Examples of Types of Learning - Essay Example

and Number Types of Learning ical Conditioning ical Conditioning is a type of learning that was identified by Ivan Pavlov who discovered it during his experiments with dogs. Essentially, Pavlov’s experiments defined classical conditioning as an instinctual form of learning(“Classical and Operant Conditioning”). The person or animal learns to exhibit a certain behavior or response when it is paired with a specific stimulus. Classical conditioning is made up of four different elements: unconditioned stimulus(US), unconditioned response(UR), conditioned stimulus(CS), and conditioned response(CR) (“Classical and Operant Conditioning”).

An example of Classical Conditioning would be two people who met in a bakery and now are dating. Anytime that these two people smell fresh bread, they feel happy because it reminds them of their significant other. In this case the US is the meeting in the bakery. The UR is the happy reaction. The CS is the smell of the bread, and the CR would also be the happy reaction. Operant Conditioning Operant Conditioning is the process of learning a behavior or response when that response is met with positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment, or extinction.

Positive reinforcement is something that is added to the reaction in order to increase the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated(“Classical and Operant Conditioning”). Negative reinforcement is when something is taken away from the reaction in order to increase the likelihood of the behavior being repeated(“Classical and Operant Conditioning”). Punishment is where something negative is added to the reaction in order to decrease the likelihood of the behavior or response(“Classical and Operant Conditioning”).

Extinction is where something is removed from the reaction in order to decrease the likelihood of the behavior or response(“Classical and Operant Conditioning”). An example of Operant Conditioning is a child being spanked when they have lied. This would be considered punishment because spanking is being added to the behavior of lying in order to decrease the likelihood that the child will exhibit the undesired behavior since the child now associates pain with lying. Observational learning Observational learning is the process of learning a behavior or response by watching or observing others modeling that behavior or response.

This leads to the original person mimicking that behavior. An example of observational learning is a little girl putting on lipstick in the mirror after watching her mother do it each morning. Here the girl observed her mother’s behavior of putting on the lipstick and is copying it. Works Cited"Classical and Operant Conditioning ." AllPsych Online. Heffner Media Group. Web. 27 Jan. 2012. .