Classical conditioning is a learning phenomenon that begins at tender age in the life of a person (Nevid, 2008).
When I was little, I had an experience that best fits the aspect of classical conditioning. Growing up, I had a loving for all things sweet – biscuits, chocolate, and candies. I often had plenty of them that it resulted in teeth issues for me. Thanks to the infiltrated dental decay, toothache was synonymous with me. So much so that I had to see a dentist to save me from the unbearable pain. In all honesty, I had jumped from the frying pan into the fire! The tooth professional failed to get it right at the first time, something that doubled my pain. I had to endure a long spell of pain as he drilled my teeth.
Today, the very memory of the ordeal I faced at the hands of the dentist and the sound of a dentist’s drill arises immense fear in me. From a classical conditioning perspective, the dental procedure was the unconditioned stimulus; the pain was the unconditioned response; the sound of the dentist drill is the conditioned stimulus, and the fear is the conditioned response.
Operant Conditioning
Operant conditioning refers to the phenomenon where we learn to relate our actions with consequences (Nevid, 2008).
A popular biblical example of principles of operant conditioning is the story of Jonah ( Jonah 1:1-17). God ordered Jonah to go to Ninevah but instead he sailed away to the opposite direction. A storm throws Johah overboard where he is swallowed by a large fish and remains there for three days and nights. When he is spat out by the fish, God recommands him to go to Ninnevah and preach his word. This time round Johah heeds God’s word. Thus Jonah learned from experience and consequences which informed his latter decision, showing principles of operative conditioning at work (Nevid, 2008).
References:
Jonah 1:1-17 NIV.
Nevid, S. Jeffrey. (2008). Psychology: Concepts and Applications. Connecticut, Cengage Learning.
