Describe And Contrast Classical And Operant 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.

Learning is a fascinating concept. Everyone does it and everyone always has, but not everyone explores its eclectic process. That being said, through the course of history, it has been studied vehemently. Ivan Pavlov, a behaviorist, had some groundbreaking research on subclass of learning called classical conditioning. Coming across it incidentally, he discovered that dogs would salivate not only from eating food, but anything associated with them getting fed. Anything unnatural in their feeding process, he termed as the conditioned stimulus, which would result in the conditioned response of them salivating (Daniels). Though classical conditioning seems rather simple and commonsensible, the information psychologists have gathered from it has been revolutionary. It has shown psychologists the very basics of how we learn and adapt as organisms and opened the door for other studies (Myers 268). According to psychologists, learning is the process of acquiring new and relatively enduring information or behaviors (Myers 268).

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. Classical conditioning is achieved by manipulating reflexes. Operant conditioning is a type of learning in which the likelihood of a

     Psychologists have preformed many studies and proposed many theories regarding learning. Learning can be defined as a relatively permanent change in behavior that is due to past experience.

This is known as the unconditioned stimulus (UCS). Meat is the unconditioned stimulus because at the sight of the meat the dogs begin to salivate (Feldman, 2010).   The dog’s response to the meat educes salivation and is known as the unconditioned response (UCR). An unconditioned response is defined as a reflexive and natural response that is not connected to prior learning. Unconditioned responses always occur in the presence of the unconditioned stimulus (Feldman, 2010).   While conditioning the dogs, Pavlov would ring a bell right before the presentation of meat. Eventually, the dogs would associate the ringing of the bell with the meat. Therefore, the dogs would begin to salivate at the sound of the bell. At this point, Pavlov could state that he had classically conditioned his dogs. The bell which was a prior neutral stimulus had now become the conditioned stimulus (CS) that brought forth the conditioned response (CR) of salivation (Feldman, 2010). Moreover, we have to ask what would happen if these poor dogs were never again received food upon the ringing of the bell. This would lead to extinction. Extinction occurs when a prior conditioned response decreases in frequency and eventually disappears (Feldman, 2010).   In order for Pavlov to unconditioned his dogs he would have to break their association with the sound of the ringing bell and the presentation of food. To do so he

In his most remarkable experiment, Pavlov used a bell to train the dogs to salivate. Naturally, dogs salivate when they eat to help them swallow food. This is known as the unconditioned response because it is happening automatically. A few trials later, the dog associates the ringing bell with food. This is known as the conditioned stimulus because the dog finally learned to associate the ring of the bell with food.

The process of classical conditioning follows the procedure from Pavlov’s salivation experiment. Before conditioning, when a bowl of dog food is presented the dog would “naturally” salivate at the mouth “in response to food”. Because this response occurs “automatically” and “prior training” isn’t required for hunger, this reaction is called an unconditioned response (UCR) which “is the response that is naturally elicited by the [UCS]” (Powell et al., 2013, pp. 112-115). When referring to a natural response--one is referring to an elicited reaction that is characterized as “an unlearned or innate reaction to [a] stimulus” (Powell et al., 2013, p. 115). Furthermore, the dog food is considered an unconditioned stimulus (UCS), which “is a stimulus that naturally elicits a response” (Powell et al., 2013, p. 115). According to Pavlov’s experiment, when a bell chimes without the presentation of dog food, the dog will not instinctually salivate (Powell et al., 2013, p. 112). Since the bell didn’t initially “elicit salivation” naturally, it’s called a neutral stimulus (NS) (Powell et al., 2013, p. 112). However, through conditioning, as the bell tone pairs with dog food continuously, the dog begins to salivate. Finally, after the conditioning process is completed, the pairing of “food” and the bell “now elicits salivation” (Powell et al., 2013, p. 112). Since the dog’s salivation required some type of continual prompting or, “prior training”, it’s reaction is considered a conditioned response (CR) “and the [bell]” is the conditioned stimulus (CS). By definition, a conditioned stimulus “is any stimulus that, although initially neutral, comes to elicit a response because it has been associated with an unconditioned stimulus” (Powell et al., 2013, p. 115). Responses triggered by a

In order to induce a conditioned reflex Pavlov paired neutral stimuli, in this case a bell, with the meat powder. Acquisition is the root of learning in classical conditioning whereby the CS is paired several times with the US. The more pairings the more robust the learning as discussed by (Balkenius, 1999). Pavlov observed that after conditioning when the bell rang the dog salivated therefore, the neutral stimuli became conditioned stimuli (CS) and the dog, when presented with the bell would show the reflexive response (CR) salivation. Extinction occurred if the CS is no longer presented with the US. (Dhir, 2007). Conversely, reconditioning counters extinction when pairings are re-presented, this time however, the learning is faster, showing the initial acquisition is not completely removed from the memory of the animal. Spontaneous recovery is a phenomenon of the learned behaviour returning extemporaneously after the animal has rested. Hence the CS is again presented provoking the CR. Generalisation explains response to stimuli that is close to but not an exact match of the original CS. The closer the stimuli are to the original CS the stronger the CR.(Gleitman, Fridlund, & Reisberg, 1999)

Classical conditioning was stumbled upon by a Russian physiologist, Ivan Pavlov. His unexpected discovery led him to win a rightfully earned Noble Prize. Classical conditioning is defined as “a form of learning in which reflex responses are associated with new stimuli (Coon & Mitterer, 2016, p. 201).” This form of learning is also called Pavlovian conditioning or respondent conditioning. He found a connection between the stimuli for his dogs’ salivation during his experiment. To begin explaining classical conditioning, it is best to explain how Pavlov conducted his research. He began his experiment by ringing a bell, which was a neutral stimulus (NS) for his dogs. A neutral stimulus is defined as “a stimulus that does not evoke a response (Coon & Mitterer, 2016, p. 201).” Directly after, he put meat

One limitation of Classical Conditioning is that when a behaviour stops being performed, it is very easy for these connections to be lost. This is known an extinction. In the example of Pavlov’s dogs, if the conditioned stimulus, the bell, is presented often enough without the unconditioned stimulus, the meat, the

Classical conditioning was described by Pavlov who found that it was possible to condition a reflexive response to a stimulus that didn't evoke this response originally by using a stimulus that evoked a reflexive response. Classical conditioning is the

Recognizing the different learning processes is a vital step in understanding how others learn around you. Whether you realize it or not, there are many different learning processes occurring around you at this very moment. From classical conditioning learning to latent learning, all learning processes will help you adapt to a new situation, or help further your knowledge in a familiar situation. I have experienced several instances of classical conditioning learning, operant conditioning learning, observational learning, and latent learning throughout my lifetime. Studying these learning processes have opened my mind about how others around me will often learn on a daily basis, helping me better understand others ways of learning.

Although, both are a form of behavior modification they in fact have a few differences. Specifically, classical conditioning has two type of responses unconditioned response and a conditioned response. Furthermore, unconditioned response is a behavior that we may not be aware of but is a result of a previous action and conditioned response is a modified behavior that an individual may be aware of due to someone else action.

Compare and contrast classical and operant conditioning, their theories, terminology, famous psychologists and applications of the theory for teaching.

There are many different kinds of ways that people and animals learn. People can adjust the way they learn to the different situations in which they are learning and what they have to learn. One form of learning is known as conditioning. Conditioning emphasises the relationship between stimuli and responses. The two types of conditioning found are Classical conditioning and Operant conditioning. Learning may occur in different ways. Psychologists have distinguished between different types of learning, these being Observational Learning and Insight Learning.