When we think about learning, we often picture students in a classroom or lecture hall, books open on their desks, listening intently to a teacher or professor in the front of the room. But in psychology, learning means something else. To psychologists, learning is a long-term change in behavior that's based on experience. Two of the main types of learning are called classical conditioning and operant, or instrumental, conditioning. Let's talk about classical conditioning first. In the 1890's, a Russian physiologist named Ivan Pavlov did some really famous experiments on dogs. He showed dogs some food and rang a bell at the same time. After a while, the dogs would associate the bell with the food. They would learn that when they heard the bell, they would get fed. Eventually, just ringing the bell made the dogs salivate. They learned to expect food at the sound of a bell. You see, under normal conditions, the sight and smell of food causes a dog to salivate. We call the food an unconditioned stimulus, and we call salivation the unconditioned response. Nobody trains a dog to salivate over some steak. However, when we pair an unconditioned stimulus like food with something that was previously neutral, like the sound of a bell, that neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus. And so classical conditioning was discovered. We see how this works with animals, but how does it work with humans? In exactly the same way. Let's say that one day you go to the doctor to get a shot. She says, "Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit," and then gives you the most painful shot you've ever had. A few weeks later you go to the dentist for a check-up. He starts to put a mirror in your mouth to examine your teeth, and he says, "Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit." Even though you know the mirror won't hurt, you jump out of the chair and run, screaming from the room. When you went to get a shot, the words, "This won't hurt a bit," became a conditioned stimulus when they were paired with pain of the shot, the unconditioned stimulus, which was followed by your conditioned response of getting the heck out of there. Classical conditioning in action. Operant conditioning explains how consequences lead to changes in voluntary behavior. So how does operant conditioning work? There are two main components in operant conditioning: reinforcement and punishment. Reinforcers make it more likely that you'll do something again, while punishers make it less likely. Reinforcement and punishment can be positive or negative, but this doesn't mean good and bad. Positive means the addition of a stimulus, like getting dessert after you finish your veggies, and negative means the removal of a stimulus, like getting a night of no homework because you did well on an exam. Let's look at an example of operant conditioning. After eating dinner with your family, you clear the table and wash the dishes. When you're done, your mom gives you a big hug and says, "Thank you for helping me." In this situation, your mom's response is positive reinforcement if it makes you more likely to repeat the operant response, which is to clear the table and wash the dishes. Operant conditioning is everywhere in our daily lives. There aren't many things we do that haven't been influenced at some point by operant conditioning. We even see operant conditioning in some extraordinary situations. One group of scientists showed the power of operant conditioning by teaching pigeons to be art connoisseurs. Using food as a positive reinforcer, scientists have taught pigeons to select paintings by Monet over those by Picasso. When showed works of other artists, scientists observed stimulus generalization as the pigeons chose the Impressionists over the Cubists. Maybe next they'll condition the pigeons to paint their own masterpieces.
Ketika mendengar kata “belajar”, kita membayangkan siswa di ruang kelas atau perkuliahan, buku terbuka di atas meja, menyimak pengajarnya dengan intens di muka ruangan. Namun dalam psikologi, belajar memiliki arti yang lain. Bagi psikolog, belajar adalah perubahan perilaku jangka panjang berdasarkan pengalaman. Dua tipe belajar ini disebut pengondisian klasik dan pengondisian operan/instrumental. Mari bahas pengondisian klasik dahulu. Pada tahun 1980, psikolog Rusia bernama Ivan Pavlov melakukan percobaan yang sangat terkenal kepada anjing. Ia memberi makanan ke anjing sambil membunyikan lonceng. Kemudian anjing itu akan mengasosiasikan bunyi lonceng dan makanan. Ia akan belajar, saat ia dengar lonceng, ia akan dapat makanan. Akhirnya, cukup bunyikan lonceng untuk membuat anjing berliur. Anjing akan mengharapkan makanan ketika mendengar bunyi lonceng. Sedangkan pada kondisi normal, penampakan dan aroma makananlah yang membuat anjing mengeluarkan liur. Kita sebut makanan sebagai <i>unconditioned stimulus</i>, dan keluarnya air liur sebagai <i>unconditioned response</i>. Anjing tak diajari untuk mengeluarkan liur saat melihat daging <i>steak</i>. Namun, saat kita menghadirkan <i>unconditioned stimulus</i> seperti makanan dengan benda atau stimulus yang netral, seperti bunyi lonceng, stimulus yang semula netral akan menjadi <i>conditioned stimulus</i>. Begitulah pengondisian klasik ditemukan. Kita bisa lihat ini terjadi pada hewan, tapi bagaimana dengan manusia? Dengan cara yang sama pula. Misalnya suatu hari Anda pergi ke dokter untuk disuntik. Lalu dokter itu berkata, “Jangan khawatir, ini tak akan sakit,” lalu ia memberikan suntikan yang paling sakit yang pernah Anda alami. Lalu beberapa minggu kemudian Anda periksa ke dokter gigi. Ia taruh cermin di depan Anda untuk memeriksa gigi Anda, lalu berkata “Jangan khawatir, ini tak akan sakit.” Meski Anda tahu bahwa itu tak menyakiti, tapi Anda melompat lalu kabur sambil berteriak menghambur pergi. Saat Anda disuntik, kalimat, “Jangan khawatir, ini tak akan sakit,” menjadi <i>conditioned stimulus</i> saat kalimat itu diiringi suntikan atau <i>unconditioned stimulus</i>, akan menimbulkan <i>conditioned response</i> untuk pergi dari sana. Contoh pengondisian klasik. Pengondisian operan menjelaskan konsekuensi menyebabkan perubahan perilaku secara volunter. Lantas bagaimana pengondisian operan bekerja? Terdapat dua komponen dalam pengondisian operan: penguatan dan hukuman. Penguatan membuat Anda lebih mungkin untuk mengulangnya, sedangkan hukuman memperkecil kemungkinan itu. Penguatan dan hukuman dapat berupa hal positif maupun negatif, namun bukan berarti baik atau buruk. Positif berarti pemberian stimulus, seperti hidangan penutup setelah makan sayuran, dan negatif berarti penghilangan stimulus, seperti hadiah berupa tak diberi PR karena Anda telah berhasil dalam ujian. Mari lihat contoh pengondisian operan. Setelah makan malam bersama keluarga, Anda membersihkan meja dan mencuci piring. Saat selesai, ibu Anda memberikan pelukan dan berkata, “Terima kasih sudah membantu ibu.” Saat itu, respons dari ibu Anda merupakan penguatan positif jika itu membuat Anda merasa ingin untuk mengulangi respons operan, berupa membantu membersihkan meja dan mencuci piring. Pengondisian operan terjadi di manapun dalam keseharian kita. Tak ada hal yang kita lakukan yang tidak dipengaruhi oleh pengondisian operan. Kita bahkan lihat pengondisian operan pada situasi-situasi luar biasa. Sekelompok ilmuwan menunjukkan kekuatan dari pengondisian operan dengan mengajari merpati untuk menjadi penikmat seni. Dengan makanan sebagai penguat positif, ilmuwan mengajari merpati itu untuk memilih lukisan karya Monet ketimbang karya Picasso. Saat ditunjukkan karya dari seniman lain, ilmuwan mengamati generalisasi stimulus saat merpati memilih Impressionists dibandingkan Cubists. Mungkin nanti mereka akan mengajari merpati untuk melukis mahakarya sendiri.