Learning: Classical and Operant Conditioning
Learning changes our behaviors, usually for long term, and our thoughts. The process of learning is adaptive based on our experiences. Learning is the ability by which we achieve goals and dreams. It affects us and the people around us, allows us to develop personally, lets us live a better quality of life, and leads us to opportunities and rewards. Most of learning can be encompassed by classical and operant conditioning (Lilienfeld, 2014).
Classical conditioning occurs when a neutral stimulus produces a conditioned response when paired with an unconditioned stimulus. It involves an unconditioned stimulus, an unconditioned response, a conditioned stimulus, and a conditioned response. An unconditioned …show more content…
When paired with the meat powder, which was the unconditioned stimulus, the unconditioned response of salivation became a conditioned response to the metronome. In general terms, an unconditioned stimulus leads to an unconditioned response; however, when an association is made and a pair is formed between the unconditioned stimulus and the conditioned stimulus, a conditioned response is formed. The major principles of classical conditioning involve acquisition, extinction, and spontaneous recovery phases. Acquisition is where a conditioned stimulus is paired with an unconditioned response continuously to result in an increase in the conditioned response dependent on time intervals. Closer time pairings results in faster learning, whereas longer time pairings decrease learning. Extinction is where the conditioned response declines and is eliminated due to the unpairing of the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus. Spontaneous recovery is when an extinct conditioned response re-emerges once the conditioned stimulus is re-exposed. Renewal effect is where a conditioned response re-emerges when an organism encounters the same environment where it obtained the conditioned response (Lilienfeld, …show more content…
For example, you see a pitbull in a magazine picture and see nothing scary about the dog itself. Let’s say you watch a movie about a child walking home from school and an aggressive, snarling pitbull attacks the child. As highly exaggerated as the movie depicted the pitbull to be, there is now an association between pitbulls and a threat to life. Your fear, the unconditioned response, of the aggressive pitbull, the conditioned response, came from the unfounded fear of the pitbull based on what the movie depicted, the unconditioned stimulus. As a result, you stay clear of pitbulls, associating them with being dangerous. Avoiding the pitbulls leaves you person with a lack of experience with gentle, kind dogs and you have no knowledge to refute your belief that pitbulls are dangerous (Lilienfeld,
Learning changes our behaviors, usually for long term, and our thoughts. The process of learning is adaptive based on our experiences. Learning is the ability by which we achieve goals and dreams. It affects us and the people around us, allows us to develop personally, lets us live a better quality of life, and leads us to opportunities and rewards. Most of learning can be encompassed by classical and operant conditioning (Lilienfeld, 2014).
Classical conditioning occurs when a neutral stimulus produces a conditioned response when paired with an unconditioned stimulus. It involves an unconditioned stimulus, an unconditioned response, a conditioned stimulus, and a conditioned response. An unconditioned …show more content…
When paired with the meat powder, which was the unconditioned stimulus, the unconditioned response of salivation became a conditioned response to the metronome. In general terms, an unconditioned stimulus leads to an unconditioned response; however, when an association is made and a pair is formed between the unconditioned stimulus and the conditioned stimulus, a conditioned response is formed. The major principles of classical conditioning involve acquisition, extinction, and spontaneous recovery phases. Acquisition is where a conditioned stimulus is paired with an unconditioned response continuously to result in an increase in the conditioned response dependent on time intervals. Closer time pairings results in faster learning, whereas longer time pairings decrease learning. Extinction is where the conditioned response declines and is eliminated due to the unpairing of the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus. Spontaneous recovery is when an extinct conditioned response re-emerges once the conditioned stimulus is re-exposed. Renewal effect is where a conditioned response re-emerges when an organism encounters the same environment where it obtained the conditioned response (Lilienfeld, …show more content…
For example, you see a pitbull in a magazine picture and see nothing scary about the dog itself. Let’s say you watch a movie about a child walking home from school and an aggressive, snarling pitbull attacks the child. As highly exaggerated as the movie depicted the pitbull to be, there is now an association between pitbulls and a threat to life. Your fear, the unconditioned response, of the aggressive pitbull, the conditioned response, came from the unfounded fear of the pitbull based on what the movie depicted, the unconditioned stimulus. As a result, you stay clear of pitbulls, associating them with being dangerous. Avoiding the pitbulls leaves you person with a lack of experience with gentle, kind dogs and you have no knowledge to refute your belief that pitbulls are dangerous (Lilienfeld,