Ex.) a couple weeks ago I was at Costco getting food with my friends because it’s cheap. I got a slice of pepperoni pizza and for some reason I got sick from it and threw up and now every time I think of Costco pizza it makes my stomach uneasy.

The pizza (neutral stimulus) got linked to me getting sick (unconditioned stimulus), making me feel nauseous (conditioned response) whenever I think of Costco pizza.

Operant conditioning: a type of learning in which the frequency of a behavior depends on the consequence that follows that behavior.

Ex.) in elementary school, whenever would get in trouble for something, the teacher would call home and my parents would punish me in some way like grounding me which would discourage me from acting up in the future (negative reinforcement). Another example of operant conditioning is when kids get payed for doing chores, the reward increases the likelihood of them doing their chores in the future. (Positive reinforcement)

Social observational learning: a type of learning that happens through observing the behavior of others.

Ex.) When my mom cooked, I’d watch how she measured ingredients and how she cooked the food. The next time I tried cooking on my own, I copied her process step by step, and the food turned out great.

Research Question: Can a neutral stimulus (a tone) be conditioned to produce fear?
Hypothesis: Pairing a specific sound with an electric shock will cause participants to show fear responses to the tone without the electrical shock.

• Experimental Group: A specific sound is paired with a mild shock.

• Control Group: the sound is played without the shock.

• Measure fear responses (heart rate) to the sound afterward.
  Expected Results: The Experimental Group will show more fear responses to the tone, while the Control Group will not.

Experiment 2:

Research Question: Can dogs learn to sit on command using classical conditioning?
Hypothesis: Pairing the command "Sit" with a treat will teach dogs to sit without needing a treat later.

1. Over a week, say "Sit" and give a treat when the dog sits.

2. Gradually stop using the treat, keeping only the command.

3. Test if the dog sits with just "Sit."

Expected Results: Dogs will sit when hearing "Sit," even without a treat.

• Neutral Stimulu: Sound of the dentist’s drill

• Unconditioned Stimulus : Pain from dental work

• Conditioned Stimulus: Sound of the dentist’s drill

• Conditioned Response: fear when hearing the sound of the drill

Example 2: Dog Salivating to a Bell

• NS: The sound of a bell

• US: Food

• CS: The sound of the bell

• CR: Salivating at the sound of the bell

Example 3: Feeling Relaxed When Hearing a Favorite Song

• NS: A specific song

• US: Relaxing moments spent listening to the song

• CS: The specific song

• CR: Feeling relaxed when hearing the song

1. Complimenting a coworker for doing a good job, encouraging them to keep up the great work.

2. Giving a child a treat when they clean their room to encourage them to do it again.

3. Praising a dog when it sits on command, reinforcing the behavior.

4. Providing extra playtime for a child who finishes homework quickly.

5. Offering a bonus to an employee for meeting a sales target.

Negative Reinforcement: the idea of taking away an unwanted stimulus in order to encourage good behavior

1. Turning off a loud alarm when a student completes their homework on time.

2. Allowing a child to stop doing chores when they finish their schoolwork.

3. Letting a dog off the leash after it stops barking to teach it to be quiet.

4. Stopping nagging when a teenager gets their chores done.

5. Turning off the beeping seatbelt reminder when the driver buckles their seatbelt.

Positive Punishment: you add an undesirable stimulus to decrease a behavior

1. Giving extra homework as a consequence for talking during class.

2. Scolding a dog when it jumps on people to discourage the behavior.

3. Issuing a speeding ticket for driving too fast to discourage future speeding.

4. Assigning extra chores for not following house rules.

5. Yelling at a child for not listening, to reduce disruptive behavior.

Negative Punishment: you remove a pleasant stimulus to decrease a behavior

1. Taking away a teenager’s phone when they break curfew to discourage the behavior.

2. Revoking TV privileges for not completing homework.

3. Removing a child’s favorite toy when they misbehave to reduce the behavior.

4. Taking away computer time as punishment for being disrespectful.

5. Not allowing a dog to play outside when it acts aggressively to reduce bad behavior.

The article provides an overview of behaviorism and its application in the classroom, especially for promoting learning. It begins by explaining the history of behaviorism, noting how introspection dominated psychology until Pavlov’s discovery of classical conditioning with dogs. John Watson later advocated for focusing on observable behaviors to make psychology more scientific. The article then introduces classical and operant conditioning: classical conditioning involves pairing a neutral stimulus with an automatic response, while operant conditioning focuses on rewarding or punishing behaviors to shape them. In the classroom, operant conditioning can be used for behavior management, such as reducing phone use by removing points. The article emphasizes using reinforcement, such as praise or extra credit, to encourage students to adopt better study strategies. It highlights the challenge of reinforcing behaviors like spaced repetition, which take longer to show results compared to cramming. Ultimately, the article shows how behaviorist principles can gradually help improve student study habits by reinforcing effective strategies.

Attribution: the way we assign credit or blame for behaviors

Cognitive dissonance: unpleasant, psychological state, resulting from inconsistency between two or more thoughts between thoughts and behaviors

False consensus effect: we often in accurately believe that people share our thoughts, values or beliefs

Just world: the belief that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people

Social influence: the way in which individuals adjust their behavior to meet the demand of a social environment

Conformity: any behavior you perform because of a group pressure

Compliance: we give into a social pressure in our public responses, but do not change our private beliefs

Obedience: we perform an action under the orders of an authority figure