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Classical and Operant Conditioning Comparison
Classical and Operant Conditioning Comparison
Scientific reviews comparing and contrasting classical and operant conditioning
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Learning can happen in numerous ways, but all fall under the category of being either classical conditioning or operant conditioning when we are dealing with Psychology terms. These two habituation methods are very comparable in nature, but do possess very specific distinctions in their differences. The major difference between classical and operant conditioning is the type of behaviors being conditioned. Classical is focused more on reflex and automatic actions whereas operant deals more with voluntary actions. Classical and operant conditioning are also different in the way they are taught. Classical conditioning involves introducing the subject to a neutral signal before reaction. Classical conditioning has four basic principles associated with it: Unconditioned Stimulus, Unconditioned Response, Conditioned Stimulus, and Conditioned Response. In operant conditioning, the reaction of the subject is responded with either a reinforcement, where the behavior is increased or a punishment, where the behavior is decreased. “Classical conditioning is a basic form of associative learning in the animal kingdom (Malaka, 1999).” We see it all the time in every day life. A prime example of classical conditioning in an average child’s life is evident in something as simple as their breakfast routine. Say a child’s mother decides she wants to start making breakfast for her child before school everyday. The smell coming from the food in the morning will be the unconditioned stimulus triggering the child’s response. When she first starts out cooking on the first few days, the child is going to smell the food being prepared in the kitchen and start to think about eating what is being made. This is an example of an unconditioned response. The s... ... middle of paper ... ...proof that conditioning works all around us. Conditioning has paved the way for good and bad decision making for all of us, whether we care to admit it or not. Ever compete with someone at work or school to win an award or a promotion? That would be positive reinforcement. Upon closer analysis, it is very evident that a good portion of events in your life are somehow related to the ancient ways of conditioning, all you have to do is look. Works Cited Malaka, R. (1999). Models of classical conditioning. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, 61(1), 33-83. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092824098999980 Pritchett, K., & Mulder, G. (2004). Operant conditioning. Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science, 43(4), 35-36. Retrieved from http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/aalas/jaalas/2004/00000043/00000004/art00008
The two main forms of conditioning, are classical conditioning (learning by association), and operant condition (learning from consequences).Classical conditioning, is the learning process in which one is conditioned (learns) to respond to a neutral stimulus as if it were a meaningful stimulus. In operant conditioning, learning occurs through associations made between a behavior and the consequence that follows.
Animals can learn interesting and complex behaviors through the means of conditioning and other training methods. The two types of conditioning are classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Conditioning incorporates both reinforcement and punishment. Reinforcement will increase the likelihood or a behavior, where punishment, and extinction will decrease it. Lee and Belfiore stated that “reinforcement is one of the most misused and misunderstood terms in the analysis of behavior” (1997). Along with these types of conditioning are other factors that help one train an organism. Habituation, magazine training, shaping, and different schedules of reinforcement help one reach the desired behavior. All these factors are part of training an organism to reach a desired behavior.
“Operant conditioning is a method of learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for behavior. Through operant conditioning, an association is made between a behavior and a consequence for that behavior” (Cherry). Positive reinforcement which is praising a person for doing something good verses negative reinforcement which is an unpleasant remark a punishment. B.F. Skinner did an experiment on a rat, the rat was taught to push two buttons, one to receive food and the other was a light electric shock. The rat tried both buttons and realized which button was good and which one was bad. This experiment goes to show that upon the rewards and punishment system one can learn their rights from their wrongs through a series of lessons. Kincaid and Hemingway both use operant conditioning to show human behavior under stimulus control.
Recall, classical conditioning is a type of learning that involves a certain behavior receiving the same response. Catalina could have obtained her routine through this way of learning. Let’s say the unconditioned stimulus was her situation she was in her sophomore year. Catalina was dealing with mistreatment by an adult while being bombarded with loads of school work. Her unconditioned response was to deal with the bullying and not worry about school because it was not a priority. After the circumstances were taken care of, she knew how to let certain situations come before academics. School no longer was important to her and she could create a conditioned stimulus, where her life was filled with friends, boys, and sports. She had learned how to respond, and that was to allow everything else to consume her time and energy, this was her conditioned response. Catalina sometimes finds herself falling back into that rhythm of letting academics fade into the background, but she has been attempting change. Classical conditioning can help her achieve this goal. My first plan is to create an unconditioned stimulus. This stimulus will be in the form of an essay assignment. Catalina’s class will be told that one page of the essay will be due each day to be certain it isn’t being avoided. The unconditioned response will be to finish the page of the essay. Catalina could procrastinate and wait to get it done in class, but the final paper wouldn’t be due till the end of the week. As the teacher continues this request, it becomes a conditional stimulus, which creates the conditioned response of completing one part of the assignment each day. This plan will teach Catalina how much easier an important task can be accomplished when the work is distributed throughout the days before homework is
The first systematic study regarding operant conditioning was taken place in the 1800’s by the Psychologist, Thorndike. Thorndike formally defined operant conditioning as a type of learning that is controlled by the consequences of an organism’s behavior. However according to lecture, operant conditioning can be simply thought as performing an action in order to receive a reward. Operant conditioning can be useful when trying to deal with procrastination, increase efficacy of teaching, or to improve motivation. Therefore, operant conditioning can be used as a behavioral modification program to devise a more specific weight loss program to increase the roommate’s chances of making it on the football team. The program will include the following
Classical conditioning refers to a type of learning in which a previously neutral stimuli took on the ability to stimulate a conditioned response in an individual (Gormezano & Moore, 1966). To prove that environment was more impactful than genetics, Watson conducted an experiment on an infant, little Albert. Initially, Albert showed little fear towards rats. When Watson repeatedly exposed Albert to the rat accompanied by a loud noise, the latter began to develop fear towards not just the rat but also other furry animals. Watson successfully showed that the acquisition of a phobia can be explained by classical conditioning (Watson & Watson, 1921). Regardless of their genes, the associations of the right stimuli can result in the development of a new behaviour in any individual.
