CN Behaviourist Approach

Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning

Associating a neutral stimulus with a reflex to make the reflex trigger through the stimulus. Pavlov studied this with dogs, associating food with a bell ringing, leading to the dogs salivating at the sound of the bell like they would with food present. They must be able to predict the UCS from the NS. If the CS is repeatedly used without the UCS then extinction will occur but the link will still be made quicker than before and they will respond to similar stimuli

Skinner’s Operant Conditioning

Behaviours are spontaneously produced and are maintained or lost depending on reinforcement or punishment. Positive reinforcement is when the consequences are desirable and negative reinforcement is avoiding an undesirable consequence. Rat presses lever, given food. Schedules can be added - continuous = always reinforced, partial = every x minutes/times. Punishment is an unpleasant consequence to reduce frequency of the behaviour.

There are 2 forms of conditioning one built on associating reflexes with a neutral stimulus, classical conditioning, and one built on learning new behaviours and reinforcing it through punishment or rewards, operant conditioning.