Classical And Operant Conditioning In The Media
As humans we are under the influence of many different types of conditioning. Classical and operant is one of the most commonly used types especially by the media. Classical conditioning is a learning process in which two stimuli is repeated to produce a learned behavior. Operant conditioning is a reward and punishment process which results in a learned behavior. The media such as television shows, movies, commercials, and even social media use these conditioning processes to promote their product so it can reach a larger group of the population. For this essay I was assigned to give two examples of each of these conditioning processes.
Snickers: Classical Conditioning
In the first commercial I selected, it starts off at a small house with many people on the front porch. Everyone in the commercial is of color. They all seem to be having a good time, some are smoking, and others are laughing. The focus now is moving into the house where a group of men are rap battling. In the middle of the group is singer Elton John. He is singing his hit song, “Rocket Man” very loud and off key. Another man comes up to Elton and hands him a snicker and says, “Eat a snickers, you always lose your edge when you’re hungry. ” John then snatches the candy bar out of his hands and takes one bite, then transforms into a younger colored man. They ask him if he is feeling better and he replies with a yes and then they go back to having a rap battle. This commercial puts out the persona that if you eat a Snickers you will feel more like yourself again. It conditions the viewer to think that they need to eat this candy bar to feel better. The unconditioned stimuli (UCS) of this commercial would be the snickers and the unconditioned response (UCR) would be the hunger or desire of the candy car when it is presented in the commercial. The (CS) would be feeling hungry when you see the snickers.
The Office: Classical
In this popular TBS series, the two popular characters Dwight and Jim are always playing pranks on each other. Jim decides to conduct an experiment on Dwight. Jim asks Dwight if he would like a mint for a long period of time, at the same time he hits a button on his computer that makes a monitor sound. He conducts this experiment for weeks at a time. One day he doesn’t ask Dwight if he wants a mint but still presses the button to see what his reaction will be. Dwight then reaches out his hand for a mint expecting to receive a mint. Jim looks at him with confusion wondering what he is doing, because he didn’t ask him if he wanted a mint. He became accustomed to Jim asking him if he wanted a mint when he heard the sound of the monitor. He became classically conditioned. The (UCS) would be the sound of the desktop. The conditioned stimuli (CS) would be Dwight reaching his hand out for a mint when he hears the sound because it becomes associated with the mint. The conditioned response (CS) or learned behavior would be Dwight reaching his hand out for a mint or thinking Jim was going to ask him for a mint when he hears the sound. This can become extinguished when Dwight hears the sound, reaches for the mint, and Jim not asking him if he wants one for a long period of time and then Dwight becomes unconditioned.
Mean Girls: Operant
In one of my favorite movies there is an example of operant conditioning. Caty has a party in her house while her parents go to a concert in Madison. The party results in things being broken in her home and the cops being called. Her parents find out about and they are discussing the matter at dinner. She then admits to having a party and also that she is failing math. As a result her father grounds her for a month for her actions. Positive reinforcement and a schedule is used to determine this will not happen again. This teaches Caty that if she does this again the same type of punishment will happen.
The Little Mermaid: Operant
In one scene of this popular Disney movie Ariel is swimming in the cave where she keeps all of her collectables of human objects. Her father catches her and destroys everything because he is so angry that she has interacted with humans, or been close to them, thus he understands what could happen if someone was to see her. Ariel is very upset with her father because of this. She then runs away from home to go the witch of the sea to be turned into a human, to vex her father. As a result, Ariel becomes a human to go be with her love Prince Eric, showing positive reinforcement
In conclusion the media has shown many examples of conditioning. These scenes just happen to be some of my personal favorite and are easily relatable to everyday life. The media is probably the most relatable source that can make one understand these concepts.
