Classical Conditioning
A simple form of learning in which a neutral stimulus comes to evoke the response usually evoked by another stimulus by being paired repeatedly with the other stimulus
Ivan Pavlov:
Found Classical Conditioning by accident when studying digestive processes in dogs. He made this discovery when he observed that dogs would salivate to sounds in his laboratory that had become associated with food, such as the sound of metal food carts being wheeled into his laboratory or when his assistance entered the room. His initial experiments he used a bell to train dogs to salivate.
Reflex: a simple unlearned response to stimulus
Stimulus: an environmental condition that elicits a response
Principles of Classical Conditioning:
Classical conditioning is learning by association
unconditioned response (UCR): An unlearned response to a stimulus.
unconditioned stimulus (UCS): A stimulus that elicits an unlearned response.
neutral stimulus (NS): A stimulus that before conditioning does not produce a particular response.
conditioned response (CR): An acquired or learned response to a conditioned stimulus.
conditioned stimulus (CS): A previously neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a conditioned response after it has been paired with an unconditioned stimulus.
orienting reflex: an unlearned response which an organism attends to a stimulus
extinction: The gradual weakening and eventual disappearance of a conditioned response.
spontaneous recovery: The spontaneous return of a conditioned response following extinction.
reconditioning: The process of relearning a conditioned response following extinction.
stimulus generalization: The tendency for stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit a conditioned response.
stimulus discrimination: The tendency to differentiate among stimuli so that stimuli that are related to the original conditioned stimulus, but not identical to it, fail to elicit a conditioned response.
The strength of a classically conditioned response depends on the frequency of pairings and the timing of the stimuli, as well as the intensity of the unconditioned stimulus.
Psychologist Robert Rescorla view:
classical conditioning involves a cognitive process by which organisms learn to anticipate events based on cues, called conditioned stimuli, that come to reliably predict the occurrence of these events.
Conditioning of Fear:
John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner selected an 11-month-old boy known as Little Albert. Albert had previously shown no fear of a white rat that was placed near him. In the experimental procedure, the rat was placed close to Albert, and as he reached for it, the experimenters banged a steel bar with a hammer just behind his head, creating a loud gong. Watson believed that loud sounds naturally make infants cringe and shudder with fear. Albert began to show signs of fear when the bar was struck—crying and burying his face in the mattress. Watson and Rayner then repeatedly paired the rat and the loud sound, which resulted in Albert developing a fear response to the sight of the rat alone.
conditioned emotional reaction (CER): An emotional response to a particular stimulus acquired through classical conditioning.
Phobias: Excessive fears of particular objects or situations
Biological preparedness: readiness to acquire a certain kind of CR due to the biological makeup of the organism
Behavior therapy:
A form of therapy that involves the systematic
application of the principles of learning.
Counterconditioning: a functional analytic principle that is part of behavior analysis, and involves the conditioning of an unwanted behavior or response to a stimulus into a wanted behavior or response by the association of positive actions with the stimulus.
Flooding: A technique in behavior therapy in which the individual is exposed directly to a maximum-intensity anxiety-producing situation or stimulus, either described or real, without any attempt made to lessen or avoid anxiety or fear during the exposure.
systematic desensitization: A type of behavioral therapy based on the principle of classical conditioning. This therapy aims to remove the fear response of a phobia, and substitute a relaxation response to the conditional stimulus gradually using counter conditioning.
conditioned taste aversion: An aversion to a particular food or beverage acquired through classical conditioning.