Classical Conditioning

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Classical Conditioning

• Module 15

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Learning

• relatively permanent change in behavior due to
  experience

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Classical Conditioning

• Occurs when a stimulus gains the power to cause
  a response because it predicts another stimulus
  that already produces that response
• form of learning by association

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Classical Conditioning Practical Example

• How do you know when to change classes?

stimulus (ringing bell)
response (leaving classroom)
prediction of another stimulus (time for class to
end)
that already produces that response (leaving
classroom)
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Stimulus-Response Relationship
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Stimulus-Response Relationship
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Components of Classical Conditioning
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Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)

• stimulus that triggers a response automatically
  and reflexively
• example hot water in the shower

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Unconditioned Response (UCR)

• automatic response to the UCS not learned
• example jumping out of the way of the hot shower
  water

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Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

• stimulus that through learning has gained the
  power to cause a conditioned response must be a
  neutral stimulus
• example yelling flush!

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Conditioned Response (CR)

• response to the conditioned stimulus usually the
  same as the UCR
• example jumping when you hear the word flush!

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Classical Conditioning Example

• The nurse says Now this wont hurt a bit just
  before stabbing you with a needle. The next time
  you hear This wont hurt you cringe in fear.

UCS UCR
CS CR
Cringing in fear
Needle
Classical Conditioning
Cringing in fear when you hear This wont hurt
Hearing This wont hurt
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Classical Conditioning Example

• It is springtime and the pollen from the flowers
  causes you to sneeze. Soon you are sneezing at
  the mere sight of a flowerreal or fake.

UCS UCR
CS CR
Sneeze
Pollen
Classical Conditioning
Sight of a flower (real or fake)
Sneeze
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Classical Conditioning Example

• Your relationship is going badly and your
  significant other has yelled at you without
  warning several times. You now feel tense and
  fearful any time you are around him or her.

UCS UCR
CS CR
Feel tense and fearful
Yelling at you
Classical Conditioning
Feel tense and fearful
Being around your significant other
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Based on what you see in the following video
clip, identify each element
UCS UCR
CS CR
Dwight holds his hand out to accept the Altoid
Dwight being offered an Altoid
Classical Conditioning
Dwight holds his hand out to accept an Altoid
Computer reboot sound
The experiment in the video clip is based on the
ideas of which scientist?
Ivan Pavlov
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Classical ConditioningIndividual Assessment
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Classical Conditioning Example

• Every time you see a scary movie, you always eat
  a box of thin mints. Now you find that just
  seeing thin mints makes you feel scared.

UCS UCR
CS CR
Classical Conditioning
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Classical Conditioning Example

• To treat bedwetting, a pad that is sensitive to
  dampness is placed under the sheets.  When the
  pad becomes wet, it sounds an alarm and you wake
  up.  Eventually you don't need the alarm to wake
  up and your full bladder will wake you up.

UCS UCR
CS CR
Classical Conditioning
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Ivan Pavlovs Discovery
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Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)

• A Russian physiologist
• discovered classical conditioning while doing
  experiments on the digestive system of dogs

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Read pages 286 288 complete your reading
organizer.

• What was Pavlov investigating when he discovered
  classical conditioning?
• What problem came up with Pavlovs experiment
  after he had worked with a dog several times?
• As Pavlov became more intrigued with his dogs
  misbehavior, what did he begin to wonder?

Answer the effects of salivation on the
digestive process
Answer the more familiar the dog was with the
procedure, the less likely he was to wait for the
meat powder before salivating
Answer if he could control the salivation
response by manipulating various stimuli in the
environment
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Ivan Pavlov
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Pavlovs Method of Collecting Saliva
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Based on what you read, identify the following
UCS UCR
CS CR
Salivation
Meat Powder
Classical Conditioning
Salivation
Tuning Fork
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Classical Conditioning in Everyday LifeBaby
Albert
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Behaviorism

• psychology should only study observable
  behaviors, not mental processes
• founder John Watson

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John Watson

• believed mental processes could not be studied
  scientifically
• Baby Albert phobia study

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Whatever Happened to Baby Albert? Complete a
reading organizer as you read the article

• Who was baby Albert?
• Describe the experiment in which he participated.
• Describe how generalization was an outcome of
  Alberts classical conditioning.
• Did Albert complete the study? Why or why not?
• How might this experiment have influenced Albert
  later in his life?

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Baby Albert

• 11-month-old infant
• Watson and his assistant, Rosalie Rayner,
  conditioned Albert to be frightened of white rats
• led to questions about experimental ethics

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4 Ethical Principles Guiding Human Research

• Informed consent about nature of research
  risks
• Right to be protected from harm and discomfort
• Right to confidentiality cant release data
  about individual participants
• Right to debriefing full explanation of
  research when involvement is done
• Which ethical principle/s, if any, do you think
  Watsons experiment broke?

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How is this an example of classical conditioning?
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How is this an example of classical conditioning?
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End Class Notes Fall 2011
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What are the three basic processes in classical
conditioning?1) Acquisition2) Extinction3)
Spontaneous Recovery
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Acquisition

• process of developing a learned behavior

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Extinction

• diminishing of a learned response
• in classical conditioning, the continual
  presentation of the CS without the UCS
• The Office example
• continual presentation of the _________ (CS)
  without the ____________ (UCS)

computer sound
offering of an Altoid
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Spontaneous Recovery

• reappearance, after a rest period, of an
  extinguished conditioned response
• recovered response is weaker can be
  extinguished more easily

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Generalization and Discrimination
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Generalization

• an organism produces the same response to two
  similar stimuli
• the more similar the substitute stimulus is to
  the original, the stronger the generalized
  response
• Example Fred has a fluffy down pillow with some
  of the down sticking out of the fabric. When he
  first tries out the pillow, a piece of down
  tickles his nose and he sneezes. He now sneezes
  every time he lays down on any kind of pillow.

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Discrimination

• an organism produces different responses to two
  similar stimuli
• subject learns that one stimuli predicts the UCS
  and the other does not
• Examples Pavlov using two different tuning
  forks fear of buzzing insects after being stung
  by a bee

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Baby Albert During Conditioning
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Baby Albert After Conditioning
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Baby Albert - Generalization
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Classical Conditioning in Everyday LifeTaste
Aversion
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Taste Aversion

• John Garcia classically conditioned taste
  aversion could develop
• subjects become classically conditioned to avoid
  specific tastes, because the tastes are
  associated with nausea