Comparing Classical And Operant Conditioning

Three Form of learning

Operant, classical and vicarious conditionings are useful forms of learning. Operant conditioning is a consequence given after the organism does something. Reinforcement and punishment are the consequence. And they have both positive and negative signals. Operant conditioning can help organisms to learn to control their behavior. In other words, it can motive the frequency of this behavior. Vicarious conditioning is a way that organisms learn some behaviors by observing models. While classical conditioning make animals learn to response automatically to an irrelevant stimulus which pair with a previously neutral stimulus. These two forms of learning are different from each other, but both of them can change organisms’ behavior for responding experiences.

Operant conditioning and classical conditioning differ from each other. There are three significant differences. First, they appear in different situations: operant conditioning happens by its consequence, while classical conditioning is automatic and spontaneous. Second, they depend on different part of the nervous system: in operant conditioning, skeletal muscles are the primary part, however the autonomic nervous system is a major part in classical

For example, my little sister had a bad behavior that came into my room without any permission every time. This behavior was rude and I intended to help her to increase a behavior of knocking the door before entering the room. I would give her a cartoon sticker every two times if she knocks the door first and waits until my permission to come in. After several times, she remembered to knock the door first. The increasing behavior of knocking the door in the future is reinforcement. And giving the stimulus - cartoon sticker is a kind of positive way. In the end, I helped my little sister to change her bad behavior through positive