Describe classical and operant conditioning and then critically evaluate the evidence on how they relate to mental health.

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COLLEGE ESSAY
Table of Contents
Introduction    3
Classical and Operant Conditioning    3
Classical Conditioning    3
Operant Conditioning    3
Significance of Maintaining Mental Health    4
Critical Evaluation of Evidence on Classical and Operant Conditioning Relating to Mental Health    5
Conclusion    7
Bibliography    8
Introduction
Mental illness is a condition where patient is not able to diagnose what the real problem is. It can be depression, stress and problems in smooth functioning in social, family or work activities. It can also be judged by behavior of an individual as they face thinking incapability. The person is more inclined towards negative thoughts, feels low in self-confidence and experiences regular mood swings. It is common and also undercover of emotions. In this essay, the various aspects of mental illness will be discussed and the way to cope with them through classical as well as operant conditioning will also be identified. It will help to understand the stimulus and response relationship.
Classical and Operant Conditioning
Conditioning can be explained as a type of learning in which some trigger or stimulus is linked to human behavior or response[footnoteRef:1]. This learning gave birth to a number of theories, which led to experiments and conclusions were drawn from them. [1: Chaoxing Wu, Tae Whan Kim, Tailiang Guo, Fushan Li, Dea Uk Lee, and J. Joshua Yang. "Mimicking classical conditioning based on a single flexible memristor." Advanced Materials 29, no. 10 (2017): 1602890]
Classical Conditioning
It was first described by a Russian scientist and physiologist Ivan Pavlov (1894-1936). It is also known as Pavlovian or respondent conditioning. He carried out some extensive research with dogs. He noticed once that dogs salivated mere at seeing plate, when someone rubs hands on their back[footnoteRef:2]. Based on this, he developed a model as well as relationship between stimuli and response. [2: William Heffley "Classical conditioning drives learned reward prediction signals in climbing fibers across the lateral cerebellum." Elife 8 (2019): e46764]
There are two types of response— unconditioned response and conditioned response. When dog salivated in response to taste and smell of meat through a natural reflex without any prior training is called unconditioned response. On the other hand, a neutral act where doorbell rings and pizza comes, the receiver salivates is an example of conditioned response.
Operant Conditioning
It was coined by B.F Skinner, an American psychologist in 1937. It is referred as Skinnerian conditioning. It is also known as instrumental conditioning. It employs rewards and punishments for voluntary behaviors. It develops an association between behavior and consequence in both positive and negative ways. A test was conducted on rats. They were caged in a box where there were two buttons – red and green[footnoteRef:3]. [3: Mario Prsa, Gregorio L. Galinanes, and Daniel Huber. "Rapid integration of artificial sensory feedback during operant conditioning of motor cortex neurons." Neuron 93, no. 4 (2017): 929-939]
When rat presses green button they get food and when they presses red button they get mild shock. As a result, rat learnt to press green button. This concept relied on simple principle. If actions are strengthened with repeated reinforcement, then it will be more likely, to happen in future. For example, if in a class, some funny story is being narrated, then there is a probability that there will be more demand to hear that funny story again.
Operant behavior is more of conscious control. Its components are positive reinforcers and negative reinforcers. Positive reinforcers are positive outcomes after a behavior such as getting praise for work or bonus for doing excellent job. Negative reinforcers are unfavorable events after display of a behavior such as being scolded for not doing homework on time[footnoteRef:4]. Reinforcement is not a fixed schedule. It is given as and when situation demands it. It can be continuous which means every time a response occurs reinforcement is given. It can be fixed means only particular number of reinforcers will be given. It can be variable, which means, as situation demands; it may be faster at once and slower in...