Classical and Operant Conditioning

Order Description
Classical and Operant Conditioning

This week you will be discussing the concepts of classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Please choose if you would like to apply these learning theories to humans or animals. Be sure that
your thread subject line identifies which topic you are posting about (e.g., “Human” or “Animal”)
Human:
Classical Conditioning
Post a response to the following:
Think about someone with a specific fear or phobia. Explain how classical conditioning can explain how the fear or phobia developed. Give an example and explain your answer.
Include a description of the neutral stimulus (NS), unconditioned stimulus (UCS), conditioned stimulus (CS), unconditioned response (UCR), and conditioned response (CR) in relation to your example.
AND
Operant Conditioning
Post a response to the following:
Imagine you are a supervisor at work. How can you use operant conditioning to change an employee’s attendance, customer service, or other behavior?
Include a description of how you would use either positive or negative reinforcement to increase the frequency of a desirable behavior.
Also, include a description of how you would use punishment to decrease the frequency of an undesirable behavior.

Animal Training
Do you own a pet? Call to mind some of your pet’s behaviors or desired behaviors.
Classical Conditioning
Post a response to the following:
Explain how classical conditioning could explain an association your pet has learned. (e.g.,The sound of a can opener associated with a meal.)
Describe your example and include a description of the neutral stimulus (NS), unconditioned stimulus (UCS), conditioned stimulus (CS), unconditioned response (UCR), and conditioned response (CR) in
relation to your example.
AND
Operant Conditioning
Post a response to the following:
Explain how operant conditioning could be used to teach your pet a trick or change your pet’s behavior.
Include a description of how you would use either positive or negative reinforcement to increase the frequency of a desirable behavior.
Also, include a description of how you would use punishment to decrease the frequency of an undesirable behavior.

PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR WORK WITH THIS WEEK’S LEARNING RESOURCES.

Required Resources
Readings
• Feldman, R. (2012). Psychology and your life (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
o Chapter 5, “Learning”
o Chapter 6, “Thinking, Memory, Cognition, and Language”
? Module 18, “The Foundation of Memory” (pp. 206–212)
? Module and 19, “Recall and Forgetting” (pp. 213–225)
Case Study Project Resources
• Laureate Education (Producer). (2015a). Introduction to psychology interactive case study [Multimedia file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
• Final Project Example (PDF)
• Final Project Template (Word document)
Media
Engage in this interactive tutorial prior to this week’s Discussion to learn more about classical and operant conditioning. You will have the opportunity to practice identifying and getting
feedback about components of classical conditioning and operant conditioning.
• Laureate Education (Producer). (2015d). What is classical conditioning [Multimedia file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
o Interactive Tutorial: What is Classical Conditioning
o Trascript (PDF)
• Laureate Education (Producer). (2015e). What is operant conditioning [Multimedia file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
o Interactive Tutorial: What is Operant Conditioning
o Trascript (PDF)
Optional Resources
You may wish to read the following modules from your course text as they could be used for your case study:
• Feldman, R. (2012). Psychology and your life (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
o Chapter 6, “Thinking, Memory, Cognition, and Language”
? Module 20, “Thinking, Reasoning, and Problem Solving” (pp. 226–236)
? Module 21, “Language” (pp. 237–249)
• Przybylski, P. (n.d.). Introduction to memory techniques. Retrieved from http://www.mindtools.com/memory.html?route=article/newTIM_00.htm