CLASSICAL VS OPERANT CONDITIONING

Summary

This video explains the difference between classical and operant conditioning, two key learning theories in psychology. Classical conditioning, discovered by Ivan Pavlov, involves associating a neutral stimulus with an involuntary response, as demonstrated by Pavlov's dogs salivating to a bell. Operant conditioning, developed by B.F. Skinner, involves linking voluntary behavior with consequences such as reinforcers and punishers. Skinner's experiments with rats showcase positive and negative reinforcement and punishment. The video also covers how different reinforcement schedules affect the learning and extinction rates of behaviors, highlighting the complexities of learning through conditioning.

Takeaways

• 📚 Learning is defined as a long-lasting change in behavior due to experience.
• 🐶 Classical conditioning, described by Ivan Pavlov, is the association of a stimulus with an involuntary response.
• 🔔 Pavlov's experiment showed that dogs could learn to associate a bell (neutral stimulus) with food, resulting in salivation (conditioned response).
• ⚖️ Operant conditioning, introduced by B.F. Skinner, involves associating voluntary behavior with consequences like reinforcement or punishment.
• 🍫 Reinforcers (positive or negative) increase the likelihood of a behavior reoccurring, while punishers reduce or suppress it.
• 🐁 Skinner demonstrated positive reinforcement using a rat pressing a lever to receive food, reinforcing the behavior.
• ⚡ Negative reinforcement was shown by the rat learning to turn off or avoid an electric current, reinforcing the escape behavior.
• 🚫 Punishment weakens behavior by associating it with aversive outcomes, though punished behaviors may resurface once the punishment is removed.
• 🎰 Different reinforcement schedules (continuous, fixed ratio, variable ratio, etc.) affect how quickly behaviors are learned and extinguished.
• 💡 Variable ratio and variable interval reinforcement schedules result in faster response rates and slower extinction, similar to gambling behaviors.

Q & A

What is learning according to psychologists?

Learning is defined as a long-lasting change in behavior as a result of experience.

Who first described classical conditioning and what is it?

Classical conditioning was first described by Ivan Pavlov and it is the association of a stimulus with an involuntary response.

What is an example of an unconditioned response in Pavlov's experiment?

In Pavlov's experiment, dogs salivating in response to seeing or smelling food is an example of an unconditioned response.

What did Pavlov discover about neutral stimuli in relation to reflexes?

Pavlov discovered that a neutral stimulus presented before a reflex causes an association, leading to classical conditioning.

What is the difference between a conditioned stimulus and a conditioned response?

A conditioned stimulus is a stimulus that, after association, triggers a response, while a conditioned response is the learned reaction to that stimulus.

Who first described operant conditioning and what does it involve?

Operant conditioning was first described by B.F. Skinner and involves the association of a voluntary behavior with its consequence.

What are the three types of environmental responses or operands that can follow a behavior according to Skinner?

The three types of environmental responses are reinforcers, punishers, and neutral operants.

How does positive reinforcement work in operant conditioning?

Positive reinforcement increases the probability of a behavior recurring by providing a reward after the behavior occurs.

What is the difference between escape learning and avoidance learning in operant conditioning?

Escape learning occurs when an organism learns to remove an unpleasant stimulus, while avoidance learning is when it learns to prevent an unpleasant stimulus from occurring.

How does punishment affect behavior in operant conditioning?

Punishment weakens a behavior by linking it to an aversive consequence, either through the addition or removal of a stimulus.

What happens to a learned behavior in operant conditioning if the reinforcement is no longer provided?

If reinforcement is no longer provided, the behavior will eventually be extinguished, meaning the organism will stop performing the behavior.

What are the different reinforcement schedules that can affect the response and extinction rates?

The different reinforcement schedules include continuous, fixed ratio, fixed interval, variable ratio, and variable interval.

Outlines

00:00

🧠 Understanding Learning and Behavior Change

Learning is defined as a long-lasting change in behavior resulting from experience. Both classical and operant conditioning are fundamental mechanisms that lead to learning. The key difference lies in how they operate: classical conditioning involves associating an involuntary response with a stimulus, while operant conditioning associates voluntary behavior with consequences. This introduction sets the stage for explaining these learning processes in detail.

🔔 Classical Conditioning Explained by Pavlov

Classical conditioning, described by Ivan Pavlov, is based on associating a stimulus with an involuntary response. Pavlov’s famous experiment with dogs illustrated how a neutral stimulus (a bell) could become a conditioned stimulus that triggered a learned response (salivating), even without the unconditioned stimulus (food). This process highlighted how behaviors can be influenced through repeated associations between stimuli.

🐀 Operant Conditioning and Skinner's Findings

Operant conditioning, developed by B.F. Skinner, involves the association between voluntary behaviors and their consequences. Skinner identified three types of responses: reinforcers (which increase behavior), punishers (which decrease behavior), and neutral operants (which do neither). His experiments with rats showed how behavior can be shaped through rewards and punishments, depending on the environmental feedback.

