AP PSYCHOLOGY

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LEARNING

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING VS OPERANT CONDITIONING

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
A patient in a mental hospital is very disruptive at mealtimes. She grabs food from the plates of those sitting near her and tries to cram the food in her mouth. Because this behavior of stealing food is very undesirable, a plan is developed whereby every time the patient steals food from other plates, she is immediately taken to a room without food.
A
Classical Conditioning
B
Operant Conditioning
C
Either A or B
D
None of the above
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -In Operant Conditioning Theory, there are essentially four quadrants: Positive Reinforcement, Positive Punishment, Negative Reinforcement, and Negative Punishment.

Detailed explanation-2: -An example of positive reinforcement is: A child receives money for doing chores. Negative reinforcement is where instead of being rewarded with an item for making positive choices, and item or stimulus is removed after a specific behavior is shown.

Detailed explanation-3: -For example, spanking a child when he throws a tantrum is an example of positive punishment. Something is added to the mix (spanking) to discourage a bad behavior (throwing a tantrum). On the other hand, removing restrictions from a child when she follows the rules is an example of negative reinforcement.

Detailed explanation-4: -Can the behaviour of pressing the lever be explained best through classical conditioning or operant conditioning? Explain. Answer: Operant Conditioning because the rat voluntarily learns to control the light and is not an automatic reflex. (The key word here is “learned”).

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