Operant Conditioning: STICKERS!!

In a few of my classes during grade school we had a sticker sheet system. Every time we received an A on a quiz or test we got a sicker. And once we filled up our sheet with however many stickers we needed, we were rewarded with extra credit. This specific operant conditioning was positive reinforcement because we were rewarded for doing well on our tests. I knew this system was to encourage us to study so that we would do well in the class, but what I didn't know was that it effected how I strived to achieve in other classes. I acknowledged my study habits for that specific class and then applied them to my other classes so that I could do just as well.

Split Pea Soup and Classical Conditioning

This is a very less traumatic experience, but still a core example of classical conditioning. I know of a girl whom as a child loved split pea soup. One day she was eating split pea soup, and then soon after threw it up because of the stomach flu. Since then, she couldn't look at or think about split pea soup without feeling terribly queasy.  It took her more than 10 years until she could even begin to consider eating split pea soup again, and today she will only eat it if it is given to her. In this example, the girl had a positive feeling towards split pea soup. It wasn't until she went through the traumatic experience of throwing up after eating the soup that she began to associate that awful queasy feeling with split pea soup.