Essay on Comparison of Classical and Operant and Conditioning

Classical conditioning is a form of learning that is taught to us through experiences we encounter in our lives. It involves outside stimuli to trigger the condition we have learned to expect. For example, the sound of a lunch bell would trigger our stomach to start growling soon after hearing the bell ring. The expectation of food to come soon after hearing the bell and satisfy our hunger is what makes our stomach growl. This is something learned over time. Expectations can be both good and bad. Sometimes these negative experiences cause us to have certain behaviors when we are reminded of such an event.

The same website goes on to speaking about the classic and operant conditioning. "Classic conditioning occurs when a natural reflex responds to a stimulus. We are biologically 'wired ' so that a certain stimulus will produce a specific response." (On Purpose Associates, para. 5) We as human beings are all different but we each can learn the different from right and wrong just as Pavlov had taught the dogs. "Behavioral or operant conditioning occurs when a response to a stimulus is reinforced. Basically, operant conditioning is a simple feedback system: If a reward or reinforcement follows the response to a stimulus, then the response becomes more probable in the future." (On Purpose Associates, para. 6) If the behavior is good or bad and if that behavior was either rewarded or punish then it would be more likely kept in the minds of the child.

Before Classical Conditioning even takes place, there is what one refers to as an unconditioned stimulus (US), which is something in the environment that naturally and automatically triggers an individual to respond. This in turn causes an unconditioned response (UR), which is a natural (meaning is has not been taught), reaction that occurs in the presence of an unconditioned stimulus. The next term we must be familiar with is neutral stimulus. A neutral stimulus (NS), can be either a person, place or object that does not produce a response until it is paired with the unconditioned stimulus. Imagine for example, your grandmother has just baked a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies. As the cookies (the US) sit by the window to cool,

In operant conditioning, people learn to perform new behaviour through the consequences of their action. A consequence can be reinforced in two

Classical and operant conditioning are two important concepts used to format a person’s behavior in terms of learning. These are two different processes.

Classical Conditioning is a type of learning process of an individual when they come in contact with certain stimuli. According to Pavlov, a Russian psychologist, he developed several experiments on learning and he discovered that classical condition is the basic form of learning for an individual. However, according to Pavlov, behaviorism is the view that psychology should be the main objective science that studies behavior without including mental processes of an individual in the investigation. Behaviorism is more about the person’s behavior and how they were influenced to act a certain why, including their surroundings. Thus, from this learning process many behaviorist believes that the basic laws of learning are similar for all different species, including humans. Furthermore, the two major characteristics that distinguish classical conditioning from operant conditioning is that in classical conditioning, an unconditioned response is an event that happens naturally in response to some stimuli such as salivation. Another characteristic is an unconditioned stimuli, which is a process where an individual naturally discovers something without learning the process and reacts to the unlearned response, For instance, when someone put food in there mouth this causes salivation. A conditioned stimuli in classical

While many people may believe that learning is just a natural response that all animals are capable of, there is actually a more complex explanation on how we learn the things we do in order to survive in the world. Classical conditioning and operant conditioning are both basic forms of learning, they have the word conditioning in common. Conditioning is the acquisition of specific patterns of behavior in the presence of well-defined stimuli.

Classical and operant conditioning play a significant role in the concepts of behavioral psychology. Conditioning is the specific patterns of behavior in stimuli. The two types of theories share light on how we learn. While the two theories do share similar aspects they also differ from one another.

Usually involving the involuntary responses of the autonomic nervous system, conditioned taste aversions are an example of classic conditioning. This conditioning involves learned behaviors that develop non-consciously and result in an organism learning to expect that there will be a negative consequence to ingesting a particular food or drink.

This lab is focused on the ideas of classical and operant conditioning. Classical conditioning is when a neutral stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit an unconditioned response. In time this turns the neutral stimulus into a conditioned stimulus that causes a conditioned response. Operant conditioning is a method of learning that occurs through reinforcements and punishments for behavior and encourages associating desirable or undesirable outcomes with certain behaviors.

According to the Open Stax (2016), Learning can be defined as “a change in behavior or knowledge that results from experience. Learning can be classified as of three types: Classical Conditioning, Operant Conditioning, and Observational learning (Open Stax, 2016). The two types of learning, Classical and Operant conditioning makes links between the events that happens at the same time but in Observational learning we learn from watching other people (Open Stax, 2016). I found the operant conditioning more interesting in this chapter. Operant condition is the type of learning in which “organisms learn to associate a behavior and its consequence” (Open Stax, 2016). A good consequence is responsible for the repetition of the behavior in the future. Operant Conditioning includes Positive Reinforcement, Negative Reinforcement, Positive Punishment, Negative Punishment. Reinforcement helps in “increasing the behavior” whereas Punishment “decreases the behavior” (Open Stax, 2016). Therefore, a positive reinforcement occurs when “something is added to increase the likelihood of a behavior” and negative reinforcement occurs when “something is removed to increase the likelihood of a behavior” (Open Stax, 2016). In both cases of reinforcement, the behavior is increasing. Whereas the positive punishment occurs when “something is added to decrease the likelihood of a behavior” and negative punishment occurs when “something is removed to decrease the likelihood of a behavior” (Open Stax,

Learning theories are the structural foundation used to label how information is processed, stored and encoded during learning. Retention of knowledge is subjective and influenced by outside factors such as, an individual’s cognitive ability to process or retain information. Other influences are environmental, emotional or preexisting experiences or associations (Andreassi, 2000). To gain a better understanding of behaviorism in correlation to learning theories it is crucial to understand and grasp the meaning of associative learning. This process involves the association between two stimuli or a behavior and a learned stimulus. Associative learning is divided in to two central techniques, classical conditioning and operant condition. Classical and operant conditioning are basic methods of learning and conditioning is used to adapt a behavior or association through a stimuli or consequence (Ciccarelli, 2012). While classical conditioning and operant conditioning are key elements in associative learning, they have significant differences. A clear contrast between the two theories is whether the behavior or response produced is considered to be voluntary or involuntary.

Learning is the act of changing an organism’s behavior in response to an experience. Associative learning is when an organism links two events that occur close in time. When an organism learns to make associations, it is being conditioned. There are two types of conditioning. Operant conditioning is when an organism associates an action and the consequence of that action. It results in the organism adapting its behavior to maximize rewards and minimize punishment (Skinner). On the other hand, classical conditioning is a type of learning where an organism associates a certain stimulus and the response to it with a different stimulus. A neutral stimulus is associated with an unconditioned response to an unconditioned

What do you think are the differences and similarities between Classical conditioning and Operant conditioning? Many people believe that Classical and Operant are similar. Several people don’t know what the similarities and differences of Classical and Operant are, several people think it is the same learning method, which in this case I’m going to compare and contrast each behavior and give you information about each one, so you could have a better understanding of each method and what they do. Classical and Operant are very similar to each other. They are widely practiced; Classical conditioning is a type of learning in which an organism learns to transfer a natural response from one stimulus to another, previously neutral stimulus.

And example of operant conditioning is the training of rats to press a lever in order to obtain a food reward. The pressing of the lever (conditioned response) is associated with the food reward (unconditioned stimulus). After a training period, the rat will show the conditioned response of pressing the lever even without the presence of the unconditioned stimulus of the food.