Operant conditioning is a learning process that occurs through rewards and punishments for behavior. It differs from classical conditioning in that the subject must perform a behavior to receive the consequence, rather than the experimenter controlling the stimuli. B.F. Skinner was influential in developing operant conditioning principles including positive and negative reinforcement, schedules of reinforcement, and shaping behaviors through successive approximations. Operant conditioning techniques are used to modify behaviors through consequences like reinforcement, punishment, and extinction.