Classical vs Operant Conditioning

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Classical vs. Operant Conditioning Psychologists define learning as a long term change in behavior based on experience. There are two types of learning in behavioral psychology known as the classical and operant conditioning. Both conditioning share many of the same basic principles and procedures. Principles of discrimination, extinction, spontaneous recovery, and generalization are common to both types of learning. There are several differences, however, between classical and operant conditioning. Classical conditioning is a well-known experiment by a Russian physician, Ivan Pavlov. In his famous experiment, Pavlov noticed dogs began to salivate in response to a tone after the sound had been repeatedly paired with the presentation of food. Pavlov quickly realized that this was a learned response and set out to further investigate the conditioning process. Classical conditioning involves pairing a previously neutral stimulus (such as the sound of a bell) with an unconditioned stimulus (the taste of food). This unconditioned stimulus naturally and automatically triggers salivating as a response to the food, which is known as the unconditioned response. After associating the neutral stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus, the sound of the bell alone will start to evoke salivating as a response. The sound of the bell is now known as the conditioned stimulus and salivating in response to the bell is known as the conditioned response. Operant conditioning is a method of learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for behavior. Through this process, an association is formed between the behavior and the consequences for that behavior. A famous American psychologist, B.F Skinner demonstrated an experiment with his animals. For example, Skinner placed a pigeon in a box with a disk that a pigeon can peck to receive bits of grain from a food tray. He noticed
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