My Experiences of Classical and Operant Conditioning

Classical conditioning is a type of learning in which one links two or more stimuli and foresee events. A moment in my life where I was influenced by classical conditioning was when I had to get vaccinated.

Since I was a little girl, I have never liked getting shots; they are extremely scary and painful. Till this day, every time I get a shot, I cry. After analyzing my situation, I realized that my unconditioned stimulus is the doctor’s office, and my unconditioned response is my crying. After getting a shot, my conditioned stimulus is the needle, and my conditioned response is my crying after the needle has been inserted. From this, I’ve learned that my conditioning is considered a conditioned emotional response; Meaning, I’ve gained the fear of needles. I think that my fear of needles should’ve become extinct long ago, but unfortunately this isn’t the case. I hope that someday, as I grow older, I lose this fear of needles and stop crying after I receive a vaccination.

Operant conditioning is a type of learning in which behavior operates on the environment, producing consequences. A moment in my life where I was influenced by operant conditioning was when I would read my homework aloud in my Spanish class because I would receive extra points to my overall grade. The reinforcement period that was used was fixed-interval. This is the case as the reinforcement became available every time the teacher would collect the stamp sheets and see the extra points received. I believe I was just naturally trained to do this, as my teacher never forced anyone to share aloud; She just encouraged volunteers to speak up, and in the end, more people would participate to receive points. My behavior only changed up to a certain extent; there was a time where I took a break from sharing, however due to spontaneous recovery, I ended up sharing even more after taking the break. Something I’ve learned that is a bit difficult to explain within the terms of classical and operant conditioning is why I tend to use my phone for about 10 minutes before I leave my bed in the morning. It’s like a natural reflex. I know I don’t gain anything from it, but I just tend to always go on it for a little while. This is difficult to explain because no one taught me to do this. I don’t get rewarded with anything or get punished for doing this. We use the S-O-R theory so we can understand how our personality and other concepts relate into how we learn. For example, every time that I wake up and look at my phone, I believe I’ll gain some type of information, but I don’t.

All in all, the SOR theory explains learning through behavior and cognitive processes, and the SR theory explains learning through behavior and doesn’t relate it to any other concepts related to the mind.