🍫 Reinforcement: Positive and Negative

Positive reinforcement increases the likelihood of a behavior by providing a pleasant reward, while negative reinforcement encourages behavior by removing an unpleasant stimulus. Skinner’s rat experiments demonstrated how animals could learn to either press a lever to receive food (positive reinforcement) or avoid discomfort from an electric current by pressing a lever (negative reinforcement). These findings revealed how learning could occur through both reward and avoidance.

⚡ Punishment and Its Role in Learning

Punishment, unlike reinforcement, reduces the likelihood of a behavior by linking it to unpleasant consequences. It can involve adding a negative stimulus or removing a positive one. However, punishment only suppresses unwanted behaviors temporarily, without guiding towards a preferred behavior. Skinner’s experiments showed that while punished behaviors may stop for a while, they tend to reappear if the punishment ceases.

📉 Extinction of Learned Behaviors

When reinforcement is no longer provided, learned behaviors eventually fade—a process known as extinction. In operant conditioning, if the desired result (e.g., a food pellet) is no longer given, the behavior (e.g., pressing a lever) will gradually stop. Skinner observed that animals learn at different rates and that extinction occurs based on how often a behavior is rewarded.

🔄 Reinforcement Schedules: Response and Extinction Rates

Different reinforcement schedules affect how quickly and strongly behaviors are learned and extinguished. Continuous reinforcement leads to fast learning but also fast extinction. Fixed-ratio schedules result in fast learning but moderate extinction, while variable-ratio schedules (like gambling) create behaviors that are harder to extinguish. Understanding these schedules helps explain the persistence or disappearance of learned behaviors.

Keywords

💡Learning

Learning is defined as a long-lasting change in behavior resulting from experience. In the video, learning is described as a key process in both classical and operant conditioning. It highlights how behaviors can change due to repeated exposure to stimuli or consequences, such as dogs learning to salivate to the sound of a bell or rats learning to press a lever.

💡Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning is a type of learning where an involuntary response is associated with a stimulus. Described by Ivan Pavlov, it focuses on how automatic behaviors can be triggered by previously neutral stimuli, like a bell causing dogs to salivate after being associated with food. This method of learning is essential in understanding automatic, reflexive responses in organisms.

💡Operant Conditioning

Operant conditioning involves learning through the association of voluntary behaviors with consequences, such as rewards or punishments. B.F. Skinner's experiments with rats illustrate this, where the rats learn to press a lever for food or avoid unpleasant stimuli like electric shocks. This type of conditioning emphasizes the role of reinforcement and punishment in shaping behavior.

💡Reinforcement

Reinforcement is a process in operant conditioning where a behavior is strengthened due to positive or negative outcomes. Positive reinforcement adds a desirable stimulus to increase behavior (e.g., a rat receiving food after pressing a lever), while negative reinforcement removes an unpleasant stimulus (e.g., turning off an electric current) to encourage a behavior. Reinforcement is crucial for promoting repeated behavior.

💡Punishment

Punishment in operant conditioning refers to the introduction of an aversive consequence to decrease the likelihood of a behavior recurring. Punishment can be either through adding an unpleasant stimulus (like a shock) or removing a positive one (like a raccoon's cotton candy dissolving). Unlike reinforcement, punishment suppresses behavior but does not guide toward a desired one.

💡Conditioned Stimulus

A conditioned stimulus is a previously neutral stimulus that, after repeated association with an unconditioned stimulus, triggers a learned response. In Pavlov's experiment, the bell became a conditioned stimulus because it was repeatedly paired with food, leading the dogs to salivate even when no food was present. This concept is key in classical conditioning.

💡Unconditioned Response

An unconditioned response is a natural, automatic reaction to an unconditioned stimulus, such as a dog salivating at the sight of food. This reaction does not require learning, as it occurs naturally. In the context of Pavlov's experiment, salivating to food is the unconditioned response, contrasting with the learned, conditioned response to the bell.

💡Extinction

Extinction refers to the gradual weakening of a conditioned response when the reinforcement or stimulus is no longer presented. For example, if a rat no longer receives food after pressing a lever, it will eventually stop pressing the lever. Extinction shows that learned behaviors can fade if they are no longer reinforced or associated with outcomes.

💡Positive Reinforcement

Positive reinforcement occurs when a desirable outcome is introduced after a behavior, increasing the likelihood of that behavior being repeated. In Skinner's experiment, the rat pressing the lever and receiving food is an example of positive reinforcement. This concept is central to operant conditioning as it explains how rewards can shape voluntary behavior.

💡Variable Ratio Reinforcement

Variable ratio reinforcement is a schedule where a behavior is rewarded after an unpredictable number of repetitions. This type of reinforcement, often linked to gambling, encourages a high response rate because the reward is uncertain but possible. The video explains how behaviors learned through variable ratio reinforcement are harder to extinguish due to the unpredictability of the reward schedule.

Highlights

Psychologists define learning as a long-lasting change in behavior as a result of experience.

Classical and operant conditioning both lead to learning but have different mechanisms.

Classical conditioning is the association of a stimulus with an involuntary response.

