Operant Conditioning : The Response Of The Operant

There are two learning processes that are used, classical condition and operant conditioning. One learning process used is classical conditioning. Classical conditioning is a learning process in which a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a meaningful stimulus and acquires the capacity to elicit a similar response. I found two TV commercials that are excellent examples for classical conditioning. The first commercial I found is an Old Spice commercial. The ad starts off with an attractive man in a bathroom telling women to compare the men in their lives to him, stating that if men would stop using girl body wash they could be like him. The ad then moves to a boat where the man in the commercial offers the women in the audience two tickets to something they would enjoy and diamonds and then states that anything is possible if men used Old Spice as a body wash to smell like a man, not a lady. The second commercial I chose is a Nike advertisement. Throughout the advertisement there are young, attractive, fit, and famous people working hard to succeed.

Operant and Classical Conditioning are very similar, yet very different. You must be careful when observing both the stimulus and the stimuli that go hand in hand, when discussing the two. One way to tell you know the difference of understanding the two is being aware that in classical conditioning, expectations are built about stimulus events in the environment, but their behavior does not influence the stimuli that occur.

The study of behaviorist psychology have allowed us to understand how we subconsciously engage in the learning process. As demonstrated by notably experiments conducted by Ivan Pavlov, B.F Skinner, and various others, our learning process can be--and normally is--significantly influenced by the social and physical world around us. Two particular examples of this are classical conditioning and operant conditioning. “Classical conditioning occurs when a natural stimulus produces a response after being paired with a stimulus that naturally produces a response” (Schacter). For example, in horror movies suspenseful music tends to precede dramatic events. If you get scared during horror movies, your fear is a natural response to the horror (the stimulus). When music (unconditioned stimulus) is paired with the horror, the music becomes a conditioned stimulus. So when we you hear the music, we feel a sense of fear. (Another example will be provided later on to elaborate on this concept). On the other hand, operant conditioning is “a type of learning in which the consequences of an organism’s behavior determine whether it will be repeated in the future” (Schacter). For example, being put on a time out will decrease the probability of a particular behavior, while being given an allowance for washing the dishes will increase the probability of that behavior. From studying these learning processes, various institutions in our society have begun utilizing them in their marketing

Operant conditioning refers to the method of learning to occur through rewards and punishment for behavior (Staddon & Cerutti 2002). In the operant condition, an association occurs between the behavior and the consequences of the behavior. Behaviorist B.F Skinner coined operant conditioning, and that is why some refer to it as Skinnerian conditioning. Skinner started studying operant conditioning in the late 1920s when he was a graduate student at Harvard University. As a behaviorist B.F Skinner believes that it was obligatory to look at the internal thoughts and motivation so as to explain behavior (Staddon & Cerutti 2002). As an alternative, he did suggest that we should look only at the external and observable causes of human behavior. The characteristics of operant conditioning are that an organism may emit a particular response instead of just eliciting the response because of the external stimulus. Skinner did use the term operant in referring to any active behavior that operates on the environment so as to generate consequences (Doyle-Portillo & Pastorino 2013).

Skinner’s theory observes individuals from the point of view of the behavior that they demonstrate. The key weakness of this theory is its attempt to explain the behaviors of an individual solely through visible phenomena. Critics sometimes accuse behaviorists of denying that ideas and thoughts exist (Jensen & Burgess, 1997). The major opposition that behaviorists face is that behavior of a person cannot be understood without including the mental activity of the individual. Critics have accused behaviorists of focusing only on behavior and ignoring the role of physiology, neuroscience, and genetics (Weiss & Rosales-Ruiz, 2014). Sometimes the reactions that people demonstrate have are not related their experience and therefore they have another

Scenario D: Roberta puts $1.50 in the soda machine to buy her daily Diet Coke. Today, nothing comes out, and she does not get her money back. Roberta does not put any more money into that machine. With regard to the behavior of Roberta putting, and later not putting, money into the soda machine, was classical or operant conditioning operating? If it is an example of classical conditioning, identify the UCS, UCR, CS & CR. If it is an example of operant conditioning, identify whether positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement or punishment is being used. Roberta’s change in behavior is due to operant conditioning. After having put money into the machine and not receiving anything, plus being unable to get her back money negatively reinforced

