Classical Conditioning Theory of Learning
Classical Conditioning Theory of Learning is one of the Learning
Theories based on Individual behaviour, generated as a result of Learning
developed in occurrence of certain events. Such behaviour is result of combination
of conditional stimulus and unconditional stimulus. Conditional Theory of
Learning implements that individuals behave in a certain pattern during some
specific events like, whenever we listen to our favourite songs it gives a
pleasant memories of those moments when we first heard them or when we gave our
performance on it.
Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist did an experiment on a dog with a
bell and a piece of meat, bell being a conditioning stimulus and meat loaf an
unconditional stimulus. The dog always responded to sound of bell when it is
paired with meat loaf as the dog had a set behaviour pattern of getting meat
loaf when he listen bell sound. After a few days the dog had developed a learned behaviour pattern of responding
merely to sound of bell even if no food was offered. This ‘set behaviour pattern’
lays down the base of Learning of employees.
Suppose in an organization employee feedback is updated every 3 months
and the supervisors increases their visits at different centres during the day
end when the staff is leaving. The staff would behave in the most decent and
sincere manner during the visits as they have now understood that it’s time for
feedback and their sincerity and decency would add ‘plus’ points in their
feedback. Now continuing the visits during the third month will make employees
to relate visits with the feedback and change their behaviour. Whenever the
supervisors will change their visit schedule from third month to the first or
second month would trigger the same behaviour of employees and force them to
work in more sincere way and give a little extra to their department.
On the other part management can use this behaviour pattern to create a
more disciplinary environment by randomly changing the visit schedules. In
above two cases, food and feedback are unconditional stimulus and bell sound
and supervisor visits are conditional stimulus which triggered an Individual
behaviour and paired their behaviour with the food or feedback.
Conditional
Theory is reactive and we behave in a specific way when something happens.
These are very obvious behaviours of individuals and are argued to be related
with the consequences of events that
actually changed their behaviour as it’s also the environment that is
responsible for change in behaviour like every time special arrangements are
done during the supervisors’ visits or the bell is used by the same person or
at a specific time. Such complex behaviours can be studied better with Operant Conditioning Theory.