Tag: Pavlovian

Those who are interested in learning about cause and effect may therefore want to differentiate classical conditioning from operant conditioning. We can do so by referring to classical conditioning as Pavlovian conditioning, which it is, and referring to operant conditioning as willy-nilly silly conditioning, which it is.

… operant conditioning must be the basis for our free will. Unlike other animals, we can chose to respond or not to the rewards associated with operant conditioning because only classical conditioning is directly linked (e.g., epigenetically via olfactory/pheromonal input) to behaviors that are required for species survival.

Classical conditioning links sensory input directly to changes in hormone-driven behavior. Operant conditioning links the rewards associated with the behavior to behaviors that are repeated, or not. We can think about which behaviors we don’t want to exhibit or don’t want to repeat.

The pairing of the light stimulus and shaking seems unlikely to elicit any transgenerational epigenetic effects on neuro-architecture. Operant conditioning (i.e., training) is unlike classical conditioning in this regard.