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1 Final Research on Classical/Operant Conditioning Department of Psychology, Liberty University PSYC 365: Psychological Foundations of Learning Final Research on Classical/Operant Conditioning In psychology there are two main learning theories which are classical and instrumental conditioning that are often used and taught. Both learning theories have historical development,

2 key concepts, research findings, and educational implications. When considering that there is this much information on classical and instrumental conditioning the research can become overwhelming. However, having an abundance of research and information can be helpful when it comes time to apply it to real life situations including connecting this new knowledge to scripture. Overall, this research assignment will breakdown information into separate headings while including how to connect to scripture. Historical Development Its historical roots begin in the study of learning and have roots in philosophy. There is notably one person who changed the way human behavior was viewed, his name Rene Descartes. Before Descartes human behavior was not studied because most people believed that behavior was based on free will and personal intent. However, Descartes was the first to challenge that behavior was more than free will and he constructed a view of human behavior known as Cartesian dualism. Cartesian dualism had a view of behavior that was broken down into two separate categories voluntary and involuntary (Domjan, 2017). This definition started the growth towards expanding learning and knowledge in human behavior. In short, Descartes started a revolution in learning human behavior because he challenged the idea that human behavior is more than free will and personal intent. Classical Conditioning There is one prominent name that is known among psychology. His name is Pavlov however he is not the one who discovered classical conditioning. Edwin Twitmyer who obtained a PHD and is the one who independently discovered classical conditioning (Domjan, 2017). Twitmyer historic contributions to classical conditioning was that he did a reflex study on students’ knee

3 jerk reflex where he would sound a bell for five seconds before hitting the student’s knee causing a knee jerk. After several trials when the bell was sounded the students, knee would jerk without being hit. This experiment showed that the bell sounding was the stimuli that conditioned the students to have a reflex knee jerk from the sound of a bell. It should also be noted that there are two more names to be mentioned in classical conditioning, S. G. Vul’fson and A. T. Snarskii. These two students were the first to conduct systematic studies in classical conditioning (Domjan, 2017). Pavlov expanded on this theory through doing studies on dogs and salivation. Pavlov continued to do experiments with dogs and salvation which made classical conditioning grow. Additionally, there is strong evidence that shown classical conditioning depends on more than the stimuli; classical conditioning may be influenced by various learning outcomes and traits, or the conditioning schedule (Bajcar, E. A., et al. 2021). There are five different types of classical conditioning because of the growth in research. There is short-delayed conditioning, trace conditioning, long-delayed conditioning, simultaneous conditioning, and backward conditioning. With each different type of conditioning the stimulus is presented at various times as well as incorporating a controlled stimulus would be presented at various times give which type of conditioning is being used. Overall, Pavlov’s expanded research and findings are still be studied and used to this day and set steppingstones for behavioral psychologist. Instrumental (Operant) Conditioning Instrumental conditioning began with the work of E.L Thorndike who is an American psychologist his original intent for instrumental conditioning was to study animal intelligence. Thorndike used empirical research to pursue his interest in animal intelligence. One of his studies conducted was putting a hungry animal in a cage with food on the side of a trap door and the animal was required to pull a ring in box 1 and in box 2 the animal was required to push a

