Classical Conditioning & Operant Conditioning paper PDF

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Classical Conditioning & Operant Conditioning ...

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In class we have discussed Ivan Pavlov's experiments with dogs illustrating effects of classical conditioning. He noticed the salivation of dogs upon being presented with food. He presented a neutral stimulus tone just before an unconditioned stimulus food in mouth. The neutral stimulus then became a conditioned stimulus which produces a conditioned response. Classical conditioning is a type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and predicts events. It is a basic form of learning by which all organisms adapt to the environment.

Classical Conditioning can be applied to our everyday life. An ice cream truck used to pass near my home everyday. Almost everyday I heard the truck’s music which was neutral stimulus. I finally purchased a vanilla ice cream and took a bite which was an unconditioned stimulus. My mouth watered which is an unconditioned response. I began to connect the neutral stimulus music of the truck and unconditioned stimulus taste of ice cream. The conditioned response got stronger through repeated pairings of the stimulus. After a few days, I noticed that my mouth began to water (conditioned response) as I heard the truck’s music. The ice cream truck’s music became a conditioned stimulus and my salivation was a conditioned response. I stopped buying ice cream because I was suffering from cold. I noticed that I began to salivate less when I heard the ice cream truck music. After a few days my mouth no longer watered when I heard the sound which shows an extinction of my behavior. The conditioned response weakens when the music of the truck is presented without eating ice cream. When winter came the ice cream truck stopped coming and I did not hear the sound for many days. As the weather got warmer I heard the truck music again. My mouth begins to water again. After a break from the conditioning, the conditioned response reappears, which represents spontaneous recovery.

Unconditional stimulus naturally and automatically triggers a response. Unconditioned response is the unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus. The learned response to a previously neutral stimulus is the conditioned response(CR). The previously neutral stimulus that now triggered the conditional. Before conditioning food is the unconditioned stimulus(US) and salivation in response of food is unconditioned response(UR). It shows that an unconditional stimulus(US) produces an unconditioned response(UR). Before conditioning the neutral stimulus did not produce any salivation response. Extinction is a gradual weakening of a conditioned response which results in the behavior disappearing.

How does classical conditioning relate to learning? Classical Conditioning relates to learning which occurs when a neutral stimulus a sight becomes associated with food.

Can classical conditioning be reversed? Classical conditioning can be reversed which is known as extinction. If  after conditioning, conditioned response comes to an end to appear without the unconditioned stimulus, the conditioned response would diminish.

Operant Conditioning can be applied to our everyday life when it comes to dealing with behaviors. It is when behavior is strengthened or weakened by positive or negative reinforcements. Operant Conditioning shows how behavior is influenced by different types of responses that affects behavior such as positive, negative reinforcements, and punishment.

While dealing with my sister I never knew that I was practicing what Skinner referred to as Operant Conditioning. My sister was not performing well at school and was not completing her homeworks. Then I decided to set some rules that she can not play games until she completes her studies. For studying less than two hours no games were allowed; for studying two hours, she was allowed to play for thirty minutes. Increase in study hours, the more amount of time she was allowed to play games. Once she got flexible with this routine, I also rewarded her with chocolates. In this case it is a positive reinforcement. I noticed that she started to perform better in her studies and got good grades. This shows that rewards  reinforce behavior. My  sister’s behavior was weakened from the punishment but when she no longer displayed this form of behavior she was rewarded. Each time she knew that if she completed her homework she would be rewarded with chocolate. So she faithfully studies and completes her homework. My sister continued to repeat this behavior as the positive reinforcement helped to strengthen her behavior to study. Actions followed by reinforcement increase while actions followed by punishments often decrease. Operant  Conditioning method is used on a daily basis to change the outcome of behaviors.

“WE ARE ALL BUT CONDITIONED TO ASSOCIATE THE NAME "Pavlov" with sounding bells and salivating dogs. Though the Russian scientist Ivan  Pavlov won the 1904 Nobel Prize

for his work with dogs' digestive tracts, he is better remembered today for his research on classical conditioning.”

This article says about Ivan Pavlov’s experiment with dogs digestive tract and research on classical conditioning. Pavlov observed that dogs salivated at the sound of mealtime bells, before they saw the food.

“In college I was again exposed to raising pigeons, but this time it was in a Behavioral Psychology class. We conducted studies similar to those of B. E Skinner, testing the theory of operant conditioning. During this class it was interesting to watch pigeons become trained to peck at a green dot in a box using stimulus and response techniques. The pigeons would feverishly peck upwards of 100 times in hopes that food would be presented. Extinction of the behavior was relatively quick when we stopped presenting food for pecking. However, when we shifted the presentation of food to random schedules on subsequent days.”

In this article it shows how the pecking behavior of pigeons is related to operant conditioning. Hope of food for pecking was used here as reward and they were adapted to this behavior. The pecking behavior was difficult to get rid of and continued to repeat pecking behavior....