Compare And Contrast Two Methods Of Operant Conditioning

In every day life, people and animals alike are always being conditioned to learn. Weather we are learning to enhance bad behaviors, pesky habits, or things we aren’t necessarily conscious of doing. The methods used to be conditioned can be quite broad, but lets narrow them down to two main topics. The first is Classical conditioning, and the second method is Operant Conditioning. During the course of this paper, I will compare and contrast both methods while showing you their similarities and differences as well. I will first compare Operant Conditioning, specifically regarding the experiment I conducted on my dog trying to get her to eat her breakfast, as well as providing another example of how my parents conditioned me to get better grades in school as a child. Lastly, I will contrast my two examples of operant conditioning against one example of Classical conditioning by explaining how I conditioned my cats not to go near the birdcage.

According to my Discovering Psychology textbook (2014), operant conditioning was first discovered by Burrhus Frederick Skinner. Skinner found using “active behaviors that operate upon their environment to generate consequences”. This focused on using

I noticed shortly after we moved that she stopped eating breakfast unless some one was in the room with her. I needed to change this behavior, so I used Skinner’s approach focusing on behavior and consequence. I provided consequences for her eating her breakfast by rubbing her belly, giving her praise and giving her a treat after she has ate her food. In this example, we have a response/stimulus association. Maggie realized by eating her food, she would receive positive reinforcement encouraging her to continue eating her food. Maggie’s behavior is voluntary; she is choosing to eat her food on her own account. Lastly, Maggie was an active learner, she had to eat her food in order to receive praise and