B. F. Skinner's work elaborated what E. L. Thorndike had called

Shaping

Conditioned reinforcement

The law of effect

Resistance to extinction

Edward Thorndike 's Law of Effect states that there is a relationship between behaviour and its consequences. Behaviour becomes predictable based on the effect it has as it produces posive or negative consequences.

B. F. Skinner's work elaborated on E. L. Thorndike's Law of Effect. He developed a theory of learning named operant conditioning: learning in which behavior takes place if followed by reinforcement and is weakened if followed by punishment.