Differences between classical and operant conditioning

Among the schools of thought of psychology, behaviorism has learning as a preponderant scope of the research themselves and as the basis of the theorizations themselves. Classic conditioning and operational conditioning represent the two main forms of associative learning. The first is a form of implicit associative learning and consists in the association of two stimuli, an unconditional stimulus and a conditioning. In the second, the operant, first discovered by the psychologist and. Thorndike at the beginning of the 20th century and deepened by behavior B. F. Skinner, the individual learns to associate a response to a highly significant stimulus for him.

In this psychology-online article we will see what are the Differences between classical and operant conditioning With examples of both aspects.

1. What is classic conditioning?
2. What is the operating condition?
3. Differences between classical and operant conditioning

What is classic conditioning?

In the first years of the twentieth century, Iván Pávlov, a Russian scholar, was investigating the salivation of animals, wanting to discover their function and composition. During the experiments he was doing, he noticed that the dogs, their experimental subjects, began to salivate when they heard him arrive, even before seeing the food. This phenomenon intrigued it: ¿How could I know that, after Pavlov's steps, a meal would arrive, what would salivation justify? Promoted by this unknown, began to investigate in this regard and discovered classical conditioning, also called associative learning. Thanks to this he was awarded the Nobel Prize.

Principles of classic conditioning

Pavlov, then, observing the behavior of dogs in their physiology studies, came to theorize the principles of classical conditioning:

• An unconditional stimulus causes an unconditional response.
• If a conditioned stimulus is added to the unconditional stimulus, after some stimulations, there will be a response to the mere presentation of the conditioned stimulus. This answer is the conditioned answer.

This mechanism explains the Acquisition of primary behaviors Like fear of pain, hunger, etc. Its use allows the induction of alarm reactions (cardiac acceleration, nervous system activation, etc.) But it is inappropriate to build articulated behaviors, such as the elimination of danger and risk prevention. Discover the classic conditioning process.

Examples of classic conditioning

These are some other examples of classical conditioning in everyday life:

• The view or smell of a particular meal makes you Feel nausea.
• The view or smell of a meal that reminds you of your childhood makes feeling and excited.
• You dream how the phone or a alarm sounds puts you alert or anxious.
• A family smell makes you happy because Remember someone you like.
• Be in your room with soft lights It makes you feel sleepy.
• Awakening in the middle of the night makes you think that you have to Use the bathroom To urinate.
• Listen to some songs that remind you of old friends/experiences It makes feeling emotional.
• The thought or view of alcohol, cigaretrrillos or other medication They give you please If you have developed an addiction. Drug consumers can also have cravings when they are in an environment related to drugs or around people who associate previous maximum levels.

What is the operating condition?

Thanks to classical conditioning, the subject can propose a reflexive response as a consequence of a stimulus, initially neutral and then conditioned, of our choice. However, the limit of this procedure refers to the fact that the response itself is not new, but was already present before conditionality in response to an unconditional stimulus. ¿How you can learn a new behavior through conditioning?

PRINCIPLES OF OPERANT CONDITIONING

In the famous experiment of the Skinner Box, designed by the homonymous scholar, the mouse inside the cage was free to randomly moved. At one point, the rat activated a lever designed to drop full pressure. In a short time the animal began to repeat the behavior again and again: he had learned that it was the means to obtain an advantage called reinforcement. Learning of this type is due to a conditioning that Skinner calls operational, that is, influenced by the consequences. In this article, we tell you what is operating conditioning.

Operating conditioning examples

Conditioning is something that can continue during a person's life, because behavior learning does not end at a certain age. These are some examples of operating behavior in children and adults:

• A child learns to clean his room after being awarded with the time of TV every time it is cleaned. It's a positive reinforcement.
• After hitting a classmate, the boy or girl feels separately and is not allowed to talk to anyone. In this way, he will not hit another couple again. It's a positive punishment.
• A person who decides to take a different path during the morning walk to avoid a landfill and then increase the race speed and distance traveled. It's a negative reinforcement.
• A person stops bothering his girlfriend on a subject after asking him to street. It's a negative punishment.

In this article, you will find more information about the types of reinforcement: concept and reinforcement indices.

Differences between classical and operant conditioning

Let's see what are the main differences between classical and operant conditioning:

• General principles: Classic conditioning is a type of learning that generalizes the association between two stimuli, that is, one indicates the appearance of another. On the contrary, operating conditioning states that living organisms learn to behave in a particular way due to the consequences that have followed their past behavior.
• Conditioning process: In classical conditioning, the conditioning process in which the experimenter learns to associate two stimuli based on the involuntary responses that occur before it. On the contrary, in operating conditioning, the organism's behavior will be modified based on the consequences that occur later.
• Types of behaviors: Classic conditioning is based on involuntary or reflective behaviors, in essence, physiological and emotional responses of the organism such as thoughts, emotions and feelings. At the other extreme, operational conditioning is based on voluntary behavior, that is, the active responses of the body.
• Control of conditioned responses: In classical conditioning, organism's responses are under stimulus control, while in the conditioning that the responses are controlled by the body.
• Definition of stimulus: Classic conditioning, define the conditioned and unconditional stimulus, but, operating conditioning, does not define the conditioned stimulus, that is, it can be generalized.
• Role of the organism: When it comes to the occurrence of unconditional stimulus, it is controlled by the researcher and therefore the agency plays a passive role. Contrary to this, the appearance of reinforcement is under the control of the body and, therefore, the agency acts actively.

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