Operant Conditioning Vs Classical Conditioning

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Classical conditioning is a learning process that occurs when two stimuli are paired together repeatedly. The first stimuli evoke a natural response by the subject while the second stimuli do not. However, after repeated pairings, the second stimuli become conditioned and trigger a response to occur. In classical conditioning, there are 6 key principles that are considered a basic process, acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, stimulus generalization and stimulus discrimination. Acquisition refers to the initial stage of learning a new response tendency which depends on the stimulus contiguity. Extinction is when a newly formed stimulus-response bond eventually faces gradual weakening and disappearance of a conditioned response …show more content…

Unlike classical conditioning, operant conditioning gives the subject a choice to respond. There are four different outcomes in operant conditioning. Positive reinforcement occurs when a certain response is strengthened as a result of the presentation of a rewarding stimulus. An example is how I would study hard everyday as my parents would bring me out for a vacation if I excel. A negative reinforcement is a particular behaviour increases so that a negative consequence can be avoided. An example is every Monday, I would leave my house earlier and catch the early bus to school to avoid getting stuck in the traffic and being late. In contrast to reinforcement, a positive punishment is when a certain behaviour pattern is removed to avoid facing something unpleasant. For example, during a class, my phone rang despite being told to switch off my phone before class. As a result, I got reprimanded infront of the whole class. This discourages me to repeat the action. A negative punishment however is a decrease in an undesired behaviour with the removal of something. For example, when we laze around in our part time job, the boss will eventually cut our pay in half, with a condition that he would get a full pay only when he shows more dedication and meet the datelines of all his