Operant Contingencies in Everyday Persistence The Core Unit of Operant Analysis An antecedent sets the occasion for a response. The response produces a consequence. This sequence forms the three-term contingency. Operant behavior emerges from such relations. Reinforcement increases the future probability of the response. Punishment decreases it. Skinner identified this unit because it captures environmental interactions without invoking internal states. Consequences shape behavior directly. Antecedents […]




