Essay on Philosophy: Classical Conditioning

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Finals Essay #1

There are many assumptions of behaviorism. However, it all breaks down to few simple assumptions. First, behaviorism is naturalistic. It means that everything can be explained by natural laws and only brain responds to external stimuli. Second, behaviorism teaches that man is like a machine that only responds to conditioning. It is saying that our behavior is a result of the conditioning. Third, behaviorism teaches us that we are not responsible for our actions. Since it teaches us that we are like machines responding to stimuli, the actions we do are inevitable. Lastly, Behaviorism is manipulative. By controlling rewards and punishments, you can shape the behavior of another person.
Classical and operant conditioning share many of the same basic principles and procedures. However, there are several differences between classical and operant conditioning. Although a basic feature of operant conditioning is reinforcement, classical conditioning relies more on association between stimuli and responses. Example for classical conditioning is the famous experiment of Pavlov with the dog. During the experiment, Pavlov associated the neutral stimulus (the sound) with the unconditioned stimulus (Food) which gave unconditioned response (salivation). After the classical conditioning, dog would salivate (conditioned response) to the sound (conditioned stimulus), which means there is a predictable relationship among the events and the animal learns to respond to the first event in anticipation of the second event. For operant conditioning, dog gets a treat (positive reinforcement) when he reacts to the owner’s order and gets hit on the head (punishment) when he doesn’t react. It all depends on the reinforcement and punishment and the reaction is voluntary.
Finals Essay #2
There are many aspects of brain functioning that are associated with emotional functioning. First is the neurotransmitter activity. Researchers have identified 75 or more chemical substances that are manufacture in the brain and many of these can directly affect emotion and mood. For example, serotonin plays an important role in regulating mood, sleep, impulsivity, aggression, and appetite. Also, many of us know that endorphin is a substance that provides relief from pain feeling of pleasure and well-being. However, if the neurotransmitter activity is slowed or stopped, these chemical substances will not be distributed to the body or brain causing problems like anxiety and depression.
Also, brain structures play a big role in emotional functioning. Amygdala is a big factor when it comes to emotion. Amygdala is a first part of brain to react emotion and it is most sensitive to fear and aggression, which are the factors that starts many emotional problems. Some people have extra sensitive amygdala that causes them to panic, be aggressive, and have more phobias. Also, hypothalamus is another part of brain that are responsible for wide variety of emotional behaviors. If any of these brain structures is damaged or isn’t functioning well, then it can lead to problems such as anxiety and depression.
Finals Essay #3 There are three stages of memory. First stage is encoding. Encoding is a transformation of information into a form that can be stored. For example, if you play a song on the piano, you might try to form mental melody of it for you to remember. Second stage is storage, which involves keeping or maintaining information in memory. There is a process called consolidation during storage which allows physiological change to take place in order for encoded information to be stored. Last stage is retrieval, which occurs when information that has been stored in memory is brought to mind. In order to remember something, all three stages have to occur and be performed. Now how can we apply what we know about memory to improve performance? There are three types of memories, which are sensory, short-term and long-term memory. In order for a sensory
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