In order to aid my roommate's diet regimen the use of all aspects of operant conditioning will become significant. Since operant conditioning is the method through which an individual's behavior is modified via the use of consequences, positive and negative, both punishment and reward should be a part of my roommate's diet plan. Since grasping the inital plan is an underlying problem of this conditioning, a reinforcer, like a delicious snack will be used at five minute/ fixed ratio schedule to ensure that the subject understands all aspects of the study--like the reinfrocements and the punishments. First, a strict plan must be laid out in which the ultimate reward is made clear, this is the reward that is laid out by Throndike's Law of Effect,

As briefly described in the previous chapter, operant conditioning has its basis in Thorndike’s law of effect. Thorndike’s law states that responses that result in a gratifying effect in a particular situation are more likely to occur in that situation, and responses that result in an inconvenience are less likely to occur again in that situation. Operant conditioning hence involves a reinforcing consequence that is contingent on a response (specified behavior). As a result the operant, which is a reference to the class of responses that result in the reinforcing consequence, is made more probable. Skinner illustrates the concept with an example in which an experimental

Operant conditioning is the modification of behavior through consequences. There are two main types of consequences, reinforcement and punishment. Reinforcement is where a behavior is strengthened by the stimulus that follows. Punishment is where a behavior is decreased or weakened by the stimulus that follows. And then the type of stimulus that followed is classified by being positive or negative. Positive is where something is added or presented to the situation. Negative is where something is taken away or removed from the situation. These types of stimuluses, and types of consequences, can be combined into four types of operant conditioning. Positive reinforcement, where something is added to strengthen a behavior. Negative reinforcement, where something is taken away to strengthen a behavior. Positive punishment, where something is added to weaken a behavior. And negative punishment, where something is taken away to weaken behavior (Passer,

In this booklet you will find an overview of all the different approaches to psychology. This will consist of the key assumptions, examples of the relevant psychologists and examples of their work, as well as an exploration into the advantages and disadvantages that some of these approaches possess.

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.

“Is the mind part of the body, or the body part of the mind? If they are distinct, then how do they interact? And which of the two is in charge?” (McLeod, 2007) “The mind body connection is about understanding how what we think and believe and how we choose to act in the world as a result of how we think and believe causes certain types and kinds of biological conditions to arise in the body. The relationship between what we think and believe and how we choose to act as described above is the essence of the mind body relationship. However, it goes much deeper that what is described. “The concept of the mind body connection goes well beyond what we choose to do in the external world.” (Ferlic, 2008) “The mind body connection is about how and what we think and believe create our experiences and create the reality we experience at each and every level of our being including the body and the conditions of the body. Thought power is the key to creating your reality. Everything you perceive in the physical world has its origin in the invisible, inner world of your thoughts and beliefs.” (Connection between Mind and Body, 2015)

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.

Example of Operant conditioning, is when you decided to snooze the alarm in the morning after partying all night long. Finally you decide to get up to go to work you are running 15 min late. And decide to step on gas pedal. You are now driving 50 mph on a 35 mph road. You think you are fine and won 't get caught because everyone else is driving fast also. All of sudden a cop is hidden in between the trees and bushes. You try to brake, in order to slow down a bit, but it 's too late…. The cop has turn on the lights and tail-gating you already. You pull over and you try to convince him that you had a “tough night”… even though it 's a lie, and to let you off with a warning. The cop tells you he doesn 't care and you should know better. Therefore he gives you a speeding ticket of about two hundred dollars and a court date if you decide to fight it. In order to go to court you will have to miss work, which means you won 't get paid. Then you have to pay for all the additional court fees if you want to go to clear your record; your insurance will go up, have to pay for driving school and miss more work also. You will have to go through all this trouble, time and money. Just for being too lazy and “tired” to get up on time.

Operant conditioning is a type of learning which occurs through either receiving reinforcement or punishment for a behavior. This type of learning creates an association between a behavior and consequence for that behavior. The four types of operant conditioning are positive reinforcement, positive punishment, negative reinforcement, and negative punishment. If operant conditioning was used properly it could be used to solve a variety of social and resource dilemmas; especially in the case of the cattle ranchers and overgrazing.