Which type of conditioning involves reinforcing a learner's spontaneous behavior?

• A. Classical conditioning
• B. Respondent conditioning
• C. Shaping
• D. Operant conditioning

Answer: (D)

Reinforcing a learner's spontaneous behavior shows how operant conditioning shapes voluntary actions through consequences. When a behavior happens of the learner's own accord and a reinforcing outcome follows, that behavior becomes more likely to occur again in the future, because the consequence strengthens the association between the action and the reward. This stands in contrast to classical conditioning, where a neutral stimulus is paired with a reflexive response to produce a conditioned reflex, not a voluntary action. Respondent conditioning is another term for that reflex-based learning. Shaping, while part of operant conditioning, involves reinforcing closer and closer steps toward a target behavior rather than simply reinforcing a spontaneous action, so the key idea here is that reinforcement of spontaneous, voluntary behavior is the hallmark of operant conditioning.