CLASSICAL VS.

OPERANT
CONDITIONING

OBJECTIVE:
 TO DIFFERENTIATE CLASSICAL CONDITIONING AND OPERANT
CONDITIONING AND TO PROVIDE CONCRETE EXAMPLES FOR THE
LEARNERS.
 OVERVIEW

LET'S START BY LOOKING AT SOME OF THE MOST BASIC

DIFFERENCES.
Classical Conditioning
• First described by Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist
• Focuses on involuntary, automatic behaviors
• Involves placing a neutral signal before a reflex
Operant Conditioning
• First described by B. F. Skinner, an American psychologist
• Involves applying reinforcement or punishment after a behavior
• Focuses on strengthening or weakening voluntary behaviors
• Classical conditioning is a process that involves creating
an association between a naturally existing stimulus and a
previously neutral one

• Operant conditioning focuses on using

either reinforcement or punishment to increase or decrease
a behavior. Through this process, an association is formed
between the behavior and the consequences for that
behavior.
• Some daily examples of Classical
Conditioning in local setting:
1. Same Chime as your Cell Phone’s
• Have you reflexively reached your
cellphone while hearing the same
chime as yours? Whenever we are
around someone’s cellphone and hear
their phone ringing as same as our
phone, we reflexively reach to our
phones and this is due to classical
conditioning. Our body shows an
unconditional response to the
conditional stimulus.
2. Hunger

• We all get the desire to eat (a Conditional response) at a specific time of a day, say
Lunchtime (Conditional stimulus), even though at sometimes, we are not hungry.
Similarly, most of the time when we pass through a particular restaurant or cross a food
street, we automatically develop a desire to eat rather, even though we do not feel hungry.
3. Getting Vaccinated at School
• Do you remember getting vaccinated in a school as a child? As soon as a child starting crying
after getting a shot of vaccination, the other students standing in the queue also starts crying.
They have already associated the needle with the pain.
4. Association of Something
with the Past
• Do you have any particular
song, object or place that
reminds you of your past? When
we listen to a specific song,
come across any place or
object, sometimes they usually
remind us of our past incidents.
4. Association of Something with the Past

Have you ever been a victim of an accident in your life? People who have been
through a traumatic experience may feel a rush of anxiety or respond with fear if
they’re found stuck in a similar situation. For example, folks who have been a victim
of a car accident may have a hard time stepping inside another vehicle again or who
has been a victim of an animal bite may have developed a long time fear towards
that animal, even at sometimes that particular animal might not be harmful.
6. Advertising
The art of advertising can be considered as a classic case of classical conditioning. Companies
make commercial advertisements to attract consumers. To make their products more
lucrative, most of the companies use the brand value of celebrities in their advertisements. By
associating these celebrities with their products, they try to enhance the market values of
their products; as the consumers often get convinced by the campaigns of these celebrities for
a particular product.
7. Phobias and Anxiety related Problems
• Classical conditioning techniques are helpful to people to cope up
with their phobias and anxiety related problem. Teachers in school
apply this technique to decrease or remove the anxiety or phobia from
the students. They pair an anxiety-provoking situation with pleasant
surrounding and help the student to learn new association and
behavior. This helps the student to remain calm and stress-free
instead of feeling anxious.
• For example, a student suffering from a stage phobia when
encouraged to perform on the stage repeatedly with a positive
response, after some time, the phobia of the student will
automatically vanish
Examples of Operant Conditioning:
• Positive Reinforcement
• Negative Reinforcement
• Positive Punishment
• Negative Punishment

Positive Reinforcement
• Positive reinforcement occurs when a particular behavior strengthens or
increases in the hope of experiencing a positive action or behavior.
For Example:
A student will continue to do his/her
homework because he/she knows
that he/she will be rewarded with a
candy (action) or is praised
(behavior) by his/her parents or
teachers if he/she completes it. This
is a great example of positive
reinforcement on school kids.
Negative Reinforcement
In this form, a particular behavior
strengthens or increases in the hope
that a negative consequence can be
avoided.

For Example:
The bar is full of people smoking, so
a person decides to go out. Going
outside helps avoid the negative
action of dealing with the smoke.
Positive Punishment
In this concept, a particular behavior pattern decreases so as to avoid
dealing with something unpleasant later.

For Example:
A student tries to avoid turning in late for class so that the teacher does not
insult/shout
Negative Punishment
In this, a particular behavior pattern decreases so that a positive stimulus or object is not
taken away or removed.

For Example:
A child might stop throwing tantrums after his/her favorite toy is taken away after each
tantrum.
While positive and negative reinforcement help in increasing or strengthening a particular
behavior, positive and negative punishment help in decreasing or discouraging it.
• Summary:
• Today, both classical and operant conditioning are utilized for a variety
of purposes by teachers, parents, psychologists, animal trainers, and
many others. In animal conditioning, a trainer might utilize classical
conditioning by repeatedly pairing the sound of a clicker with the taste
of food. Eventually, the sound of the clicker alone will begin to
produce the same response that the taste of food would.
• In a classroom setting, a teacher might utilize operant conditioning by
offering tokens as rewards for good behavior.6 Students can then turn
in these tokens to receive some type of reward such as a treat or
extra play time. In each of these instances, the goal of conditioning is
to produce some sort of change in behavior.
• References:
• https://studiousguy.com/classical-conditioning-examples-everyday-life/
• https://www.verywellmind.com/classical-vs-operant-conditioning-2794861