Question

Give detailed examples of these three types of learning that you have experienced in your life:

1. Classical Conditioning

2. Operant Conditioning

3. Observational Learning

In each example, describe how you acquired the particular behavior in question and how you would use each type of learning paradigm to modify that behavior. Separate your discussion in a way that clearly shows which type of conditioning you are writing about.

Answer 1

1. CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

Ivan Pavlov discovered classical conditioning, a type of learning that occurs by forming associations between stimulus. A neutral stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus to make it a conditioned stimulus which will elicit a conditioned response. In his landmark experiment, Pavlov conditioned the dog to salivate to the bell sound without even seeing the food. Initially Pavlov observed that the dogs salivated (unconditioned response) on seeing the food (unconditional response). Then he paired the sound of a bell (neutral stimulus) with the food (unconditioned stimulus) for repeated trails and then he noted the dog was started to salivate (conditioned response) on hearing the sound of the bell (conditioned stimulus).

For example, I have acquired a fear of birds because I was once pecked by a bird. This is a type of classical conditioning because, initially the bird was a neutral stimulus that did not elicit fear in me, but when I was pecked by it (unconditioned stimulus) I felt scared and painful (unconditioned response). Due to this I feel anxious and afraid whenever I see a bird. This is because I had associated that birds will peck me (conditioned stimulus) which makes me anxious (conditioned response).  

2. OPERANT CONDITIONING

B.F Skinner coined the term operant conditioning which states that learning occurs by associating a behavior with its consequences. When a behavior is followed by a reinforcement, the behavior is strengthened. For example, when a child is given a candy for getting good grades in her test, that behavior is strengthened. Whereas a behavior followed by a punishment is weakened. For example, when a boy is scolded for misbehaving with his friend, that behavior is reduced.

For example, I have learned to keep my room clean because whenever I clean my room, my mom appreciates me and it makes me feel good. I have also learned not to lie my parents because whenever I lied my parents would not allow me to play with my friends. So, to avoid getting punishments I stopped lying.

3. OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING

According to Albert Bandura, learning occurs by observing, imitating and modelling others. He explained that when we observe someone (model) performing a behavior, we tend to imitate and learn that behavior. In observational learning a person must pay attention to the behavior of the model, remember the behavior and then reproduce it. A behavior is not simply imitated by observing someone, only if the person has a motivation to imitate the behavior, it would be exhibited.

For example, I have to cooking by observing and imitating a person from youtube who was teaching how to cook. I paid attention to how she used various ingredients, and remembered the procedure and did cooking by myself. Since I had the motivation to do cooking, I observed and learned the behavior from the model.