PART 7: Learning

Module 20. Operant Conditioning

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20-1 What is operant conditioning?

It’s one thing to classically condition a dog to salivate at the sound of a tone, or a child to fear moving cars. To teach an elephant to walk on its hind legs or a child to say please, we turn to operant conditioning.

Classical conditioning and operant conditioning are both forms of associative learning, yet their differences are straightforward:

operant conditioning a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher.

Classical conditioning forms associations between stimuli (conditioned stimulus, or CS and the unconditioned stimulus, or US it signals). It also involves respondent behavior—automatic responses to a stimulus (such as salivating in response to meat powder, and later in response to a tone).
In operant conditioning, organisms associate their own actions with consequences. Actions followed by reinforcers increase; those followed by punishers often decrease. Behavior that operates on the environment to produce rewarding or punishing stimuli is called operant behavior.

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Question

With classical conditioning, we learn associations between events we CruD8jysqOQQJsI5 (do/do not) control. With operant conditioning, we learn associations between our behavior and 2oI8s/5ots18FNK4K27ReQ== (resulting/random) events.