Contrast classical conditioning with operant conditioning.
Identify examples of classical conditioning in daily life.
Identify examples of operant conditioning in daily life.
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1. Once you have a firm grasp of classical conditioning and operant conditioning, you possess a powerful set of tools for understanding and influencing everyday behavior. Let's review the difference between these two forms of associative learning.
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2. Classical conditioning is a form of learning that generally concerns an involuntary, automatic response (called the unconditioned response, or UR) such as blinking, salivating, or becoming anxious. Classical conditioning occurs when an unconditioned stimulus (US) that always produces the UR is paired with an initially neutral stimulus (NS).
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3. After a number of pairings of the neutral stimulus (NS) with the unconditioned stimulus (US), the formerly neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS), capable of producing the response, now called the conditioned response (CR).
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4. Operant conditioning generally concerns more voluntary behaviors, such as pressing a button, turning a key, or raising your hand. When such a behavior is followed by a pleasant consequence, called a reinforcer, the behavior becomes more frequent. When the behavior is followed by an unpleasant consequence, called a punisher, the behavior becomes less frequent.
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5. To summarize, classical conditioning involves learning an association between two stimulus events that you can’t control, whereas operant conditioning involves learning an association between your voluntary behavior and its consequences.
Practice: Examples of Conditioning
Select the “Continue” button to view the first example of conditioning.
The word "conditioning" makes people think of rats or salivating dogs. But the principles of classical conditioning and operant conditioning apply to people as well as animals, and those principles can help us understand our everyday behavior.
On the following screens, you will read about four people who have been conditioned to behave in certain ways. Your task will be to decide whether each situation is an example of classical or operant conditioning.
Current situation: Maria, age 34, has many attractive blouses. But when she dresses for work, she prefers wearing a particular blue blouse, because her coworkers seem to like it.
Is Maria's preference more likely the result of classical conditioning or operant conditioning?
Sorry. This is an example of operant conditioning. Operant conditioning scenario: The first time Maria wore that new blue blouse to the office, several people commented favorably on her appearance. Now she chooses to wear that blouse more often because the compliments she has received have reinforced her voluntary decision to wear that blouse.
Current situation: Paul is 22. Whenever Paul hears the Beatles' song "Hey Jude," he feels sad and discouraged. He leaves the room to avoid having to listen to the song. The song always brings back bad memories of his first romantic relationship.
Is Paul’s emotional reaction more likely the result of classical conditioning or operant conditioning?
Sorry. This is an example of classical conditioning. Classical conditioning scenario: Paul was deeply involved in a high school romance. While the couple was listening to "Hey Jude," they got into a terrible argument and the romance ended abruptly. Paul has associated the song with the breakup of his relationship.
Current situation: Jeremy, age 7, frequently "acts up" in class and disrupts the learning activities by making humorous gestures and noises. The teacher tried to discourage this behavior by making him sit in the front corner of the room, but this just made him “act up” even more.
Is Jeremy's disruptive behavior more likely the result of classical conditioning or operant conditioning?
Sorry. This is an example of operant conditioning. Operant conditioning scenario: The first time Jeremy misbehaved, the teacher "punished" him by making him sit at the front of the room where all the other students could see him. Unfortunately for the teacher, the attention Jeremy received from his classmates served as reinforcement rather than punishment for his behavior.
Current situation: Zahra, age 18, feels anxious and apprehensive as soon as she enters the university health clinic. The fear seems to be triggered by simply walking into that environment. She experiences this fear more strongly when the campus nurse is wearing medical gloves.
Is Zahra’s fear more likely the result of classical conditioning or operant conditioning?
Sorry. This is an example of classical conditioning. Classical Conditioning Scenario: As a child, Zahra had to go to a doctor's office frequently for vaccinations and allergy shots. The sights and smells of the doctor's office, and especially the presence of the nurse, became associated with the pain of the injections.
Quiz 1
Match the terms to their descriptions by dragging each colored circle to the appropriate gray circle. When all the circles have been placed, select the CHECK ANSWER button.
Quiz 2
Drag each term to the gray area beneath the appropriate description. When all the terms have been placed, select the CHECK ANSWER button.