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Classical Conditioning

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Classical Conditioning
Pavlov summarised his findings by explaining that Classical Conditioning is the combining unconditioned stimulus with neutral stimulus and seeing the subject of the study learn to associate the NS with the UCS and thus resulting in a conditioned reaction to neutral stimulus which in turn becomes a conditioned stimulus (Kentridge, 1995).
Comparison and limitations of Pavlov and Skinners theories
Whilst Skinner and Pavlov’s work is similar in that they both study the way a person or animal learns, they differ in approaches. Classical conditioning is the study of associations between involuntary response and stimulus. This differs from operant conditioning which is making associations between voluntary behaviours and consequences (Skinner, …show more content…
Operate conditioning can be used to explain (among others) addiction and the process of learning. For example, if someone smokes in school and they gain acceptance by their peers, that is a positive reinforcement and so they are more likely to continue smoking. Whereas, if a person smokes in school and is caught, suspended from school and receive a punishment for their parents, they would be more likely not to smoke again because the negative reinforcement is strong (McLeod, 2007). A strength of classical conditioning could be argued that it could help people to overcome phobias. For example, if a person is afraid of spiders (UCS) and is paired with a NS of something that doesn’t bother them at all, for example a glove which makes a person’s hands warm during a cold winter, the person could begin to associate spiders with gloves which keep them warm and therefore end up being less afraid of spiders.
Both areas of study have strengths and weakness and whilst similar in some areas, differ greatly in others.
Skinners contribution to understanding human …show more content…
For example stickers are often given in schools to encourage certain behaviours and a certain number of stickers could result in a prize. The stickers would be seen as a “secondary enforcer” and the prize as the “primary enforcer” (McLeod, 2007). A limitation of doing this, is that in some cases, it has been reported that when the enforcers stop because the person providing the enforcer feels that the student has fully understood what they were trying to teach, the person could slip back into their previous behaviours as they have become to reliant on the
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