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Classical Conditioning

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Pavlov carried out his famous experiment with dogs to come up with the concept of classic conditioning. This concept describes that usually a stimulus is able to produce a natural response. However, it is possible to produce the same response with conditioning and training. This principle can be used in humans to train them to stay away from the negatives while reinforcing positivity (Clark, 2004). Skinner worked on the concept of Watson, who described that personality is completely controlled by behavioural training and does not have to do anything with universal archetypes or natural needs of sexuality. Skinner in this sense, pointed out that our mind is much greater than a machine which can be conditioned. He described the concept of operant conditioning. He suggested that operants are our intentional actions that may result in specific behaviours. He explained the concept of reinforcing behaviours in order to strengthen their use, as well as weakening a particular …show more content…

The researcher attempted to use conditioning in order to find out the underlying cause of the problem and treat it with some intervention methods. The patient returned information that poor encounters with spiders in childhood culminated in the development of a strong phobia. This meant that the patient was exposed to negative conditioning in early life, which needed to be treated. A reinforcement was required according to Skinner’s theory of operant conditioning (Kaplan, Heinrichs, & Carey, 2011). The researcher identified the need for producing exposure to spiders in order to decrease the sensitivity and trigger the neutral response in the patient. We created a series of exercises for treating arachnophobia. The first exercise involved looking at pictures of spiders. This desensitised the patient. The following practices and self-assessing exercises continued to reinforce this behaviour and significantly alter the perception of the patient towards

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In chapter 7, I found the concept of punishment to be most intriguing. Punishment is a part of operant conditioning which was theorized by B.F. Skinner. Punishment is often confused with negative reinforcement. However, the main difference between the two is: while the goal of reinforcement is to increase the likelihood of a behavior, the primary goal of punishment is to reduce the chances of the behavior it follows. In 1938, Skinner concluded that punishment produces only temporary suppression of behavior but later research found that effects may be permanent.

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Throughout this book, we can see examples of operant conditioning. This type of conditioning includes reinforcing behavior with some sort of action. Operant conditioning usually occurs in early childhood -prior to middle childhood- but can also happen later in life (Belsky, 11). This is present in multiple areas of the text. One of the first examples of operant conditioning that can be seen is when Robert is learning to swim.

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Behavior therapy was studied by Ivan Pavlov and his famous dog study in which dogs were conditioned to salivate upon hearing a bell. It was later continued to be studied by John Watson who has the famous “Little Albert” study in which an 11-month old infant was conditioned to be scared of fuzzy white things because a rat was paired with a loud noise. The conclusion of the two conditioning experiences was that, behaviors followed by satisfying experiences tend to increase in frequency and behaviors followed by aversive experiences tend to decrease in frequency” (Thoma, 2015). Watson’s assistant Mary Jones, used this principle to clinical applications reasoning that, “if conditioning could be used to induce a phobia, perhaps it could be used to undo a phobia as well” (Thoma, 2015). Thus, behavior therapy was developed and began being used for

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Skinner in 1938.Operant conditioning is a form of learning which explains the relation of behaviors on certain rewards and consequences. The study of the theory only deals with expressible behaviors and not any internal mental thoughts and brain mechanisms. Operant Conditioning works by applying two major concepts, Reinforcements and Punishments, after the behavior is executed, which causes the rate of behavior to increase or decrease. Skinner’s Skinner box experiment with a rat is the base for operant conditioning theory and its concepts. The main principle comprises changing environmental events that are related to a person's behavior.

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I just thought it was it was of convenience for everyone to walk and every city and state had just as many all over, just not enough supermarkets to go around. Although I was wrong, I did start to realize that with Bridgeport having by far the highest population in the state with having the nearest grocery store miles away plus for the biggest city in the state to have less than 3 total doesn't make sense. The corner stores were good as a kid but there was very few (if any) limited number of healthy, low-cost options. Going to the grocery store would feel like a field trip because once we finally would make it to one we would try to get as much as we could to last because we didn't want to make another trip anytime soon.

