The ability to learn and retain new things is a gift, the way the human brain works is like nothing else no other known species have brains like humans. Different types of learning can be more or less affective depending upon the subject at hand. We can use different types of conditioning to train our brain or to train others to better ourselves. Learning can be observed not only in school but in all aspects of every day life in the form of conditioning. First discovered by Ivan Pavlov, classical conditioning is the first of the two forms of conditioning. Later discovered by B.F. Skinner, operant conditioning is the second form of conditioning. Although Classical and Operant conditioning share many similarities, their differences can be clearly seen through their applications and affects. .
Classical Conditioning consists of teaching a subject to respond to a previously neutral object such as a bell that signals the subject that it its time to do a task such as eat. Once the subject has properly been conditioned the tone of the bell will make the subject walk over to where the food or other item is regularly placed. This type of conditioning focuses more on the side of learning by association by assassinating a neutral sound or motion to a process such as a person being presented with a entree after a certain tone from a French Horn is played. Ivan Pavlov was the Russian born physiologist who developed the theory of classical conditioning. Through Pavlovs research he found that when and excitatory stimulus is presented to a subject after a neutral stimulus was presented the subject began to relate the neutral with the excitatory so when the bell rang the dogs began to salivate indicating that they were expecting a stimulus such as a piece of steak. In 1920 came a new discovery for classical conditioning. Prior knowledge had not yet proven that this method was affective on humans, but a man named John Watson changed that with the release of his research that proved that operant conditioning is affective on humans.