According to operant conditioning theory,<u> consequences have the power to increase or decrease the likelihood of a behavior taking place.</u> For instance, if <u>John gets home past curfew and his father takes away his phone as a punishment, John is less likely to arrive late again (weakening)</u>. He does not want the bad consequence to repeat itself. On the other hand, if <u>Caitlin takes out the trash and her mother rewards her by thanking and complimenting her, Caitlin is more likely to take out the trash again (strengthening)</u>. The reward made her feel good about her action, and she would like it to happen more frequently.
