Psychology, classical conditioning and operant conditioning - Research Paper Example

number Operant and ical Conditioning ical Conditioning The development ical conditioning is attributed to Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist. Pavlov’s experiments with dogs and their digestive systems led him to an important discovery. If a neutral stimulus is paired to an unconditioned stimulus to solicit an unconditioned response, it is possible to condition the neutral stimulus to produce the same response without the unconditioned stimulus being present. Pavlov utilized meat in order to induce salivation in the dogs he was experimenting with.

Typically the meat was served after ringing a bell. Over the course of a few weeks, Pavlov noticed that the dogs began to salivate on hearing the bell ringing even before the meat was presented to them. Essentially, Pavlov paired a neutral stimulus (ringing bell) with an unconditioned stimulus (meat) that provided an unconditioned response (salivation) in his subjects. Over time, as the dogs learned that ringing the bell meant that meat would be served, they began to salivate at the ringing bell.

Therefore, Pavlov classically conditioned the dogs to provide a conditioned response (salivation) to the presentation of a conditioned stimulus (ringing bell) (Meyers). Operant Conditioning Operant conditioning was developed by B. F. Skinner using the famous “Skinner Box” where rats, pigeons and primates were used to both learn and unlearn behaviors by encouraging and discouraging their occurrence. Operant conditioning relies on encouraging behavior by providing reinforcement and discouraging behavior by providing punishment.

Reinforcement refers to any stimuli that tend to encourage a particular behavior while punishment refers to any stimuli that tend to discourage a particular behavior. In Skinner’s experiments a caged box was created, which had various levers for response, to contain the subject. Along with the levers, the box contained a food chute (which served as the incentive for correct behavior) and various lights and buzzers (which served as castigation for incorrect behavior). The subject would trigger the levers to find out what behavior got rewarded and what behavior was reprimanded.

Continuous reinforcement of behavior led to the creation of rigid patterns of behavior even if the incentive was not presented. Similarly, continuous punishment of particular behavior led to its extinction even if castigation was not used. Operant Conditioning model Operant conditioning relies in large part on reinforcement and punishment for encouraging and discouraging behavior respectively. When a stimulus is provided to reward behavior, it is labeled as positive. On the other hand, when a stimulus is removed to encourage particular behavior, it is labeled as negative.

The bifurcation of positive and negative is applicable to both reinforcement and punishment (Schacter, Gilbert and Wegner). Positive reinforcement Positive reinforcement is seen to occur in operant conditioning when a stimulus is provided to reward behavior so that the frequency of such behavior increases (Baum). Negative reinforcement Negative reinforcement is seen to occur in operant conditioning when a stimulus is removed to encourage particular behavior so that the frequency of such behavior increases (Baum).

Punishment Punishment is seen to occur in operant conditioning when a stimulus is provided or removed in order to discourage a particular behavior so that the frequency of such behavior decreases. Real life example of Operant Conditioning Human beings tend to learn using a variety of different methods including operant conditioning. In our lives, we learn extensively through operant conditioning which may be positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment or negative punishment.

The main idea is to encourage particular forms of behavior while discouraging other unwanted behaviors. A common example of operant conditioning is when children’s incentives are taken away in order to encourage certain forms of behavior. For example, a child may not be paying much attention to his schoolwork because of the presence of other stimuli such as television, going out and hanging out with friends, gaming online etc. In order to encourage the child to devote more attention to schoolwork, the parent may decide to remove these stimuli from his environment.

Since stimuli are being removed from the environment of the child, it can be seen as a negative process. Conversely, if stimuli had been added to the environment, it would have been a positive process. Also, since the parent is trying to encourage the child to focus more on schoolwork, this technique falls under the realm of reinforcement. Overall, this example demonstrates the use of negative reinforcement in order to encourage the child to pay more attention to schoolwork. Works Cited Baum, W. M. “Rethinking reinforcement: Allocation, induction and contingency.

” Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 97 (2012): 101-124. Meyers, David. Exploring Psychology. Michigan: Worth Publishers, 2004. Print. Schacter, Daniel L., Daniel T. Gilbert and Daniel M. Wegner. Psychology, Second Edition. New York: Worth Incorporated, 2011. Print.