Good Essay About Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning refers to a behavioral modification of process whereby a response which is innate to a potential stimulus (biological) is expressed a result of a previous stimulus that was neutral. As a matter of fact, this can be achieved only through repeatedly pairing neutral stimulus and the biological stimulus (potential) which elicits a response that is desired. Over the years, this type of conditioning has served as the basis on the manner that organisms learn. It played a major role to the development of behaviorism. An example of classical conditioning would entail when an individual learns to associate two stimuli that are different. A kiss is a good example of this. In practice, kissing brings about responses of involuntary arousal which may cause one to have a heart rate hat is elevated.
In classical conditioning, there are a number of stimulus and response terms. The first term is the unconditioned stimulus. This stimulus automatically, unconditionally or naturally triggers a response. The second term is the unconditioned response, which is a response (unlearned) that occurs in a natural manner as a reaction to a stimulus that is unconditioned. Others include conditioned response, conditioned stimulus and neutral stimulus.

Operant Conditioning

Operant conditioning/instrumental learning takes the shape of punishment and rewards for the behavior of the learner. In one way or the other, this type of learning encourages one to associate themselves with desirable behaviors and refrain from undesirable behaviors. A good example of this type of learning in progress is considering young children in a school setting. In such a setting, teachers and parents always want the best out of their children. This is the only way that the children can score well in the exams. Children who do well are encouraged by being given presents such as books by their teachers. Those who perform poorly, on the other hand, are often punished. The intention of this is to ensure that these children correct their mistakes and revert to the acceptable behavior in the society. In such type of learning, reinforcement is often associated with positive behavior, while negative behavior is associated with punishment.

Observational learning

Observational/social learning refers to the type of learning which takes place through observing another person’s behavior. It is more common in young children as opposed to adults. In one way or the other, this type of learning helps an individual to acquire responses that are new by taking a keen interest in what somebody does. Important to note is the fact that observational learning does not require any form of reinforcement or punishment to occur, only a model is necessary. Such models can be parents, friends, teachers, siblings and many more others. To add on this, observational learning promotes the cognitive process of an individual. A good example of observational or social learning is by considering how a child may learn to dance to a specific song. With the model doing it, the child will slowly become active and be interested in whatever the model does. The child will then slowly cope with whatever that the model involves in, such as the basic moves, hand movement, facial expression and other forms of movement. With time, the cognitive senses of the child will be facilitated to do such movements even without the assistance or guidance of the model.