How do consequences and associations shape the behaviours a person learns over time?
classical conditioning as a three-phase process (before, during and after conditioning) involving an unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, conditioned stimulus and conditioned response, and operant conditioning as a three-phase model involving antecedent, behaviour and consequence, including positive and negative reinforcement and response cost
A focused answer to the VCE Psychology Unit 3 dot point on behaviourist learning. Covers classical conditioning as a three-phase process (Pavlov's dogs, the unconditioned and conditioned stimulus and response) and operant conditioning as a three-phase model (Skinner, antecedent-behaviour-consequence, positive and negative reinforcement, punishment and response cost), with the key differences.
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What this dot point is asking
VCAA wants you to explain classical conditioning as a three-phase process (before, during and after conditioning) and operant conditioning as a three-phase model (antecedent, behaviour, consequence), name the elements of each, and distinguish the two. You should be able to apply both to a scenario and use the correct terminology.
The answer
Both classical and operant conditioning are forms of learning, defined as a relatively permanent change in behaviour that results from experience.
Classical conditioning
Classical conditioning is learning through the association of two stimuli that occur close together in time, so that a response produced by one stimulus comes to be produced by a previously neutral stimulus. It was first demonstrated by Ivan Pavlov in his experiments with dogs.
The process has three phases.
- Before conditioning. A stimulus that naturally produces a reflex response already exists. The food (the unconditioned stimulus, UCS) automatically causes salivation (the unconditioned response, UCR). A separate neutral stimulus (NS), such as a bell, produces no salivation.
- During conditioning (acquisition). The neutral stimulus (bell) is repeatedly presented just before the unconditioned stimulus (food). The pairing is repeated so the association forms.
- After conditioning. The bell alone now produces salivation. The bell has become a conditioned stimulus (CS) and the salivation it produces is the conditioned response (CR).
Key features include the order and timing of the stimuli (the CS must come shortly before the UCS) and that the learner is passive and the response is involuntary (a reflex).
Operant conditioning
Operant conditioning is learning in which the consequences of a voluntary behaviour determine the likelihood of that behaviour occurring again. It was studied by B.F. Skinner, who used a chamber (the Skinner box) in which rats pressed a lever for food.
The model has three phases, often called the three-term contingency.
- Antecedent. The stimulus or situation that occurs before the behaviour and acts as a cue.
- Behaviour. The voluntary action the learner performs.
- Consequence. What follows the behaviour, which strengthens or weakens it.
Consequences fall into categories.
- Positive reinforcement. Adding a pleasant stimulus to increase a behaviour (giving praise for homework).
- Negative reinforcement. Removing an unpleasant stimulus to increase a behaviour (a seatbelt alarm stops once you buckle up).
- Response cost. Removing a pleasant stimulus to decrease a behaviour (losing screen time for misbehaviour). This is a type of punishment.
- Punishment more broadly is any consequence that decreases a behaviour.
Both reinforcers increase behaviour; the difference is whether something is added (positive) or taken away (negative).
Comparing the two
In classical conditioning the learner is passive and the response is involuntary and produced by a stimulus; learning happens before the response. In operant conditioning the learner is active, the behaviour is voluntary, and learning depends on the consequence that follows the behaviour.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of VCAA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
2023 VCAA4 marksMany species of birds can be conditioned to avoid predators by pairing the sound of the predator with an unpleasant stimulus, such as a puff of air. Over time, the birds learn that the sound of the predator alone is dangerous. Name the behaviourist approach to learning that is discussed in this scenario and outline the three-phase process of conditioning to avoid predators.Show worked answer →
The approach is classical conditioning (1 mark). Outline the three phases using the scenario (3 marks).
Before conditioning. The unpleasant puff of air is the unconditioned stimulus (UCS), which naturally produces a fear or startle reaction, the unconditioned response (UCR). The predator sound is at this point a neutral stimulus (NS) that does not yet produce fear.
During conditioning. The predator sound (NS) is repeatedly paired with the puff of air (UCS), and each pairing produces the fear response (UCR).
After conditioning. The predator sound alone has become the conditioned stimulus (CS) and now produces fear (the startle or avoidance reaction) as a conditioned response (CR), without the puff of air.
Markers reward correctly naming classical conditioning and identifying the UCS, UCR, NS, CS and CR in the correct phase.
2023 VCAA4 marksResearchers trained cows to urinate in a toilet pen in two stages. In stage one, all cows were confined to separate pens and test cows were given a sugar treat after they urinated in the pen. In stage two, test cows were put in an area outside the pen and given a sugar treat after they went into the pen and urinated. Using the language of the appropriate behaviourist approach to learning, explain how the cows learnt to urinate in the pen in the second stage of learning described in the article.Show worked answer →
The approach is operant conditioning. Explain stage two using the three-phase model (antecedent, behaviour, consequence) for 4 marks.
Antecedent. Being placed in the area outside the pen is the antecedent (the situation that sets the occasion for the behaviour).
Behaviour. The cow walks into the pen and urinates there.
Consequence. The cow receives a sugar treat. Because the treat is a desirable stimulus added after the behaviour, it acts as positive reinforcement.
Effect on behaviour. Positive reinforcement increases the likelihood that the cow will repeat going into the pen to urinate. Because the treat is given only when the behaviour occurs (unlike the control cows, who were rewarded at random), the cow learns the association between the behaviour and the reward.
Markers reward naming operant conditioning, correctly labelling the antecedent, behaviour and consequence, and identifying positive reinforcement as the reason the behaviour increases.
2025 VCAA1 marksAn experiment tested whether playing calming music can reduce the stress experienced by cows when a human approaches them. After many trials, the presence of a human had a calming effect on the cows. Which of the following correctly classifies the calming music and the presence of a human after conditioning? A. Calming music: positive reinforcement; Presence of a human: antecedent. B. Calming music: conditioned stimulus; Presence of a human: neutral stimulus. C. Calming music: unconditioned stimulus; Presence of a human: conditioned stimulus. D. Calming music: neutral stimulus; Presence of a human: unconditioned stimulus.Show worked answer →
Answer: C. This is a 1 mark multiple-choice item.
Calming music naturally produces a calming response, so it is the unconditioned stimulus (UCS). The presence of a human starts as a neutral stimulus, but after being repeatedly paired with the calming music it comes to produce the calm response on its own, so after conditioning it is the conditioned stimulus (CS). C pairs these correctly.
A wrongly uses operant terms (positive reinforcement, antecedent) for what is classical conditioning. B reverses the roles (music is not the CS). D mislabels the human as the UCS, when it is the stimulus that becomes conditioned.