Classical Conditioning Chapter 6 Summary

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Chapter 6 is all about learning and the methods used to learn. Classical conditioning is the first method of learning that is discussed in great detail. This method focuses on learning through associations between things, and includes a neutral stimulus, unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, conditioned stimulus, and a conditioned response. The example used in the book to help the reader understand is an experiment done by Ivan Pavlov involving dogs and when they salivate. This experiment involved a sound, the neutral stimulus, to take the dogs unconditioned response to salivating at their food (their unconditioned stimulus) to cause them to also salivate at the sound of the tone, which would become their conditioned response to a conditioned stimulus. This method of learning is very important to understand how humans also learn, as we often can be conditioned to associate various things with each …show more content…
Edward Thorndike and B.F. Skinner are the pioneers of operant conditioning, helping us to understand how it works today. Thorndike has his own law of effect, which says that positive or good effects are likely to cause a response to occur again, and those that are negative or bad will likely decrease a response from occurring again. Skinner built on this, and now we understand operant conditioning in terms of reinforcements and punishments. Both reinforcement and punishment involve adding or taking things away, as they can be positive or negative, but affect behavior differently. Reinforcement causes behavior to continue or increase, while punishment is used to decrease or discontinue a certain behavior. Operant conditioning is often used in raising young children, or in training animals. When using punishment, however, one must be careful, as there are severe drawbacks to punishment, all of which can be increased if punishment is done