Principles of Behavior Change
Classical Conditioning
Determinants of Conditioning
1) Strong UCSs produce strong CRs 2) as # of pairings of NS + UCS increase,
conditioned response is more likely 3) more consistent pairings result in faster
conditioning 4) NSs of attention are more likely to become CSs 5) Timing of the CS and the UCS makes a
difference. Forward arrangement with short delay is best.
6) Short delay is optimal for classical conditioning 7) Exception: taste aversion = long delay
between CS and UCS.
Measuring Strength of Conditioning
A. Amplitude: how strong is the conditioned response?
B. Latency: how quick?
C. Probability: how likely?
D. Resistance to extinction (the longer it takes to get rid of, the stronger the conditioning)
Extinction
extinction = the gradual weakening and disappearance of a conditioned response tendency
spontaneous recovery = partial recovery of the conditioned response
Acquisition, Extinction, and SR
Disinhibition
The sudden recovery of a response during an extinction
procedure when a novel stimulus is presented
Stimulus Generalization
The tendency for a CR to occur in the presence of a
stimulus that is similar to the CS.
Generalization
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Rabbits
Stimulus Discrimination
The tendency for a response to
be elicited by one stimulus and not another
Stimulus Discrimination
With training, CRs at 400, 800, 1600, 2000 should extinguish, which is a process known as stimulus discrimination.
Discrimination
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Rabbits Red = ?
Black = ?
Experimental Neurosis results from competing excitatory and
inhibitory conditioned responses.
Study: dogs trained to discriminate between a circle (food- excitatory) and an ellipse (no food, inhibitory)
Step 1: train dog to discriminate between stimuli
Step 2: gradually change shape of circle and ellipse so they resemble one another more.
Experimental Neurosis
Circle
Oval
No Food
Experimental Neurosis Result: Dog does not know
how to respond and get aggressive under this condition.
Experimental Neurosis is at the base of many psychological disorders like anxiety.
Different Patterns for EN
1) anxious 2) rigid/hypnotized 3) angry
Why different patterns? Conditionability
Personality according to Pavlov
Some dogs condition easily e.g., shy, withdrawn dogs
Some dogs do not e.g., outgoing
Higher-order Conditioning
Phase 1)
Higher-order Conditioning
Phase 2)
CS2
CS1
UCS
UCR, CR
Third Order Conditioning
Sensory Preconditioning: Phase 1)
sound (NS) + black square (NS)
Phase 2) Sound CR
Phase 3) Black square CR
Three Limitation Classical Conditioning
1) Overshadowing
When one stimulus is more readily noticed relative to
another
2) Blocking
Blocking, Phase 1
Blocking, Phase 2
3) Latent Inhibition
A familiar stimulus is more difficult to condition as a CS than an unfamiliar (novel)
stimulusAlso known as CS pre-exposure effect
Latent Inhibition and Disorders
Schizophrenia
The ability to not condition to everything is adaptive.