Frequently Asked Questions

Dr. Lester M. Sdorow, author of Psychology, answers questions about learning.

1. I am still having trouble understanding classical conditioning. This is more like a math problem than psychology! Can you give me one more example, using people, of a UCS, a UCR, a CS, and a CR?

Concrete examples of classical conditioning are, indeed, especially helpful in understanding the concept. Suppose that when you returned home after a day at grade school, one of your parents often made you a tuna sandwich after opening a can of tuna using an electric can opener. You notice that you respond to ingesting the tuna (the UCS) by salivating (the UCR). Eventually, after eating a number of tuna sandwiches, you find yourself salivating (the CR) to the sound (the CS) of the electric can opener. That is, you have been classically conditioned to salivate to the sound of the can opener because that formerly neutral sound has become associated with the tuna.

2. Aren't negative reinforcement and punishment the same thing?

They are similar only in that they both sound like something undesirable, which probably accounts for the tendency of students to confuse them. In reality, they couldn't be more different. The main thing to remember is that negative reinforcement increases the likelihood of a behavior, while punishment decreases the likelihood of a behavior.

3. I understand what extinction means, but I can't explain it very well to my friends. What is a useful, everyday example (other than the dentist's chair) of extinction?

In regard to operant conditioning, extinction occurs when a behavior that has been reinforced in the past is no longer reinforced. Suppose that a student raises her hand often in her English literature class because she is usually called on by the professor when she does so. But for some reason the teacher begins to ignore her and not call on her. Her tendency to raise her hand to respond in class will decline and perhaps stop all together. If so, her hand raising has been subjected to extinction.

4. Because many TV actors and cartoon characters model aggressive behavior, is there something I can do to control this influence on my children's lives?

Obviously, you can try your best to prevent your children from watching aggressive shows. Of course, given their prevalence, especially on Saturday mornings, this is a difficult task. Because observational learning has shown that aggressive behavior that is rewarded will tend to be imitated by viewers, perhaps efforts should continue to be made to convince television producers to reduce televised violence, particularly violence for which the perpetrator is rewarded.