Ivan Pavlov developed a theory called classical conditioning which proposes that learning process occurs through associations between an environmental stimulus and a naturally occurring stimulus. Classical conditioning involves placing a neutral signal before a naturally occurring reflex like associating the food with the bell in Pavlov experiment. In classical conditioning, behavior is learnt by association where a stimulus that was originally neutral can become a trigger for substance use or cravings due to repeated associations between those stimuli and substance use (Pavlov, 1927).
An example of classical conditioning is my herpetophobia or the phobic aversion to snakes and lizards. During Spring Break, my family and I went to a beach in Miami, Florida. My father wanted to take a photo of my siblings and myself under a large palm tree. Little did I know by standing directly under a palm tree there would be a lizard sitting in that tree. As my father snapped the photo, the lizard fell on me which lead to my fear.
Another example of classical conditioning is when Pavlov had studied dogs that salivated when they tasted food. He called the food the “unconditioned stimulus and the salivation the unconditioned response” (McLeod). This was unconditioned because salivating was a natural response to the food. Pavlov then rang a bell before the food was presented to the dogs. Eventually, the dogs associated the sound of a bell with food. The bell is a conditioned stimulus and the salivation the conditioned response. Alex had a similar experience to that of the dogs. The injections he received were an unconditioned stimulus and the sickness was an unconditioned response to the injections. Since the scientists made him watch ultra-violent videos while being injected, he began to associate what he saw with what he felt. The ultra-violence became the conditioned stimulus, and Alex’s sickness without the injection became the conditioned
I. Introduction of classical conditioning Classical conditioning also called as Pavlovian conditioning or respondent conditioning. It is a kind of learning a new behavior through association that when a conditioned stimulus (CS) is paired with an unconditioned stimulus (US) and evokes a conditioned response (CR). It also is a learning process that occurs through associations between an environmental stimulus and a naturally occurring stimulus (Cherry, 2014). Classical conditioning has much strength such as can help to explain all aspects of human behavior and many of advertisers will use classical conditioning to advertise their produces, however it also have some weaknesses such as all classical conditioning responses must involve a reflex and classical conditioning is a completely physical process, learning is not important as reflected in scenario. This paper will talk about the strengths and the weaknesses of classical conditioning theory followed by a brief description of the scenario and the strengths and weaknesses of applying classical conditioning on it.
Lieberman, David, ed. Learning and the Control of Behavior: Some Principles. Theories, and Applications of Classical and Operant Conditioning. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1974.
Classical conditioning is a technique of learning that occurs when an unconditional stimulus is paired with a conditional stimulus. The unconditional stimulus is biologically potent, the conditional stimulus is neutral (Kalat, 2011). Example of each is taste of food and sound of tuning fork respectively. After repeated pairing, the organism exhibits a conditional response to the conditional stimulus. The conditional response is similar to the unconditioned response though it is relatively impermanent and is acquired through experience (Kalat, 2011).
Learning through operant conditioning allows a conditioned behaviour to increase or decrease in the presence of reinforcement or punishment. However, this process can be affected by instinctive behaviours that would disrupt the conditioned behaviour. According to a study conducted by Breland and Breland (1961) they tried to condition a raccoon to pick up coins and drop them into a container. The raccoon however spent time rubbing the coins together and rubbing the coin on the inside of the container before finally dropping it in and receiving its food reinforcement. Even after conditioning, the raccoon’s need to rub the coins together became worse as he spent more and more time just rubbing the coins. This is known as instinctive drift where the raccoon’s instinctive behaviours limited its ability to perform the conditioned response. Therefore the raccoon failed to learn due to its innate tendencies that acted as a biological constraint and operant conditioning failed in teaching the raccoon through reinforcement.
For example, dogs don’t learn to salivate whenever they see food. This reflex is innate. In behaviorist terms, it is an unconditioned response. Pavlov showed the existence of the unconditioned response by presenting a dog with a bowl of food and then measuring its salivary secretions. However, when Pavlov discovered that any object or event which the dogs learnt to associate with food (such as the lab assistant) would trigger the same response, he realized that he had made an important scientific discovery. Accordingly, he devoted the rest of his career to studying this type of learning. To summarize, classical conditioning, later developed by John Watson, involves learning to associate an unconditioned stimulus that already brings about a particular response with a new conditioned stimulus, so that the new stimulus brings about the same
Classical conditioning and operant conditioning both played a key role in the history of the study of learning, but, as argued by B.F Skinner, there are key differences to be noted between the two (Gleitman, Gross, Reisberg, 2011).