There are many similarities between the two types of conditioning, including extinction and spontaneous recovery. However, there are significant differences, such as classical conditioning being a passive process whereas operant conditioning is active. The table below summarises the comparisons 这两种类型的条件反射有许多相似之处，包括消亡和自发恢复。然而，也有显著的区别，如古典条件反射是一个被动的过程，而操作性条件反射是主动的。下表总结了这些比较 :
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Classical conditioning 古典条件反射 : |
Operant conditioning 操作性条件反射 : |
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New behaviours are acquired by associative learning. 新的行为是通过联想学习获得的。 |
New behaviours are acquired by associative learning. 新的行为是通过联想学习获得的。 |
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Behaviours may become extinct... 行为可能会灭绝...... |
Behaviours may become extinct... 行为可能会灭绝...... |
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... and spontaneously recover. ...并自发恢复。 |
... and spontaneously recover. ...并自发恢复。 |
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stimulus generalisation and discrimination occur. 刺激物泛化和辨别发生。 |
Stimulus generalisation and discrimination occur. 刺激的泛化和辨别发生。 |
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Based on involuntary reflex behaviour. 基于非自愿的反射行为。 |
Based on voluntary behaviour. 以自愿行为为基础。 |
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Learner is the object of experience (passive learning). 学习者是经验的对象（被动学习）。 |
Learner is the subject of experience (active learning). 学习者是经验的主体（主动学习）。 |
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Effectiveness of conditioning assessed by size of response. 通过反应的大小来评估调节的有效性。 |
Effectiveness of conditioning assessed by frequency of response. 通过反应的频率来评估调节的效果。 |
- Behaviourism does not see innate behaviours as significant. Animals have a predisposition to perform some behaviours over others (theory of preparedness) and so will learn some behaviours more readily than others. 行为主义认为先天的行为并不重要。动物有进行某些行为而不是其他行为的倾向性（准备理论），因此会比其他行为更容易学习一些行为。
- The reduction of learning to stimulus-response associations is an oversimplification. Learning is more about understanding the relationships between events in the environment. 将学习简化为刺激-反应的关联是一种过分的简化。学习更多的是关于理解环境中事件之间的关系。
- This notion is supported by Rescorla (1968), who demonstrated that conditioning is most effective when the CS is a reliable predictor of the UCS. Higher-order conditioning and secondary reinforcers also suggests that learning is not a straight forward stimulus-response connection. 这一概念得到了Rescorla（1968）的支持，他证明了当CS是UCS的一个可靠预测因素时，条件反射是最有效的。高阶条件反射和次要强化物也表明，学习不是一种直接的刺激-反应联系。
- Learning does not necessarily involve measurable responses. A null response does not mean that learning has not occurred. 学习不一定涉及可测量的反应。无反应并不意味着没有发生学习。
- Alternative explanations of learning include social learning and the cognitive approach. Tolman's (1948) latent learning theory explains learning in terms of mental or cognitive maps. 对学习的其他解释包括社会学习和认知方法。托尔曼（1948）的潜在学习理论从心理或认知地图的角度解释了学习。
- He observed that rats learn their environment (a maze in his experiments) in the absence of reinforcement. This latent learning is only expressed when reinforcement is introduced resulting in excellent performance.他观察到，老鼠在没有强化的情况下学习它们的环境（在他的实验中是一个迷宫）。这种潜在的学习只有在引入强化物后才会表现出来，从而产生出色的表现。
- Learning in humans may involve conditioning (good evidence comes from phobia acquisition) but it may not be valid to generalise the behaviour of non-human animals to humans. 人类的学习可能涉及到条件反射（很好的证据来自于恐惧症的获得），但将非人类动物的行为概括到人类身上可能是不成立的。
