Classical and Operant Conditioning

Classical and Operant Conditioning

A big part of understanding classical and operant conditioning is knowing the vocabulary (CS, UCS, CR, UCR).  

These concepts can be confusing, so here is how I break it down:

Classical conditioning occurs when situations are paired.  These are LEARNED.  Ask yourself the following questions:
 1. Is the question asking about an object or a situation (that's usually a clue it's a stimulus) or a verb (that's usually a clue that it is a response).  
2. Is the response something that is innate or occurs naturally (that's usually a clue that it is unconditioned) or is it something that must be learned (that's usually a clue that it is a conditioned response).  

Operant conditioning can also be a bit confusing.  It is about reinforcements, which increase a behavior, and punishments, which decrease a behavior.  Ask your self the following questions:
 1.  Does the action increase the frequency of the behavior (that's a reinforcer) or decrease the frequency of a behavior (that's a punishment).  
2.  Does the action add to the situation (positive) or take something away (negative)? 
Often times students confuse the words positive and negative as good and bad.  Think of the words positive and negative as math terms (like positive and negative numbers), not in terms of judgments of being good or bad.  

A colleague shared the following key words with me that may also help you identify positive/negative punishments or rewards.

• Positive reinforcement = REWARD (adding something to increase a behavior)
• Negative reinforcement = RELIEF (taking away something to increase a behavior)
• Positive punishment = PAIN (adding something in hopes of decreasing a behavior)
• Negative punishment = LOSS (taking something away in hopes of decreasing a behavior)