Classical and Operant Conditioning Explained
Classical Conditioning
A basic concept for understanding classical conditioning is the reflex. A reflex signifies a single unit of innate behavior, characterized by an inevitable response to a change in environmental conditions. It involves a combination of two factors: a stimulus (S) and a response (R).
For example, consider the knee-jerk reflex: the lifting or movement of the leg, calf, and foot (R) occurs after tapping the knee with a small hammer (S). The Russian physiologist I. Pavlov (1927), during his laboratory studies on digestive processes, successfully elicited a simple reflex in a dog: salivation before food.
Pavlov observed that, upon showing food, the dog invariably salivated (the animal had a probe applied to its neck, allowing saliva to be collected in a container for quantification). After working repeatedly with the same dog, he noticed that it sometimes salivated *before* the food was presented. He then dedicated his efforts to investigating the cause of salivation in response to neutral stimuli.
He rang a bell immediately before presenting food. After repeating this process several times, he observed that the dog salivated when the bell rang, *before* the presentation of food. The animal salivated even if food did not appear later. A conditioning had occurred. Pavlov also conditioned dogs to salivate in response to other stimuli, such as a light touch on the leg and even the sight of a circle.
In the described experiment, salivation in the presence of food is an unlearned, reflex response. Pavlov termed the food the unconditioned stimulus and the dog’s salivation to the food the unconditioned response. Salivation at the sound of the bell, a learned response resulting from the experiment, was designated as the conditioned response. The initially neutral stimulus (the sound), which did not initially elicit salivation, became the trigger for salivation after being associated with food, and was termed the conditioned stimulus.
Operant Conditioning
To explain more complex and voluntary behaviors within the behavioral paradigm, we have operant conditioning. This type of conditioning occurs when a subject performs an action to obtain something in return. The subject is more likely to repeat behaviors that are reinforced (reinforcement is something offered to the subject in exchange for performing the desired behavior). These behaviors are actions on the environment to obtain rewards or eliminate punitive stimuli.
Skinner primarily based his work on the theories developed by Pavlov and Watson to provide a comprehensive description of human behavior. Although he often used animal experiments, Skinner never differentiated between animal and human learning. In the field of school education, he sought to demonstrate that threats and punishment yield significantly lower positive results and much worse side effects than a system of positive reinforcement. His principle for classroom management and optimization is based on student activity. His best-known contribution is programmed learning, in which success in certain tasks acts as reinforcement for subsequent learning.