Essay On Operant Conditioning Learning

Module 3 introduced several new concepts about conditioned learning, our memories, and human motivation. I will discuss two of these: conditioned learning and memories because these are the topics I found most interesting. Conditioned learning is something I had heard of before and used, unwittingly, in raising my children. And memory expounds on the subject of the Neuroscience paper we submitted for Module 1. Raising a child to know right from wrong and to be able to make make good, responsible choices in their lives requires a great deal of conditioning. Operant conditioning was what I was using to help reinforce desired behaviors, even if I just called it 'parenting '. Providing any kind of feedback in response to a child 's actions is operant conditioning. Parents use rewards and punishments with their children because they want their child to learn to ultimately make good, educated decisions, and to become responsible grown-ups. Operant conditioning pioneer, Edward Thorndike, established the “Law of Effect” which states that “human behavior is …show more content…
It was interesting to learn about how the brain processes stimuli in Module 1, but then to have it broken into more detail about how memories created by these stimuli are stored and retrieved was even more fascinating. The text discussed encoding, storage, and retrieval as the process for memory creation and how the amygdela, the emotional regulator of the brain 's limbic system, acts as memory process helper. It controls the in and out of memories by releasing hormones which interact directly with the hyppocampus and the cerebral cortex. This topic has raised a question in my mind about the participation of the amygdela in the memory process as it relates to reports that memories are more intense or vivid when a person is highly emotional at the time the memory is created. I will need to research that question further, especially where fear and anger are