Classical Vs Operant Conditioning Essay
Topic: Compare and contrast classical conditioning with operant conditioning.
We are constantly learning whether we realize it or not. From the moment we are born our lives begin to be shaped into what is socially acceptable and morally right in our cultures. We learn and retain what we have been taught. There are two major ways that our behaviors can be learned, classical conditioning, and operant conditioning, both a form of behavioral learning. Classical conditioning is when we find a stimulus that will evoke a particular response from the subject being studied (i.e. humans or animals). In a scientific setting we can control the response that we want to evoke. For example Pavlov’s study with the dogs salivary glands, he controlled …show more content…
A dog’s salivation can come neutrally or it can be trained. A bell or a certain tone followed by an event can train a certain response from a dog or human, for example if you ring a bell then feed your dog the dog will associate the bell with the food. If a special someone always wears a certain smell when they are around you, and you happen to smell that scent you will become excited. This type of learning is called acquisition. Acquisition is the initial learning. But as quick as you learn a trigger signal you can also not associate it with an event. If you normally ring a bell before feeding the dog and you just ring the bell without the food, the dog won’t associate the bell with food anymore. This is called extinction. Extinction is the diminished responding that occurs when the CS (tone) no longer signals an impending US (food). Wait a few hours and ring the bell with the follow up with food and the salivation to the tone would reappear spontaneously. A dog or human will also generalize that certain tone and touch with other tones or touches that are similar. For example you rub a dog on his belly and he starts to salivate, then you scratch his back leg and he salivates a little also that is generalization. Dogs and humans can also discriminate against other tones or things. A dog can be trained to respond to only one tone and not others. A human might be afraid of a rat but falls in love with a
We are constantly learning whether we realize it or not. From the moment we are born our lives begin to be shaped into what is socially acceptable and morally right in our cultures. We learn and retain what we have been taught. There are two major ways that our behaviors can be learned, classical conditioning, and operant conditioning, both a form of behavioral learning. Classical conditioning is when we find a stimulus that will evoke a particular response from the subject being studied (i.e. humans or animals). In a scientific setting we can control the response that we want to evoke. For example Pavlov’s study with the dogs salivary glands, he controlled …show more content…
A dog’s salivation can come neutrally or it can be trained. A bell or a certain tone followed by an event can train a certain response from a dog or human, for example if you ring a bell then feed your dog the dog will associate the bell with the food. If a special someone always wears a certain smell when they are around you, and you happen to smell that scent you will become excited. This type of learning is called acquisition. Acquisition is the initial learning. But as quick as you learn a trigger signal you can also not associate it with an event. If you normally ring a bell before feeding the dog and you just ring the bell without the food, the dog won’t associate the bell with food anymore. This is called extinction. Extinction is the diminished responding that occurs when the CS (tone) no longer signals an impending US (food). Wait a few hours and ring the bell with the follow up with food and the salivation to the tone would reappear spontaneously. A dog or human will also generalize that certain tone and touch with other tones or touches that are similar. For example you rub a dog on his belly and he starts to salivate, then you scratch his back leg and he salivates a little also that is generalization. Dogs and humans can also discriminate against other tones or things. A dog can be trained to respond to only one tone and not others. A human might be afraid of a rat but falls in love with a