Differential Schedules of Reinforcement

Abstract

Nearly 100 years ago, Skinner made the groundbreaking observation that behavior is sensitive to environmental variables (Skinner, 1938). This process, called operant selection or selection by consequences, was a parallel to natural selection coined by Darwin in that both emphasize that the organism’s behaviors and other features change as a function of environmental variables. These changes increase the organism’s adaptability to the environment and, implicitly, chances of survival. Operant and natural selection differ in their level of analysis; operant selection describes learning that occurs during an individual’s life (i.e., ontogeny), whereas natural selection describes learning that occurs across generations within the same species (i.e., phylogeny). The concept of operant selection is a synonym for behavior change; therefore, from a clinical standpoint, operant selection opened the door for therapeutic intervention.