OPERANT/CLASSICAL/OBSERVATION LEARNING

Operant/Classical/Observation Learning

Operant/Classical/Observation Learning

Operant/Classical/Observation Learning: A Comparison & Contrast

Operant conditioning (OC) is a form of learning defined by the relationship between behavior and stimuli that follow behavior. Consequences may affect behavior by increasing it (reinforcement) or by decreasing it (punishment). Thus, OC is characterized by an increase or decrease in behavior that is attributable to past consequences of that behavior. Unlike classical conditioning, in which stimuli are presented independently of behavior, OC is defined by the fact that the learner must perform a specific behavior before some stimulus change occurs.

Catania (1998) mentions the word operant derives from “operate,” in that it refers to activities that operate on the world. Similarly, instrumental is employed because the kind of behavior in question is instrumental in bringing about some outcome. Consider the following scenario. An infant in a crib swings its right leg up about once every 10 minutes or so. Then a mobile is attached to the crib, and each time the baby swings its leg, the mobile moves. Soon the baby is swinging its leg several times per minute (Catania, 1998). The mobile is then removed, and leg swinging gradually returns to its previous frequency. The increase in the frequency of leg swinging is probably (see later) an example of operant conditioning, with leg swinging called the operant response and movement of the mobile serving as what is called reinforcement. The decrease in frequency when kicking is no longer effective is called extinction of operant behavior (Moerk, 2000).

Stated more generally, operant conditioning is said to have occurred when some activity becomes more likely after it has been followed by a particular outcome (Catania, 1998). The activity is often referred to as the response, and the outcome is called the reinforcer, or reinforcing stimulus. Thus, if a response is followed by a consequence, and if as a result of that experience, the response becomes more likely, operant conditioning is said to have occurred, and the consequence is called a reinforcer (Kolb, 1976).

In the classical form of learning, unlike operant learning we see that classical conditioning (also named Pavlovian conditioning, for Ivan Pavlov, the researcher who pioneered the topic) is considered, along with habituation, to be a fundamental form of learning (Turkkan, 1989). The term conditioning is used because classical, along with instrumental and operant, is considered a simpler and more basic form of learning. As a form of learning, classical conditioning involves a ...