Response 2
Describe the difference between classical conditioning and instrumental conditioning. Your explanation should include how classical conditioning works and you should use the following in your description: US, UR, CS, CR. Likewise, explain the process of instrumental conditioning and explain what is meant by reinforcement and punishment. Good answers will include concrete personal examples. Absence of examples will result in grade penalties.
Classical conditioning occurs when you learn to compare two different stimuli, and no behavior is involved. The first stimulus you will encounter is the unconditioned stimulus. An unconditioned stimulus produces a response without any previous learning. This response is an unconditioned response. For example, kissing creates involuntary arousal responses and causes you to experience an elevated heart rate. This is a natural response, is not learned, and it happens automatically. The unconditioned stimulus, in this example, is the kiss, and an elevated
heart rate is the unconditioned response.
In classical conditioning, you add a neutral stimulus to the experience. It is called a
neutral stimulus because it is not associated with the unconditioned response. Thinking of our
example of the kiss, imagine your favorite song is playing when you kiss. The song will be the
neutral stimulus. When the song is paired with kissing, your heart rate still increases because of
the kiss. However, after repeated pairing of your favorite song with the act of kissing, your brain
will think, “I hear my favorite song, so kissing will happen soon!” Because of this, you will
experience an increased heart rate when you hear your favorite song. Rather than continuing as a
neutral stimulus, the song has become a conditioned stimulus because it produces a response
with or without the occurrence of kissing. The heart rate is an unconditioned response following
a kiss, but now it also...