Learning is based off of experience. In life, we experience situations that can alter our behavior in different ways. Learning is mainly described in three types of categories. These categories would fall under associative learning, nonassociative learning, and observational learning.
Associative learning has helped many animals survive and adapt in the wilderness because it has shown to predict the future based on past experiences. With portraying unforeseen events, it gave animals time to prepare for what might happen next. Associative learning is broken down into two sections of conditioning. One type of conditioning is called classical conditioning where an instinctive behavior is modified to react with a behavior that was taught. The
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Her behavior has been modified with the association of the sound of the can opener and her food, so now when I open my can of beans with the can opener, Lily will flee to the kitchen thinking that she is getting her own meal. The second type of associative learning is operant conditioning. This type of conditioning is not “forced” as B.F. Skinner would say, in other words, it is all voluntary behavior. He believed that operant conditioning occurred when the animal was given a choice to act upon the situation, rather where classical conditioning involves involuntary behaviors. In order for operant conditioning to work there are two classes of consequences. These would include positive and negative reinforcement, and positive and negative punishments. These consequences can either increase or decrease the current behavior. For instance, to increase behavior with positive reinforcement, I reward my second grade boy, Dominique, with giving him one hour of playtime on my IPAD after finishing his homework. To decrease a particular behavior with negative punishment with my second grade little man, I would take away his action figures any time he would unmannerly interrupt a