Blog Post #8

Classical Conditioning is a type of learning in which someone learns to link two or more stimuli together and anticipate events. Ivan Pavlov made this way of learning famous. An example of this type of conditioning is when you eat something like a mushroom pizza and you get food poisoning from it or sick from it. You will associate that mushroom pizza to stomach aches and being sick and then condition yourself not to eat it. Operant Conditioning is the type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher. An example would be if a little child cleans their room they can watch play video games. The child will then keep their room clean and have their reward as getting to play video games. The difference between classical conditioning and operant conditioning is the type of learning. In classical conditioning you learn how to link two stimuli together to help adapt and protect yourself from further harm. In operant conditioning you learn according to the behaviors and reinforcement placed on someone.

Positive reinforcement is increasing behaviors by presenting positive stimuli, such as food. A positive reinforcer is any stimulus that, when presented after a response, strengthens the response. Negative reinforcement is increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli, such as shock. A negative reinforcer is any stimulus that, when removed after a response, strengthens the response. Punishment is an event that decreases the behavior that it follows. An example of positive reinforcement in my life would be when I got my chores done every morning or night I was allowed to go onto the computer and play games when I was younger. I discovered it I finished my chores and did what I was told right away the sooner I could get on the computer and I was able to stay on the computer longer if I did the jobs well. A negative reinforcement in my life that happened recently was when I had an allergic reaction to something, I don’t know what, and I broke out in hives on my arms and legs. I took antihistamine to relieve the itching and the swelling. I took the medicine hoping for the end of pain, that’s a negative reinforcer. I have had many punishments in my life. The biggest punishment I had was getting grounded for a year. Let me tell you my dad never forgot he had me grounded. I lied about who was driving to the movies and my parents found out. My dad lost trust in me and I wasn’t allowed to go to a basketball game to cheer and I wasn’t allowed to go anywhere with my car unless it was work or school. I learned from this punishment never to lie to my parents because they always know and find out and my punishment doesn’t go away for a long time.


I found it very interesting that little kids are able to pick up on things just by watching it. That at young ages when viewing something like violence it can cause us to become desensitized to it and its effects. There was an experiment done with a Bobo doll where a woman beat up the doll and kicked it and they had children view the woman doing this. When the kids where given a Bobo doll they did the same thing the woman did by beating and kicking the doll. They were able to watch and pick up the idea of beating the doll just because they saw someone else doing it. When children are exposed to violence they become more likely to act out aggression towards others like they see in the movies. This is called imitation, the kids see something violent and don’t see the injury or pain caused to the victim and they think its okay to go and do that to another child. I think it’s very interesting how our brains work in persuading us without us even knowing that we are thinking a certain way or acting a certain way because of our observations. I think that our observations of daily life can be greatly effected by this, but we are unaware of what we are doing or saying that isn’t our own ideas or ways of doing things. I think about how easy it is to be talking to someone with and accent and accidentally doing that accent yourself. Your exposure causes you to do things you wouldn’t expect like an accent or an act of aggression.