, p.
Skinner established the principles of
operant conditioning, he tested the effect of distractions on the new behaviors of his rats.
Any discussion of rewards and punishments brings to mind the
operant conditioning paradigm, a second topical area dealing with the asymmetrical effects of rewards and punishments.
Operant conditioning occurs when a behavior becomes more frequent, or the motivation to engage in it become stronger (or both), because that behavior has been rewarded.
"...the semantic reaction formulation could serve as a 'bridge'...between Pavlovian classical conditioning and Skinnerian
operant conditioning." (Silverman)
Since that first experimental demonstration, peak-shift has been observed in several species after
operant conditioning with various rewards and punishers Purtle, 1973).
For example, some children can be trained to fixate visually through
operant conditioning. The infant's need for low-vision aides (e.g., eyeglasses) should be determined as early as possible.