Chapter 5: Behavioral Learning Theories

To CC or OCthat is the question.

Individuals A E, please address scenarios 1-3.
Individuals F J, please address scenarios 4-6.
Individuals K N, please address scenarios 7-9.
Please decide if the following scenarios depict
classical conditioning (CC) or operant conditioning (OC).
If you think the scenario depicts classical conditioning,
see if you can determine the unconditioned stimulus (US), the unconditioned response (UR),
the conditioned stimulus (CS) and the conditioned response (CR).
1. Christine grew up liking dogs and enjoyed petting them. However, one day she was bitten by the neighbor's
German Shepherd. Now whenever she sees a dog in the neighborhood, she immediately becomes afraid and
runs away.
2. A professor has a policy of exempting students from the final exam if they maintain perfect attendance during
the quarter. His students attendance increases dramatically.
3. Tyreke's date was wearing a very alluring perfume on their recent date. The date itself was quite passionate.
The following day when Tyreke gets into his car, he smells the lingering scent of his date's perfume and
becomes transfixed with joy.
4. Martin has a panic attack during a plane ride. Now the mere thought of an airplane makes him very nervous.
Twenty years pass and Martin is still afraid of airplanes even though he never took another flight.
5. Regardless of your rule to raise your hand before you are called upon, Darnell blurts out the answer to your
question on the Pythagorean Theorem. After which, you thank him.
6. Your smart cat has learned that your presence in the kitchen is associated with food. Your cat has also learned
that he can encourage your presence in the kitchen on Saturday mornings by standing on your chest and
meowing (when you are obviously trying to sleep). You decide to get up and feed the cat to quiet it, but the
problem only gets worse on subsequent weekends.
7. After the bad accident I had playing basketball in gym class, I cringe and break into a sweat at the sound of
the bouncing basketball on the gym floor.
8. Shelly is in the grocery store with her dad. As they near the checkout lane, Shelly starts whining for a candy
bar but her dad says, No. Shelly begins to cry and cries louder when her dad continues to refuse. At the
checkout lane, in front of the cashier, Shelly throws herself onto the floor and begins screaming. Her dad
responds by grabbing a candy bar and giving it to her. She quickly quiets down and eats her candy bar. This
exchange gets repeated on subsequent trips to the grocery store.
9. Because the results of taking exams in the past have always led to his failure and humiliation, Silvia now gets
nervous and nauseous whenever the teacher simply announces that theyre about to take an exam.

CHALLENGE: When your table has finished analyzing your three given scenarios, please see if you and your
group mates can think of a scenario that exemplifies operant conditioning and a scenario that exemplifies
classical conditioning. Thank you for your thoughts.