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Classical Conditioning
Classical Conditioning
Ivan Pavlov
• “Stumbled” across classical conditioning around 1900• Studying “psychic reflexes”
• Saliva experiments on dogs
• Dogs started responding prior to the meat powder• Sounds of preparation
• Realized a neutral stimulus was creating a response
Important terms
Unconditioned stimulus (US) – a stimulus that evokes an unconditioned response without previous conditioning
Unconditioned response (UR) – an unlearned reaction to an unconditioned stimulus that occurs without previous conditioning
Conditioned stimulus (CS) – a previously neutral stimulus that has, through conditioning, acquired the capacity to evoke a conditioned response
Conditioned response (CR) – a learned reaction to a conditioned stimulus that occurs because of previous conditioning
Neutral stimulus (NS) – a stimulus that does not evoke a response by itself
NSTone
USMeat powder
NSTone
USMeat powder
URSalivation
CSTone
CRSalivation
Before Conditioning No response
During Conditioning
After Conditioning
A boy is fond of cookies, which make his mouth water whenever he eats them. He passes a bakery baking cookies making the area smell of cookies and he begins to salivate.
NS
US
CR
CS
UR
Smell of cookies
Cookies
Smell of cookies
Salivation
Salivation
USCookies
CRSalivation
CSSmell of cookies
A young child who reaches out to pet a barking dog is bitten by the dog and cries. Every time she hears a dog bark, she whimpers.
NS
US
CR
CS
UR
Dogs barking
Dog bite
Dogs barking
Cry (pain)
Fear of dogs (whimper)
USDog bite
CRFear of dogs
CSDogs barking
A boy who is trained in karate often practices by throwing mock punches at his sister. One day, he accidently hits her in the eye and hurts her. From that day on, every time he raises his hands, his sister flinches.
NS
US
CR
CS
UR
Mock punches
Accidental hit
Raises hands (mock punches)
Pain
Flinch
USAccidental hit
CRFlinch
CSRaises hands
When they were going together, a guy and his former girlfriend had a favorite CD which they frequently listened to together. Although she broke up with him over a year ago, whenever he hears a song from that CD he becomes depressed.
NS
US
CR
CS
UR
Songs on CD
Break up
Songs from CD
Hurt feelings; mental pain; sadness
Depression
USBreak up
CRDepression
CSSongs from CD
Classical conditioning in everyday life
• Conditioned fear and anxiety• Events and interactions can create phobias and other fears
• Emotional responses as of a result of a certain smell, song, etc.
• Physiological responses (i.e., immune system)
(CS)Products(e.g., jeans)
(US)Sexual
imagery
(CR
)(UR)Pleasant
emotional
response
• Evaluative conditioning - changes in the liking of a stimulus that result from pairing that stimulus with other positive or negative stimuli.
Processes of condition - acquisition
Acquisition
(CS-US pairings)
0
15
10
5
The initial stage of learning something.
Processes of condition - extinction
Extinction
(CS alone)
0
15
10
5
The gradual weakening and disappearance of a conditioned response tendency.
Processes of condition – spontaneous recovery
Extinction
(CS alone)
0
15
10
5
24-hour
rest
Spontaneous Recovery
(CS alone)
The reappearance of an extinguished response after a period of nonexposure to the conditioned stimulus
Basic processes of classical conditioning
• Stimulus generalization
• Stimulus discrimination
Little Albert
(CR)
(UR)Fear
(CS)White Rat
(US)Loud Gong
Higher order conditioning
A conditioned stimulus functions as if it were an unconditioned stimulus.
