# For Teachers & Students: Cite, Assign, and Teach Operant Conditioning > Teach or study operant conditioning from this site: a suggested route, learning objectives, discussion questions, citation formats, and reuse permissions. - Source: https://operantconditioning.com/for-teachers/ - Author: Ryan Martinson (https://operantconditioning.com/about/) - Publisher: Operant Conditioning Inc. - Published: 2026-09-11 · Updated: 2026-09-11 - License: https://operantconditioning.com/terms/#copyright (quote with attribution and a link; free to reproduce for non-commercial teaching) --- **Two additions for classrooms.** Teaching AP Psychology? The [exam-facing study guide](https://operantconditioning.com/ap-psychology/) lists the terms, the studies, and a practice set. And the virtual Skinner box now has [its own page](https://operantconditioning.com/lab/), so it can be linked from a syllabus and assigned as a lab. *For teachers & students* # Teach it, cite it, reuse it. Every page on this site can be assigned, quoted, printed, and linked without an account, a paywall, or a tracker. This page collects the parts built specifically for teaching and studying — the route through the material, the objectives it covers, discussion questions, citation formats, and exactly what you are allowed to reuse. > **The short version** > > Point people at **operantconditioning.com**. Nothing requires a login, every page prints cleanly, every diagram is CC BY 4.0, and the quiz gives instant explanations rather than a stored score. If you only assign one thing, assign the front page. ## A route through the guide The front page is written to be read straight through, but this order works well when it is split over two sessions. Session one runs about twenty-five minutes; the whole front page, read end to end with everything on it, is closer to forty. **Session one — about 25 minutes** 1. [Watch the four-minute video](https://operantconditioning.com/#watch) 2. [Read the one-paragraph version](https://operantconditioning.com/#operant-conditioning-in-one-paragraph) and [the A-B-C](https://operantconditioning.com/#how-operant-conditioning-works) 3. [Learn the four quadrants](https://operantconditioning.com/#the-four-quadrants-reinforcement-and-punishment), then work through the interactive checker 4. [Shape a lever press in the virtual Skinner box](https://operantconditioning.com/#lab) 5. [Read the schedules table](https://operantconditioning.com/#schedules-of-reinforcement) and [the three short sections after it](https://operantconditioning.com/#extinction-shaping-and-stimulus-control) 6. [Work through the eight-scenario check](https://operantconditioning.com/#can-you-spot-it) Session two: [the evidence on reinforcement versus punishment](https://operantconditioning.com/#reinforcement-versus-punishment-what-the-evidence-says), [the criticisms and limitations](https://operantconditioning.com/#criticisms-and-limitations), and the [full twenty-question quiz](https://operantconditioning.com/quiz/). **What the guide covers** - Define operant conditioning and distinguish it from classical conditioning. - Identify the antecedent, behavior, and consequence in any everyday example. - Classify a consequence into one of the four quadrants — and explain why negative reinforcement is not punishment. - Describe the five schedules of reinforcement and predict the response pattern each produces. - Explain shaping, extinction, the extinction burst, and spontaneous recovery. - State what the evidence shows about reinforcement versus punishment, and where the theory's limits lie. ## Assignable resources - [20-question quiz](https://operantconditioning.com/quiz/): Instant explanations after every answer. No account, no stored score, and a printable answer key. - [128-term glossary](https://operantconditioning.com/glossary/): Every term defined the way behavior analysts define it, with a live search box. - [50+ worked examples](https://operantconditioning.com/examples/): Sorted by quadrant and by setting, each with the reasoning spelled out. - [Diagrams to reuse](https://operantconditioning.com/diagrams/): Every diagram as SVG and PNG, released CC BY 4.0 for slides and handouts. - [The virtual Skinner box](https://operantconditioning.com/#lab): Magazine-train, shape a lever press, thin the schedule, then run extinction. Works on a phone. - [Schedule simulator](https://operantconditioning.com/schedules-of-reinforcement/): Watch a live cumulative record form under FR, VR, FI, and VI. The scallop is visible in about thirty seconds. ## Discussion questions Six that reliably produce disagreement rather than recitation. 1. A parent says, "I punished him by taking his phone, but he keeps doing it." Using the functional definition of punishment, what would you tell them — and what would you look at next? 2. Find three contingencies in your own day. For each, name the antecedent, the behavior, the consequence, and the quadrant. Which one surprised you? 3. Jim in *The Office* calls his Altoid experiment "Pavlov." Make the case that it is operant. Make the case that it is both. 4. Slot machines and social feeds run on variable-ratio schedules. Is there a line between designing for engagement and exploiting a learning mechanism? Where would you draw it? 5. Reinforce every time, or only sometimes? Explain to a new dog owner why the answer changes over the first month. 6. Chomsky said reinforcement cannot explain grammar. What can it explain about language — and what can it not? ## How to cite this site Citing the front page, updated 10 September 2026: APA 7 — Martinson, R. (2026, September 10). *Operant conditioning: The complete guide*. Operant Conditioning. https://operantconditioning.com/ MLA 9 — Martinson, Ryan. "Operant Conditioning: The Complete Guide." *Operant Conditioning*, Operant Conditioning Inc., 10 Sept. 2026, operantconditioning.com/. Chicago — Martinson, Ryan. "Operant Conditioning: The Complete Guide." Operant Conditioning. September 10, 2026. https://operantconditioning.com/. For any other page, substitute that page's own title and URL and use the "Updated" date printed under its heading. Where a page cites a primary source for a claim, cite the primary source rather than this site — every reference list here gives the original paper or book. ## What you may reuse - **Quoting.** Quote any passage with attribution and a link back to the page it came from. - **Classroom copies.** Any page may be reproduced for non-commercial teaching, with attribution. Printing is supported — the stylesheet strips navigation and interactive controls. - **Diagrams.** Every diagram on [the diagrams page](https://operantconditioning.com/diagrams/) is released under CC BY 4.0 as SVG and PNG. Use them in slides, handouts, and papers; credit *operantconditioning.com*. - **Linking.** Link anywhere, including directly to a section anchor. Nothing here is gated and no link will rot behind a login. - **Full terms.** [The copyright terms](https://operantconditioning.com/terms/#copyright) spell out the rest. ## Corrections and requests If something is wrong, imprecise, or out of date, please say so — corrections are made promptly and the page's "updated" date changes with them. Requests for a diagram, a worked example, or a page that does not exist yet are welcome too. [Contact details are here](https://operantconditioning.com/about/#contact). The site is also seeking a credentialed reviewer — a BCBA-D or a PhD in behavior analysis or learning — to read it critically. [More on that](https://operantconditioning.com/about/#expert-review).