Two Types of Guiding Decisions

Operant and classical conditioning are two types of guiding decisions and behavior of humans and animals. Classical conditioning was discovered by Ivan Pavlov and operant conditioning, discovered by B. F. Skinner, they both alter and shape our behavior. Encouragement, rewards and consequences are variable factors that guide responses in different situations. Although they are closely related, it is important to distinguish the differences between classical conditioning and operant conditioning. On one hand, Classical conditioning involves behaviors that are formed by combining two stimuli. Classical conditioning describes an automatic or involuntary response when presented a specific stimulus. For example, you're driving down the road and hear a song that is strongly connected with a specific emotional event in your life. You start to feel strong emotions related to the song because it is linked to an emotional event. The reaction is involuntary. Classical conditioning can also be predictable, because humans and animals respond to an event in anticipation of the next.The most important thing is that classical conditioning marks an existing behavior, which is formed by an associated stimulus. On the other hand, although similar to classical conditioning, operant conditioning differs in that it is the process of achieving a desired behavior or response through the use of reward and punishment. The term operate refers to how a human or an animal responds to the stimulus within its environment. For example, an employee will work hard at work knowing that the dismissal is a possible on consequence of their vagrancy. If we experienced trauma as a result of a particular action, we may not repeat this action again due to operant conditioning. Learning is based on rewards or consequences that result from an action. It has the ability to increase or decrease our behavior depending on the consequences that arise.