Ivan Pavlov first described classical conditioning and its focus on involuntary automatic behaviors.

Pavlov's experiment with dogs and a bell demonstrated how neutral stimuli can become conditioned stimuli.

Operant conditioning, described by BF Skinner, involves the association of a voluntary behavior with the consequence.

Skinner identified three types of environmental responses: reinforcers, punishers, and neutral operants.

Reinforcers increase the probability of a behavior recurring, while punishers decrease it.

Positive reinforcement is demonstrated by a rat learning to press a lever for food pellets.

Negative reinforcement involves removing unpleasant stimuli, as shown in Skinner's electric current experiment.

Punishment weakens a behavior by linking it to an aversive consequence.

Punished behavior is not forgotten but suppressed, and may return if the punishment is no longer present.

Different reinforcement schedules affect the rate at which behavior repeats and how soon it stops.

Continuous reinforcement results in a slow response rate and fast extinction.

Fixed ratio reinforcement offers fast response and medium extinction rates.

Fixed interval reinforcement provides medium response and extinction rates.

Variable ratio reinforcement leads to fast response rates and slow extinction.

Variable interval reinforcement also results in fast response rates and slow extinction.

The video encourages viewers to like, subscribe, and support the creator through Patreon.

Viewers are invited to leave comments for topics they'd like the creator to cover.

Transcripts

psychologists define learning as a

long-lasting change in behavior as a

result of experience classical and

operant conditioning both lead to

learning so what's the difference

between them classical conditioning was

first described by Ivan Pavlov and is

the association of a stimulus with an

involuntary response it focuses on

involuntary automatic behaviors Pavlov

noticed that a neutral stimulus before a

reflex causes an association he

conducted an experiment in which he rang

a bell before presenting dogs with food

when dogs see or smell food they

salivate even though it is not a learned

behavior rather they're salivating is an

unconditioned response to seeing food

which is an unconditioned stimulus of

course a dog would not normally salivate

in response to a random stimulus like a

bell ringing since such an event is a

neutral stimulus

however Pavlov found that if he always

rang a bell before presenting dogs with

food then they eventually began to

salivate as soon as they heard the Bell

even when there was no food around at

this point the Bell had become a

conditioned stimulus and the dogs

salivating to it sound was a conditioned

response operant conditioning first

described by BF Skinner is the

Association of a voluntary behavior with

the consequence

Skinner found three types of

environmental responses or operands that

can follow a behavior reinforcers

Punishers and neutral operants

reinforcers increase the probability of

a behavior recurring Punishers decrease

the probability or extinguish the

behavior and neutral operants do neither

to demonstrate positive reinforcement

Skinner put a rat in a box with a lever

on accidentally bumping the lever the

rat discovered that it would receive a

food pellet with this positive

reinforcement the rat learned to keep

pressing the lever negative reinforcers

remove unpleasant stimuli to demonstrate

negative reinforcers Skinner put a rat

in a box which had a mild electric

current that caused the rat discomfort

on wandering around the box the rat

randomly hit a lever to turn the current

off when exposed to the electric current

in the box the rat learned to always

press the lever something called escaped

learning

similarly Skinner eventually also taught

the rat to flip a switch that prevented

the electric current from being turned

on in the first place something called

avoidance learning punishment weakens a

behavior by linking it to an aversive

consequence just like reinforcement it

can occur through the addition or

removal of a stimulus for example if a

rat receives an electric shock when it

pushes a button it will avoid that

button or if you're an unfortunate

raccoon that decides to wash his cotton

candy before eating it only to watch it

dissolve before your very eyes that is

punishment through the removal of a

positive stimulus

it should be noted that punished

behavior is not forgotten but is

suppressed

if a punishment is no longer present the

behavior returns also unlike

reinforcement it does not guide towards

the desired behavior but only suppresses

undesired behavior

there have been further experiments done

with rats in the Skinner box after a rat

has received operant learning and has

learned to press a lever to receive a

food pellet what happens if the lever is

pressed but no food pellet is received

at first the rat will keep pressing the

lever but eventually it will stop and

the behavior will be extinguished

why press this thing without payment

however a rat can learn or unlearn a

behavior at different rates with

different schedules of reinforcement

this has been termed the response rate

the rate at which behavior repeats and

the extinction rate how soon the

behavior stops

let's see what happens with five

different reinforcement schedules with

continuous reinforcement the response

rate is slow an extinction is fast

with a fixed ratio reinforcement

schedule where positive reinforcement is

offered after a fixed number of

repetitions of a behavior the response

rate is fast and extinction is medium

for a fixed interval reinforcement

schedule where positive reinforcement is

provided as long as a quota is fulfilled

within a given time schedule the

response and extinction rates are medium

for a variable ratio reinforcement

schedule where positive reinforcement is

given after an unpredictable number of

repetitions the response rate was fast

and extinction was slow this is the

equivalent of gambling for a variable

interval reinforcement schedule where a

reward is given if a quota is fulfilled

within an unpredictable amount of time

the response rate is again fast an

extinction is slow if you liked this

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