Bored? Just think…

Behavioral psychology describes how people interact with different stimuli. The fathers of this field are Ivan Pavlov and B.F. Skinner. They described classical conditioning and operant conditioning, respectively, of which examples are seen in human behavior every day.

Pavlovian conditioning, or classical conditioning, is when two stimuli are presented simultaneously, one that elicits a response naturally and one that is conditioned to elicit that response by being presented at the same time as the unconditioned stimulus. The picture to the left illustrates this plainly with Pavlov’s famous dog experiment.

The more common and widely witnessed form of conditioning is B.F. Skinner’s operant conditioning, which is when a certain behavior is rewarded or punished. A reward can come in the form of positive reinforcement or negative reinforcement. Both positive and reinforce a behavior, encouraging it to be repeated. But, one encourages it by providing a positive stimulus and the other by a removal of a negative stimulus.

The famous experiment that B.F. Skinner is known for is his box. A rat is placed in a box where there is a lever and a food chute. The rat stays in the box and runs around, accidentally hitting the lever, being rewarded with food. Eventually, the rat learns that hitting the lever rewards him with food, and so he has been conditioned to hit the lever when he wants food. Switching the wiring to shock the rat, through the grid, every time he touches the lever will quickly result in the termination of the conditioning. This is a prime example of punishment, which discourages the recurrence of a behavior.