Operant conditioning shows a high degree of orderliness or lawfulness. One illustration of orderliness is behaviour controlled by partial reinforcement-that is, behaviour taking place when the response is reinforced only a fraction of the time it occurs.
In the typical experiment, a pigeon learns to peck at a lighted disc mounted on the wall and gains access to a small quantity of grain as its reinforcement. Once this conditioned operant is established, the pigeon will continue to peck at a high and relatively uniform rate, even if it only receives occasional reinforcement. The practical significance of partial reinforcement is great.
A child’s mother is not always present to reward him for looking both ways before crossing the street. But the influences of reinforcements are such that they persist against many non-reinforcements. A long straight drive will keep a golfer at the game despite many balls lost in the drought.