Classical and Operant Conditioning

Brandi Slavich

    Generally we think of learning as students sitting in a classroom or lecture hall with notebooks listening intently to a teacher in the front of the room. Although according to psychologists there are two types of learning, classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Most of the time one of the simplest ways of identifying the differences between the two is to know which one is involuntary or voluntary behavior. Classical conditioning is an involuntary response that is evoked by a once neutral stimulus; while operant conditioning is a voluntary response due to reinforcement. Nowadays both classical and operant conditioning are utilized for a variety of purposes.

Classical conditioning has numerous real-world applications. For example whenever Crystal would smell Axe cologne there was no response (neutral stimulus). She recently started is dating Kevin (unconditioned stimulus) who she is always happy and relaxed around (unconditioned response) but Kevin wears Axe cologne. So now when Kevin isn’t around and Crystal smells Axe cologne (once neutral stimulus) she is happy and relaxed (involuntary response). Therefore, before Crystal would smell Axe cologne there was no response but when Crystal was with Kevin she began to pair the once neutral smell to being happy and relaxed resulting in Crystal being happy and relaxed whenever she smelled Axe cologne. Comparably some teachers are able to implement classical conditioning in a way that could help their students. By creating a positive classroom environment (conditioned stimulus) where everyone feels comfortable with one another (unconditioned stimulus) the student could overcome the anxiety or fear they have of speaking in front of the class (conditioned response). Now when the student needs to be in front of the class s/he will have no response making it a neutral stimulus.

While operant conditioning is a voluntary response, it is a response that came to be controlled by reinforcements and punishments. There are two different kinds of reinforcements, positive and negative. Positive reinforcement is when you are given something you want, while a negative reinforcement is when you get something taken away that you didn’t want in the first place. Positive and negative reinforcements occur when an event following a response increases your tendency to make that response again. Contrarily, punishment encourages weakens your tendency to make a response following an event. Punishments are when you get disciplined for something you did. Some examples of positive reinforcements are getting dessert after you ate all of your vegetables or after executing a turn during a skiing lesson your instructor shouts out “great job!” Negative reinforcements can resemble a teacher giving the class no homework for a night after doing well on the exam or you decide to clean up your mess in the kitchen in order to avoid getting yelled at.  While punishments can be similar to you getting your cell phone taken away or after you hit your sibling you get sent to your room without dinner.

In conclusion, while both involve the process of learning and shaping behavior, there are key differences between the two. Classical conditioning focuses on changing behavior through influencing involuntary and automatic behaviors, whereas operant conditioning focuses on changing behavior through dealing with the modification of voluntary behavior.  Both of these conditions, however, are ways psychologists are trying to understand and study human behavior.