Behaviours Following Satisfying Consequences Are Learned

Thorndike’s Law of Effect led B.F. Skinner to the study of instrumental conditioning, where behaviour could be manipulated by applying rewards and punishments.

To describe this paradigm, some terminology is useful since they are often confused in popular discussions:

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Your cue leads to your craving, which leads to a response, that leads to your reward.

These rewards can take any form, and as your habit gets more ingrained you develop a craving for the reward too, further developing the habit.

In Oettingen's finding with her research, she was shocked when she found out that the very images that allowed us to virtually live through our heart's desire actually had hampering effects on our realizations.

We then ask, "why would fantasizing about fulfilling a wish hinder the pursuit o...