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Through The Psychologist Eye In Lauren Slater’s book, “Opening Skinner’s Box,” we discover in the first three chapters the mysteries behind a few psychological experiments and the discoveries that three profound psychologists have made. Each chapter is about a different psychologist, the first is B.F. Skinner; a behaviorist who designed a process of learning in which behavior is controlled, he called this operant conditioning. Lauren Slater wanted people to know about his experiment, she read his books, talked to friends and family members to unearth the features behind this man. She found that he was a loving father, who could train animals to do unordinary things, like play the piano for an example, through the processes of operant conditioning,

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Skinners experiment was based on operant conditioning, using the concept of discrimination learning, he carried out experiments on animals with the idea that their behaviour is predetermined by their environment and using a well controlled environment would allow him to in turn control their behaviours using a range of triggers. Using reinforcement and expectancy, the animal associates acting out certain behaviours with rewards. (Toates, F., 2010, pp. 165-167) After performing a number of experiments on rats using mazes, he subsequently designed the Skinner box.

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F. Skinners' (1940-1990) Operant Conditioning theory is does not carry much weight with the humanist as B. F. Skinner theory was originated from Edward Thorndike (1905) studies of learning using a puzzle box to propose the theory known as the 'Law of Effect'. According to (McLeod, Skinner - Operant Conditioning, 2015) "Skinner introduced a new term into the Law of Effect - Reinforcement. Behavior which is reinforced tends to be repeated (i.e. strengthened); behavior which is not reinforced tends to die out-or be extinguished (i.e. weakened). " He studied this by doing experiments using animals in a 'Skinner Box' (see figure 1below).

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Introduction Learning enables you as an individual, to gain more knowledge about something which you have never learned about. Learning also has to do with past experiences which are influenced by behavioural changes (Weiten, 2016). There are different types of ways to learn; through, classical conditioning, operant conditioning and observational learning which will be discussed and analysed in the essay.   Behaviourism Behaviourism is considered one of the main subjects in psychology and the two main people who founded behaviourism were, Burrhus Frederic Skinner, also known as B.F Skinner and Ivan Pavlov who were famous for the work they did on classical and operant conditioning (Moderato & Presti, 2006). According to Moderato and Presti

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Paper 1: BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION Becky Templin Clovis Community College February 17, 2018 Introduction The theory behind behavior modification ethics has a reputation for its accomplishments and disappointments. In addition to this, there are many dangers in using physical punishment as behavior modification with the two primary modifiers of behavior being Classical conditioning and Operant conditioning. The outcome of using negative reinforcement has its share of benefits and downfalls in human behavior whereas; positive reinforcement seems to win over.

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This method of operant conditioning allows a person and or animal to realize when something is being done correctly and that it should be followed in the future. This method is rewarding and allows it to be beneficial for someone. According to a research conducted to treat problem behavior in Atlanta, researchers finalized that “training and treatment analysis showed that treatments based on positive reinforcement were effective at reducing problem behavior. (Call, 2014). This research proves how positive reinforcement can provide a good outcome for future behaviors.

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For this paper, I chose to write about the Little Albert experiment The overall importance of this study was to discover if a human could be conditioned to develop a bias, fear, or generalized fear of an animal, object, or person based the stimuli placed around the involved person, animal or object. Watson & Rayner (1920) suggested that “in infancy the original emotional reaction patterns are few, consisting so far as observed of fear, rage and love, then there must be some simple method by means of which the range of stimuli which can call out these emotions and their compounds is greatly increased.” This means that before any conditioning occurs, the subject should have a pure response, but after minor and simple experimentation and conditioning,

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Ivan Pavlov and Burrhus Frederic Skinner are the behaviourist theorists I studied. Pavlov’s theory of classical conditioning became well known, his work encouraged others like Skinner to study and develop his own theory of operant conditioning. The “A,B,C” behaviour model of positive reinforcement is used in many early childhood settings. Skinner believed the best way to understand the behaviour is to look at the cause of the action and its consequence. I observed the ECCE setting for practical examples of numeracy and literacy.

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1404 Words | 6 Pages

Then, it was B.F. Skinner who made the concept became popular and well-known throughout the world and even pinned the name of operant conditioning to this concept That is why, he is called the Father of Operant Conditioning and his famous experiment, the Skinner Box. Operant conditioning determinants’ are reinforce, nature response and time interval between response and reinforcement. On the other hand, classical conditioning is a learning way that connects between two stimuli which produce natural response. It measures one stimulus that

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1114 Words | 5 Pages

1. B.F. Skinner: Behaviour modification Positive and negative reinforcements or rewards and punishments are used to modify or shape learner’s behaviour. B. F. Skinner’s entire system is based on operant conditioning. The organism is in the process of "operating" on the environment, which in ordinary terms means it is bouncing around its world, doing what it does. During this "operating," the organism encounters a special kind of stimulus, called a reinforcing stimulus, or simply a reinforcer.

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