Experiment• Why did I use the gavel?

• Have I ever used it before in your class?

• What would be the reasoning why?

• When you heard the gavel did you know what I wanted you to do?

• Could the break affected your response to the gavel?

Learning

What is Learning?• A relatively permanent change in behavior due to

experience

• What kind of examples can you think of?

Classical Conditioning• Learning by association

• Example: getting burned on a hot stove• You associate a new stimulus (the red light on the

stove) with another stimulus (burning my hand) After repeated pairings, each time producing the same RESPONSE (pulling my hand back) is proof that learning has occurred

• This type of learning focused on behavior ONLY • Not worried about what was going on inside the mind

Behaviorism • School of psych founded by American psychologist

John Watson • All about behavior (what we can see)

• If a musician learns a new piece of music and can play it

• Dancer learns a new routine and can perform it

• Behaviorism no longer dominates psychology. WHY?

Behaviorism Cont…• Psychologists today have to consider the mental

processes of that learning process.

• Watson did not think one could study cognitive processes

Components of Classical Conditioning• Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) - a stimulus that

triggers a response automatically and reflexively• Ex: the hot stove is a UCS for pulling your hand back

• Unconditioned Response (UCR): is the response to the UCS. • Ex: pulling your hand back

• The relationship between UCS and UCR is reflexive, not learned

Components of Classical Conditioning• Conditioned stimulus (CS) – is originally a neutral

stimulus. Through conditioning (learning), gain the power to cause a response

• Ex: You may have seen a red light before and did not associate it with a hot stove.

• The conditioning process changed the red light from a neutral stimulus to a CS.

• Conditioned Response (CR)- Ex: pulling your hand back off the stove.

• In essence, it is the same behavior identified as the UCR. If I pull my hand back because of a hot stove (UCS), my pulling back is a UCR. But if I have learned to pull my hand back when I see the red light (CS) my pulling back is now a CR.

In basic terms…

• Unconditioned Stimulus-stimulus that causes a response that is automatic-not learned• Unconditioned Response-the automatic response• Conditioned Response-learned response to a stimulus• Conditioned Stimulus-learned stimulus

Classical Conditioning Processes• Acquisition • Process of developing a learned response. If order to find

out if you acquired the new CR, you would need to conduct a test.• Ex: You would turn on the stove (which turns on the red

light) and see if I would put my on it. If I do, then that means that the red light is not a CS yet. But if I do not put my hand on the stove because of the red light being on, then it has become a CS.

• Extinction• Diminishing of a learned response. If your older brother

can alter the light so it will turn on without the stove being on, then the CS is alone and we no longer associate the red light with the stove being on.

Cont…• Spontaneous recovery• The reappearance, after a rest period, of an extinguished

conditioned response. • If your mother/father sees what your brother has done

and fixed the red light, you might still not touch the stove once you have seen the light turn on and off. • The strength of the CR, would be how long it took you to

put your hand over the stove to check to see if it was hot.

Ivan Pavlov

Worked on classical conditioning• used a dog’s natural reaction to food to train a

new reaction to the ringing of a bell

Classical Conditioning

Classical Conditioning

Classical Conditioning

Show the clip!!

Group work • In groups of 5, think of 5 examples of classical

conditioning in your life.

• Identify the UCS, UCR, CS, CR for each example/scenario