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Classical Conditioning

Module 21

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Classical Conditioning

How Do We Learn?

Classical Conditioning Pavlov’s Experiments

Extending Pavlov’s Understanding

Pavlov’s Legacy

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Definition

Learning is a relatively permanent change in an organism’s behavior due to

experience.

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How Do We Learn?

We learn by association. Our minds naturally connect events that occur in

sequence.

Aristotle, 2000 years ago, suggested this law of association and then 200 years ago

Locke and Hume

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Stimulus-Stimulus Learning

Learning to associate one stimuluswith another.

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Stimulus-Stimulus Learning

Learning to associate one stimuluswith another.

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Ivan Pavlov 1849-1936 Russian physician/ neurophysiologist Nobel Prize in 1904 studied digestive secretions

Classical Conditioning (Respondent behavior)

Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)

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foto

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Classical Conditioning - an organism learns to connect or associate stimuli.

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Pavlov’s Experiments

Before conditioning food (Unconditioned Stimulus, US) produces salivation

(Unconditioned Response, UR). The tone (neutral stimulus) does not.

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Pavlov’s Experiments

During conditioning, neutral stimulus (tone) and US (food) are paired resulting in salivation (UR). After conditioning neutral stimulus (now

Conditioned Stimulus, CS) elicits salivation (now Conditioned Response, CR)

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Acquisition

The CS needs to come half a second before

the US to cause acquisition.

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The Water Show

Jeannette was happy when she heard her family’s plan to go to a water sports’ show. Then she heard the weather report, which predicted temperatures exceeding 100 degrees. Jeannette suspected that the weather would be hard to bear, but she went anyway to the show. As she watched the water skiers perform their taxing routines to the blaring organ music, she became very sweaty and uncomfortable. Eventually she fainted from the heat. After the family outing, Jeannette could never again hear organ music without feeling dizzy and eventually fainting.

• What is the unconditioned stimulus (US)? _________________________________

• What is the unconditioned response (UR)? _________________________________

• What is the conditioned stimulus (CS)? ___________________________________

• What is the conditioned response (CR)? ___________________________________

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Biological Predispositions

Even humans develop classically conditioned nausea.

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Extinction

When a US (food) does not follow a CS (tone) CR (salivation) starts to decrease

and at some point goes extinct.

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Spontaneous Recovery

After a rest period an extinguished CR (salivation) spontaneously recovers and if CS (tone) persists alone becomes extinct again.

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Stimulus Generalization

Tendency to respond to stimuli similar to CS is called generalization.

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Stimulus Discrimination

Discrimination is the learned ability to distinguish between a CS and other

stimuli that do not signal a US.

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Extending Pavlov’s Understanding

Pavlov and Watson considered consciousness or mind not fit for scientific

study of psychology. However, they underestimated the importance of cognitive processes and biological

constraints.

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Biological Predispositions

Even humans develop classically conditioned nausea.

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Watson developed advertising

campaigns including Maxwell House, making “coffee

break” an American custom.

Applications of Classical Conditioning

John B. Watson

Brow

n Brothers

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Conditioned emotional response

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1. Alcoholics can be conditioned (aversively) partly reversing their positive-associations with alcohol.

2. A drug (plus its taste) that affects the immune response, can lead the taste to invoke the immune response through classical conditioning.

Applications of Classical Conditioning