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Section I

Decide whether the following examples are classical conditioning, operant conditioning, or both. After
you've filled in all the answers, click on the puzzle pieces next to the answer spaces to check your
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Javier's parents promised to buy him a new car if he made straight A's his senior year.
Gold-lover George noticed that sometimes when he put money into a slot machine, he would win
more money. Occasionally the money would decrease, but he kept putting more money in because
the amount of dollars he won seemed to increase more often than not.
Every Monday morning. Sue's friend would bring Sue her favorite latte and a doughnut from a coffee
shop by Sue's house. Each Monday morning, Sue's stomach would growl right before her friend rang
the doorbell and handed her her weekly treat. Sue noticed a month later that her stomach would
growl each time the doorbell rang in the morning even if it was not her friend bringing her breakfast.
One unlucky year, Leadfoot Leah received 20 traffic tickets in a nearby residential area. She hated
being pulled over by the police, for it made her stomach hurt and her palms sweat each time. The
next year, Leah made a New Year's resolution to not speed, and although she did not get another
ticket, she noticed that her stomach would hurt and her palms would sweat every time she saw a
police car or drove through the same nearby residential neighborhood. She also slowed down at
least five miles under the speed limit whenever she saw a police car.

1 Answer

5 votes

The examples provided are showcasing operant and classical conditioning. Javier's tale and George's slot machine behavior represent operant conditioning, where actions are influenced by rewards or punishments. Sue's anticipation and Leah's physical reactions to stimuli are instances of classical conditioning, where a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a certain response.

In the scenarios provided, we are looking at examples of classical conditioning and operant conditioning. The first example, where Javier's parents promised him a new car if he made straight A's, is an example of operant conditioning because he is being promised a reward for a certain behavior, which is getting good grades. In the second example, George playing the slot machine and continuing to play because of the rewards is another example of operant conditioning, where behavior is influenced by the consequences of actions.

The third example of Sue's stomach growling when she hears the doorbell, anticipating her favorite latte and doughnut, is an instance of classical conditioning, as the doorbell has become a conditioned stimulus that triggers a conditioned response (stomach growling). Lastly, Leadfoot Leah experiencing physical symptoms when she sees a police car or drives through a neighborhood where she's received tickets is also classical conditioning because she has associated these stimuli with the unpleasant experience of getting a ticket, even though the actual receiving of a ticket does not follow.

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