Essay On Classical And Classical Conditioning

Classical and operant conditioning are two different ways people learn things and develop certain behaviors. Phobias and addictions can be established from classical and operant conditioning. “In classical conditioning, an environmental stimulus leads to a learned response, through pairing of an unconditioned stimulus with a previously neutral conditioned stimulus. The result is a conditioned response, or learned reflex” (Kowalski & Westen, 2011, “Learning”, p.167). Whereas in operative conditioning, the way an individual behaves is created by an environmental reaction. In this essay I will speak about how phobias can be developed through classical and operant conditioning, the differences between the two, consequences such as reinforcement and punishment, and extinction.

Phobias can be developed through classical conditioning from an action or event. For example, if a person was to fall on an ant hill and they are swarmed and/or bitten by a colony of ants, that person may try and avoid ants all together. They may develop a fear of ants or a swarm of insects because of what happened in their past experience. The text book uses an example of a nine month old child who Watson and Rayner experimented this phobia with. The child was shown several objects, and one of the objects was a rat- the child showed no far, the child actually enjoyed playing with the rat. However when they tested the child’s reaction to loud noises it started the child. The child reacted to the loud noise by falling down, jumping, and crying. This experiment shows how people can develop a phobia through classical conditioning.

Phobias can be developed through operant conditioning by a reaction to an environmental response. The textbook uses an example of a cat...

... middle of paper ...

...likely to salivate and anticipate food, which is known as spontaneous recovery. “The spontaneous recovery of a CR is typically short-lived, however, and will rapidly extinguish again without renewed pairings of the CS and UCS” (Kowalski & Westen, Learning, 2011, p.169).

In conclusion, classical and operant conditionings are different ways a person can develop a specific behavior. In classical conditioning an event or action will create a specific response for a person and change his or her imminent behavior. In Operant conditioning consequences are produced from the environment which in turn will alter a person’s behavior or reaction to future events. An addiction can possibly be stopped through extinction if positive reinforcement were put into place. There are so many ways a person can develop and addiction or phobia through classical and operant conditioning.