Operant conditioning, sometimes called instrumental conditioning or Skinnerian conditioning, is a method of learning that uses rewards and punishment to modify behavior. Through operant conditioning, ...

Positive reinforcement involves adding something good after a behavior to make it happen more often. Reinforcement works best when given right after the behavior happens to keep the right connections.

Eunice Framm, senior keeper of barnyard animals at the Cincinnati Zoo, has taught pigs to bowl, goats to paint, and red pandas to receive vaccines. She, and all other keepers, do so through the zoo’s ...