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4 lever to release the door. Thorndike kept a graph of successful trials which lead to the findings of S-R association and law of effect. The findings were also found because Thorndike believes that the animal began to escape faster after each trial however, he found that behavior was unintelligent (Domjan, 2017). Due to Thorndike insight, he had the findings of S-R association which is the association between the stimulus and the action response. When Thorndike formulated law of effect it states that the response in a S-R association is followed by a satisfying event it becomes strengthened whereas if followed by an annoying event then the S-R association is weakened. The pair of Thorndike’s findings are historical because S-R learning and law of effect have traction to present day because it still explains why some behaviors occur. Thorndike’s’ theory developed over time as trials continued his first trials were with chicks because of limited space which started his research on instrumental behavior. Then after he received his Ph. D is when he used hungry cats and various puzzle boxes as explained earlier. His research continued to grow with American psychologist W. S. Small who began to discrete- trial procedures which was similar to Thorndike’s methods of placing a animal inside a maze and having the animal complete a task to be rewarded with food. In the mazes that Small built he used rats as his test subjects and was able to find that rats have a running speed that continues to go faster after each trial is completed. Additionally, Small also measured using latency which is the time that the subject leaves the start position to begin running, which also increased after each trial was completed. Instrumental conditioning would continue to grow with various trials and outcomes that lead to foundational procedures such as positive reinforcement, punishment, negative reinforcement, omission training/negative punishment. In all instrumental conditioning situations there is a participant which is then required to perform a response which then constructs a consequence or outcome (Domjan, 2017).

5 Key Concepts For each theory there are key concepts that explain how each theory has a way to acquire new information, goals of learning, and what makes each theory unique. This information would be researched through peer-reviewed articles that present modern day information on each theory. Classical Conditioning Classical conditioning acquires new information by using the key concepts. The key concepts of classical conditioning include neutral stimulus, unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, and conditioned stimulus. For instance, in this article Order does matter: the combined effects of classical conditioning and verbal suggestions on placebo hypoalgesia and nocebo hyperalgesia the findings were that for classical conditioning to have an effect on placebo hypoalgesia there had to be more than one stimulus. Additionally, the results of this study concluded that from a theoretical perspective classical conditioning depends not on simplicity of the selected stimuli rather it’s the strength of learning outcome and traits or the conditioning schedule. The goals of learning with classical conditioning were previously known to be simplistic or learned unconsciously however over time classical conditioning takes time and complexity. Over the last forty years there have been various theorical approaches with all the data that has been complied with over time. The highlighted importance is that various factors alter conditioned and unconditioned stimuli (Domjan, 2017). Overall, classical conditioning is complex in how it alters behavior but it is important to research as human experience is not limited to a certain way of life. Instrumental (Operant) Conditioning

6 There are two main concepts of instrumental conditioning which are reinforcement and punishment. The way that instrumental conditioning acquires new information is by using reinforcement of punishment as a means to modify behavior. For example, a teacher could be using positive reinforcement in her classroom by telling their students that if they complete an assessment without talking then they can get a prize. This would modify the students behavior to stop talking during assessment time to be met with the positive reinforcement of said prize. The goals of learning for instrumental conditioning are that each behavior has a consequence. With that in mind it is important to know that the consequence following the behavior will not always be consistent. There are two types of a relationship between the response and reinforcement. The first being temporal relation which is the time in between and the second temporal contiguity which is the delivery of said reinforcer directly after said response (Domjan, 2017). Lastly, This theory is unique because there is different ways of how a behavior would effect a consequence based on when each event happens. Education Implications Instrumental conditioning would work well in the classroom given that the sole purpose of instrumental conditioning is that every behavior has a consequence. It would also be achievable to implement instrumental conditioning because of the two main concepts of reinforcement and punishment. For example, personally when beginning to work with children one thing that was always pushed is positive reinforcement. For instance, if a child is running up the slide instead of telling them to stop one would say we use the steps to go up the ladder then use the slide to come down. This would allow the teacher to tell the child exactly what they need to do positively. Additionally, many teachers have prize boxes that are used for reinforcement of behavior. A teacher can encourage learning concepts through motivational mechanisms by using

