How Organism Learn: Classical and Operant Conditioning There are two main explanations of how organisms learn. The first explanation is known as classical conditioning. The second explanation is known as operant conditioning. These two types of learning are exhibited in our everyday lives through our home, school, and school. Classical conditioning was discovered by Iran Petrovich Pavlov. He was originally a physiologist whose main focus was the digestive system (Gazzaniga 230). His discovery was made during a study on the salivation of dogs when given food. Pavlov observed that the dogs began salivating at the sound of the scien