40061902 Give an account of the contribution made by both Pavlov and Skinner towards learning theory !

here are number of theories attem"ting to e#"lain the "rocess of learning Pavlov $192%& and Skinner $19'(& have made a large contribution to our understanding of the to"ic !heir theories have been im"roved and elaborated on since) but it is them who develo"ed the original ideas of classical and o"erant conditioning *lassical conditioning $or conditional refle#& develo"ed by Pavlov with hel" of his assistant +van ,ili""ovitch !olochinov in 1901 assumes that animals $as well as "eo"le& learn through association !he idea is that any insignificant stimulus $unconditional stimulus - .S& which does not raise any res"onse $i e neutral to the sub/ect& can be associated with other) significant stimulus $conditional stimulus - *S& so that the .S becomes significant to the sub/ect and raises a conditional res"onse $*0& $Pavlov) 192%& Pavlov1s theory was one of the most influential and controversial theories at that times) the biggest criticism being that it treats human beings as living creatures unable to critically think) make decisions or follow their emotions or logic rather than natural reactions to stimuli 2lthough e#"eriments on humans were successful $33*) date unknown&) they were done in artificial environment and on children) which lessens the validity of the study Still) Pavlov "rovided e#"lanation for 4mechanical5 reactions to certain stimuli and showed how this mechanism is develo"ed Skinner1s o"erant conditioning theory is somewhat similar) but the behaviours learned are associated with reward and "unishment rather than already e#isting significant stimuli 2ccording to him) humans and animals learn through receiving "unishment or reinforcement for certain behaviours 3oth can be "ositive or negative meaning addition or removal something) for e#am"le negative reinforcement is removal of something un"leasant) while "ositive "unishment means addition of something un"leasant $Skinner) 19'(& 6is e#"eriments were mainly done on "igeons and rats using 7"erant *onditioning *hamber $also known as Skinner 3o#&) one of Skinner8s inventions +t "erforms s"ecific stimuli and de"ending on animal8s reaction) inflicts "ain through electric grid or dis"enses food Peo"le act in ways to get more rewards) for e#am"le by finishing homework on time Skinner1s idea has been criticised to be too deterministic) similarly to Pavlov) reducing "eo"le to living things which react to stimuli and environment) with no freedom of choice $Staddon) 1999& 3oth theories attem"t to e#"lain the "rocess of learning and they "rovide valuable ideas of how knowledge is develo"ed) however they fail to consider ways of learning other than associating with "hysical stimuli) for instance learning through observation $like 3andura) 19%%& or sim"ly by reading or listening to someone !hey also ignore the fact that humans

are thinking creatures who evaluate and elaborate on their knowledge) unlike animals :ord count; 491 3andura) 2 $19%%& Social Learning Theory) <ew =ork; General >earning Press 33* $date unknown& Pavlovs Children available at; htt";??www youtube com?watch@vABS7/%Ca:D,s Eaccessed 24?11?2011F Pavlov) + P $192%& Conditional Reflexes) <ew =ork; Gover Publications Skinner) 3 , $19'(& The Behavior of Organisms: An Ex erimental Analysis! *ambridge) Hassachusetts; 3 , Skinner ,oundation Staddon) I $1999& 7n res"onsibility and "unishment The Atlantic "onthly) ,eb ) "" ((J94