What is conditioning in psychology?

Conditioning in psychology is a learning process where responses become more predictable due to reinforcement in a given environment. It revolves around stimulus-response theories, suggesting behavior is learned. Classical conditioning involves associating a stimulus with a response, like Pavlov 's famous experiment where dogs salivated at the sound of a bell. Operant conditioning, studied by B.F. Skinner , involves reinforcement after a specific behavior is performed. The type of reinforcement used determines the outcome.

What is the difference between classical conditioning and operant conditioning?

Both classical and operant conditioning are learning processes where behaviors become more predictable through reinforcement. Classical conditioning involves involuntary responses to a stimulus. For instance, a dog salivating at the sound of a bell anticipates food, as demonstrated by Ivan Pavlov 's experiments. Operant conditioning, however, involves voluntary behavioral changes to achieve a result. A dog may learn to offer its paw to get a treat. Reinforcement occurs after a predesignated action. The type of reinforcement used determines the outcome.

Who were some important scientists who studied conditioning?

Several important scientists studied conditioning, significantly shaping the field of behavioral psychology. Ivan Pavlov , a Russian physiologist, is best known for his work on classical conditioning, where he famously trained dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell. Edward L. Thorndike , an American psychologist, introduced the law of effect in 1905, noting that behaviors producing positive outcomes are more likely to be repeated. Building on Thorndike's work, B.F. Skinner formalized operant conditioning, using controlled experiments with animals to demonstrate how behavior can be shaped through reinforcement and punishment.

How does classical conditioning work, and can you give an example?

Classical conditioning is a learning process where an association is made between a neutral stimulus and a biologically potent stimulus. When these stimuli are paired, the neutral stimulus eventually evokes a response similar to that caused by the potent stimulus. A classic example is Ivan Pavlov 's experiment with dogs. Pavlov presented food to a dog while ringing a bell. The food caused the dog to salivate. After repeating this pairing, the dog began to salivate at the sound of the bell alone, even without the presence of food. In this case, the bell (a neutral stimulus) became a conditioned stimulus that triggered salivation, a conditioned response.

What are rewards and punishments in operant conditioning?

In operant conditioning , rewards and punishments serve as behavior enhancers and suppressors. Rewards encourage a desired action through positive reinforcement, where a subject receives a reward for a desired behavior, or negative reinforcement, which removes an annoying stimulus when a desired action is performed. Punishments discourage an undesired action through positive punishment, where a subject receives a negative stimulus when performing an undesired behavior, or negative punishment, which removes a positive stimulus when a subject performs an undesired behavior. Operant conditioning relies on these methods to modify behavior by associating actions with consequences.

How is conditioning used to change behavior in people and animals?

Conditioning, a key concept in psychology , is a learning process where behaviors become more predictable due to reinforcement. There are two main types of conditioning: classical and operant. In classical conditioning, a stimulus becomes increasingly effective in evoking a response. Ivan Pavlov's famous experiment with dogs demonstrated this, where a bell sound (conditioned stimulus) eventually triggered salivation (conditioned response) in anticipation of food. Operant conditioning, studied by B.F. Skinner, involves reinforcement after a behavior is performed. This uses rewards or punishments to encourage or discourage certain actions. For example, a dog may receive a treat (positive reinforcement) for performing a trick, or a teenager might lose driving privileges (negative punishment) for bad behavior. Conditioning is applied in various fields, including therapy, animal training, education, and parenting.

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Key People:: John B. Watson; Kenneth Wartinbee Spence; Neal E. Miller

Related Topics:: operant conditioning; Pavlovian conditioning; conditioned stimulus; conditioned reinforcement; Thorndike puzzle box

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What is conditioning in psychology?
Conditioning in psychology is a learning process where responses become more predictable due to reinforcement in a given environment. It revolves around stimulus-response theories, suggesting behavior is learned.

Classical conditioning involves associating a stimulus with a response, like Pavlov's famous experiment where dogs salivated at the sound of a bell. Operant conditioning, studied by B.F. Skinner, involves reinforcement after a specific behavior is performed. The type of reinforcement used determines the outcome.
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What is the difference between classical conditioning and operant conditioning?
Both classical and operant conditioning are learning processes where behaviors become more predictable through reinforcement.

Classical conditioning involves involuntary responses to a stimulus. For instance, a dog salivating at the sound of a bell anticipates food, as demonstrated by Ivan Pavlov's experiments.

Operant conditioning, however, involves voluntary behavioral changes to achieve a result. A dog may learn to offer its paw to get a treat. Reinforcement occurs after a predesignated action. The type of reinforcement used determines the outcome.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Who were some important scientists who studied conditioning?
Several important scientists studied conditioning, significantly shaping the field of behavioral psychology. Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist, is best known for his work on classical conditioning, where he famously trained dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell.

Edward L. Thorndike, an American psychologist, introduced the law of effect in 1905, noting that behaviors producing positive outcomes are more likely to be repeated. Building on Thorndike's work, B.F. Skinner formalized operant conditioning, using controlled experiments with animals to demonstrate how behavior can be shaped through reinforcement and punishment.
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Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How does classical conditioning work, and can you give an example?
Classical conditioning is a learning process where an association is made between a neutral stimulus and a biologically potent stimulus. When these stimuli are paired, the neutral stimulus eventually evokes a response similar to that caused by the potent stimulus.

