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The four types of learning are classical conditioning, operant conditioning, social learning, and cognitive learning. In this paper I will give you an overview on each type of learning and examples of each. Classical Conditioning is the first part of conditioning discovered by Ivan Pillow in which associations are made between a natural stimulus and a learned, neutral stimulus. It is the most primitive of learning. Classical Conditioning consist of conditional and unconditional stimulus and conditional and unconditional response. Response is a reaction to stimulus.
Stimulus is anything that elicits a response. Unconditional Stimulus is a stimulus that automatically elicits a response. Conditional Stimulus is a stimulus that has previously been neutral, but is now a natural stimulus. Unconditional Response is an automatic response to a natural stimulus. Conditional Response is a response brought on by learning. Emotional Conditioning also is apart of classical conditioning.
John Watson found out that you dont have to learn how to be afraid because it happens automatically. If you have a stimulus that is frightening, your response will be fear. Example: You hear someone say that they desperately want a hot dog. Eating the hot dog is an unconditional stimulus and the salivation in an unconditional response because you want to eat the hot dog after someone mentioned it. The word hot dog is a conditional stimulus and eating the hot dog is an unconditional stimulus. The salivation is an unconditional response.
Because the hot dog is only heard about and not an object at that time, it is a conditional response and the salvation is a conditioned response. B. F. Skinner founded Operant Conditioning.
It is a type of conditioning those results from ones actions and the consequences they cause. Most learning is done through operant conditioning because it is learning done by experiences. The brain learns more with operant conditioning than classical conditioning because the brain tends to remember unusual things better than common things. In operant conditioning, you must have reinforcement, primary, secondary, positive, and negative reinforcement.
Reinforcement is something that follows a response and makes you want to repeat that response. Primary reinforcement is the reinforcement that is first and of greatest importance. Secondary reinforcement is anything that comes as a primary reinforcement. Positive reinforcement is reinforcement that makes you want to repeat a response because the response was good.
A positive reinforcement for kids in school is, if they get good grades, than they will get money and clothes for a job well done. Negative reinforcement is a reinforcement that doesnt make you want to repeat a response because the response was negative. A negative response for kids in school is if they get bad grades, they will get all their privileges taken away. So if operant conditioning works than you will learn from the mistakes you made when you tried to do something and failed or if you did something for the first time and get a negative response. Punishment is a type of negative reinforcement used to weaken a response.
Generalization is also apart of operant conditioning. It is when behavior that spreads from one situation to similar one. If you walk past a person and they wave to say hi, you make a generalization that the next person will wave when you walk past too. Discrimination Learning is learning to tell the difference between one object than another. If you can discriminate in learning than, you will be able to learn more because you can decipher things better. Example: If a baby touches a light and gets burned from the bulb, the next time she comes close to the light, she wont touch it because she learned that the light bulb was hot the first time.
Social Learning theory was founded by Albert Bandura in which all learning occurs in a social situation. Social learning takes place in yourself when your analyze situations and make rational discussions before a response is given. Observational Learning is part of social learning where you learn from imitating your environment. AS child will definitely imitate his environment because he is trying to learn what is acceptable and what isnt. If you go to another place that you dont know anything about than, the only way you may be able to survive is adapting to their culture thus, using social learning. Example: If you grow up in a hostile environment, you tend to be hostile yourself because you learn from the people and atmosphere you are around.
The Cognitive Approach Theory states that learning is based on abstract mental processes and previous knowledge. Cognitive means knowledge using. It is used to learn things that cant be learned by classical, social, or operant conditioning. The cognitive process causes phobias. Example: If you were a little kid and a spider bit you on the arm, naturally you would have a fear of spiders for the rest of your life. You come to this conclusion after using the cognitive process.
In your brain you want to make sure that you never have to go through that pain again and even if you forget that the incident ever happened, you will still have that fear of spiders. The four types of learning are classical conditioning, operant conditioning, social learning, and cognitive learning. Classical Conditioning provides you with the learning from a response to a stimulus. Operant Conditioning provides you with the learning from doing things yourself and seeing if you get the results you want. Social Learning helps you deal with the environment around you so you will be able to adapt. Cognitive Learning helps you to remember things that are abstract or that cant be comprehended by the other three parts of learning.
Without any of the four types of learning, your brain couldnt function properly and you would have hard time learning. Bibliography:
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Research essay sample on Four Types Of Learning
