operant
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
noun
-
a person or thing that operates
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psychol any response by an organism that is not directly caused by a stimulus
Etymology
Origin of operant
1595–1605; < Late Latin operant- (stem of operāns, present participle of operārī; operate ); -ant
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.
In operant conditioning, the animal does not learn a new behavior in response to a stimulus, whereas in classical conditioning, the animal learns to associate a non-voluntary behavior with an unusual stimulus.
From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022
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 • Aug. 6, 2021
The Twittering Machine, as a wholly designed operant conditioning chamber, needs none of the expedients of the casino or opium den.
From The Guardian • Aug. 23, 2019
They decode the operant logic underlying conventional wisdom.
From Slate • Nov. 5, 2018
The experimental psychologists have recently found that visceral organs can be taught to do various things, as easily as a boy learns to ride a bicycle, by the instrumental techniques of operant conditioning.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