A classic example is Ivan Pavlov's experiment with dogs. Pavlov presented food to a dog while ringing a bell. The food caused the dog to salivate. After repeating this pairing, the dog began to salivate at the sound of the bell alone, even without the presence of food. In this case, the bell (a neutral stimulus) became a conditioned stimulus that triggered salivation, a conditioned response.
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What are rewards and punishments in operant conditioning?
In operant conditioning, rewards and punishments serve as behavior enhancers and suppressors.
- Rewards encourage a desired action through positive reinforcement, where a subject receives a reward for a desired behavior, or negative reinforcement, which removes an annoying stimulus when a desired action is performed.
- Punishments discourage an undesired action through positive punishment, where a subject receives a negative stimulus when performing an undesired behavior, or negative punishment, which removes a positive stimulus when a subject performs an undesired behavior.
Operant conditioning relies on these methods to modify behavior by associating actions with consequences.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How is conditioning used to change behavior in people and animals?
Conditioning, a key concept in psychology, is a learning process where behaviors become more predictable due to reinforcement. There are two main types of conditioning: classical and operant.

In classical conditioning, a stimulus becomes increasingly effective in evoking a response. Ivan Pavlov's famous experiment with dogs demonstrated this, where a bell sound (conditioned stimulus) eventually triggered salivation (conditioned response) in anticipation of food.

Operant conditioning, studied by B.F. Skinner, involves reinforcement after a behavior is performed. This uses rewards or punishments to encourage or discourage certain actions. For example, a dog may receive a treat (positive reinforcement) for performing a trick, or a teenager might lose driving privileges (negative punishment) for bad behavior.
Conditioning is applied in various fields, including therapy, animal training, education, and parenting.
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Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

conditioning, in physiology, a behavioral process whereby a response becomes more frequent or more predictable in a given environment as a result of reinforcement, with reinforcement typically being a stimulus or reward for a desired response. Early in the 20th century, through the study of reflexes, physiologists in Russia, England, and the United States developed the procedures, observations, and definitions of conditioning. After the 1920s, psychologists turned their research to the nature and prerequisites of conditioning.

Stimulus-response (S-R) theories are central to the principles of conditioning. They are based on the assumption that human behaviour is learned. One of the early contributors to the field, American psychologist Edward L. Thorndike, postulated the Law of Effect, which stated that those behavioral responses (R) that were most closely followed by a satisfactory result were most likely to become established patterns and to reoccur in response to the same stimulus (S). This basic S-R scheme is referred to as unmediated. When an individual organism (O) affects the stimuli in any way—for example, by thinking about a response—the response is considered mediated. The S-O-R theories of behaviour are often drawn to explain social interaction between individuals or groups.

Conditioning is a form of learning in which either (1) a given stimulus (or signal) becomes increasingly effective in evoking a response or (2) a response occurs with increasing regularity in a well-specified and stable environment. The type of reinforcement used will determine the outcome. When two stimuli are presented in an appropriate time and intensity relationship, one of them will eventually induce a response resembling that of the other. The process can be described as one of stimulus substitution. This procedure is called classical (or respondent) conditioning.

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Animal learning: Associative learning: conditioning

In this traditional technique, which is based on the work of the Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov, a dog is placed in a harness within a sound-shielded room. On each conditioning trial the sound of a bell or a metronome is promptly followed by food powder blown by an air puff into the dog’s mouth. Here the tone of the bell is known as the conditioned (or sometimes conditional) stimulus, abbreviated as CS. The dog’s salivation upon hearing this sound is the conditioned response (CR). The strength of conditioning is measured in terms of the number of drops of saliva the dog secretes during test trials in which food powder is omitted after the bell has rung. The dog’s original response of salivation upon the introduction of food into its mouth is called the unconditioned response (UR) to food, which is the unconditioned stimulus (US).

B.F. SkinnerThe behavioral psychologist B.F. Skinner, 1971.

Instrumental, or operant, conditioning differs from classical conditioning in that reinforcement occurs only after the organism executes a predesignated behavioral act. When no US is used to initiate the specific act to be conditioned, the required behaviour is known as an operant; once it occurs with regularity, it is also regarded as a conditioned response (to correspond to its counterpart in classical conditioning). American psychologist B.F. Skinner studied spontaneous (or operant) behaviour through the use of rewards (reinforcement) or punishment. For example, a hungry animal will respond to a situation in a way that is most natural for that animal. If one of these responses leads to the reward of food, it is likely that the specific response which led to the food reward will be repeated and thus learned. The behaviour that was instrumental in obtaining the reward becomes especially important to the animal. The same type of conditioning can also be applied to an action that allows the animal to escape from or avoid painful or noxious stimuli.

There are several types of conditioning schedules. Continuous reinforcement schedules provide a reinforcement for every correct response, while intermittent reinforcement schedules reinforce some responses but not others. There are several variations of the intermittent reinforcement schedule; for example, a fixed-ratio schedule provides reinforcement only after a fixed number of correct responses, while a variable-ratio schedule provides reinforcement after a variable number of correct responses. In a slightly different approach, a fixed-interval schedule provides reinforcement for the first correct response after a specific time interval. With a variable-interval schedule, reinforcement is given after a variable amount of time. Conditioning that is based on intermittent reinforcement schedules will create more powerful results relative to fixed conditioning schedules; that is, behaviour produced by intermittent reinforcement schedules is much more difficult to unlearn or discard.

Psychologists generally assume that most learning occurs as a result of instrumental conditioning (such as that studied by Skinner) rather than classical conditioning. Central to all forms of behavioral interaction, however, is the concept that conditioning creates a change in an animal’s behaviour and that the change results in learning.

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