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7 positive reinforcers such as a prize box toy for actively participating in class. When using stimulus control it would vary by the type of reinforcement therefore if a teacher would continuously use positive reinforcement, then the stimulus control should be positive. Biblical Worldview The books of Proverbs offers scriptures concerning what the Bible teaches about learning behavior. One verse in particular states “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6 ESV). Children are our future and if we choose to live Christ like then we should teach children to have a biblical worldview when young so that they are able to have a strong foundation with God and will not depart from him. God wants his people to teach their children about God and to show them how to live Christ like as we do ourselves. Most Significant Learning In the time spent on this course over several weeks there has been a lot to learn. There have been new methods, strategies, and theories that have been introduced. Among the loaded information the most significant learning was from learning about reinforcements. There are two types of reinforcement positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement. Positive reinforcement is an instrumental conditioning procedure in which there is positive response and reinforcer (Domjan, 2017). Negative reinforcement is instrumental conditioning procedure in which there is negative response and reinforcer (Domjan, 2017) Both explanations come from the textbook however it is simplified however personally learning about reinforcement there is high probability that this new information will be helpful as parent to my own children. Conclusion

8 In short, there has been a lot of information that has been covered in this final research paper. Historical development in classical conditioning is that Pavlov provided stepping stones for behavioral psychologists to continue research and that his findings are still noted as helpful in modern times. Historical development in instrumental conditioning has a participant that is required to perform a response/outcome. Each classical conditioning and instrumental conditioning have various key concepts however both have the same way of acquiring new information through research. Education implications were that it would be useful to use reinforcement that is found in instrumental conditioning to modify behavior of children in a classroom setting. In biblical worldview it is important for us to learn about behaviors in order to help our children become the future Christians who have a good foundation with God. The most learning was achieved through learning about reinforcement in instrumental conditioning. In short, in the past several weeks of this course there has been a lot learned and more to learn. References Bajcar, E. A., Wiercioch-Kuzianik, K., Farley, D., Buglewicz, E., Paulewicz, B., & Bąbel, P. (2021). Order does matter. the combined effects of classical conditioning and verbal suggestions on Placebo Hypoalgesia and Nocebo Hyperalgesia. Pain , Publish Ahead of Print , 2237–2245. https://doi.org/10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002211

9 Balea, P., Sanjuan, M. del, & Nelson, J. B. (2018). Learning to learn in conditioning and extinction in humans. Behavioural Processes , 157 , 148–160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2018.09.005 Bouton, M. E. (2018). Extinction of instrumental (operant) learning: Interference, varieties of context, and mechanisms of contextual control. Psychopharmacology , 236 (1), 7–19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-018-5076-4 Braat, M., Engelen, J., van Gemert, T., & Verhaegh, S. (2020). The rise and fall of behaviorism: The narrative and the numbers. History of Psychology , 23 (3), 252–280. https://doi.org/10.1037/hop0000146 Bąbel, P. (2019). Classical conditioning as a distinct mechanism of placebo effects. Frontiers in Psychiatry , 10 . https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00449 Domjan, M. (2017) The Principles of Learning and Behavior MindTap - Cengage Learning. Eelen, P. (2018, July 26). Psychologica Belgica. Retrieved January 28, 2023, from https://doi.org/10.5334/pb.451. English Standard Version Bible. (2001). ESV Online. https://esv.literalword.com/ Hall, G. (2021). Learning theory for comparative psychologists. Comparative Cognition & Behavior Reviews , 16 , 1–11. https://doi.org/10.3819/ccbr.2021.160001

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10 Hawkins, R. D. (2019). The contributions and mechanisms of changes in excitability during simple forms of learning in Aplysia. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory , 164 , 107049. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nlm.2019.107049 Martina, C., Cowlishaw, G., & Carter, A. J. (2020). Exploring individual variation in associative learning abilities through an operant conditioning task in wild baboons. PLOS ONE , 15 (4). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0230810 Suarez-Jimenez, B., Albajes-Eizagirre, A., Lazarov, A., Zhu, X., Harrison, B. J., Radua, J., Neria, Y., & Fullana, M. A. (2019). Neural signatures of conditioning, extinction learning, and extinction recall in posttraumatic stress disorder: A meta-analysis of functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Studies. Psychological Medicine , 50 (9), 1442–1451. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291719001387

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