Classical Conditioning

Classical Conditioning : Classical Conditioning Module 13

Learning Objectives : Learning Objectives What do psychologists mean when they talk about “learning”? What was Pavlov’s contribution to understanding learned responses? What is classical conditioning? What are the basic processes involved in classical conditioning? What is the role of classical conditioning in the development of fears in humans??

What is Learning? : What is Learning? A durable change in behavior or knowledge due to experience Types of Learning Habituation Repeated exposure causes a dampening of subsequent responses to the stimulus Conditioning Learning associations between events or stimuli in the environment Associations tend to develop between stimuli that occur together in space or time

Classical conditioning : Classical conditioning Process by which a stimulus comes to provoke a response that was initially caused by another stimulus Pavlov’s dogs (1927) Collected saliva after presenting meat powder Saliva begins before presentation Pairs tone with presentation of meat Eventually presentation of this neutral stimulus (tone) causes salivation

Process of conditioning : Process of conditioning Unconditioned Stimulus (US) Provokes a response w/o conditioning Unconditioned Response (UR) An unlearned reaction to a US Conditioned Stimulus (CS) Previously neutral stimulus that through conditioning can now produce a response Conditioned Response (CR) Learned reaction to a CS

Classical conditioning : US UR (unconditioned stimulus) (unconditioned response) US + CS (the trigger you pair with the US) CS CR (conditioned stimulus) (conditioned response) UR Classical conditioning

Classical conditioning example : Chemotherapy Nausea and Vomiting (unconditioned stimulus) (unconditioned response) Chemotherapy Nausea and Vomiting + Sex and the City (the trigger you pair with the US) Sex and the City theme Nausea and Vomiting (conditioned stimulus) (conditioned response) Classical conditioning example

Acquisition : Acquisition The first process in classical conditioning Learning a response to a stimulus that occurs through the presentation of a US Stimulus must be novel, unusual, or strong Influenced by order and timing of the US & CS Forward or trace conditioning (CS precedes US) Simultaneous conditioning Backward conditioning (US onset precedes CS)

Extinction : Extinction Another basic process of classical conditioning The gradual disappearance of a CR Caused by the consistent presentation of the CS without the US Spontaneous Recovery The reappearance of an extinguished response after a period w/o the CS Provides evidence that extinction is the learning responsible for the CR is not destroyed but suppressed

Stimulus Generalization : Stimulus Generalization The third basic process in classical conditioning CR in response to stimuli that are similar to but not the same as the CS Pavlov’s dogs salivated not only to the original tone but to other similar tones Helpful because it allows us to generalize what we have learned to new but similar situations

Stimulus Discrimination : Stimulus Discrimination Generalization is sometimes bad Can lead to overgeneralizations, like stereotypes Some mushrooms are poisonous, some are not—you need discrimination Stimulus discrimination occurs with repeated pairing of the CS (but not other similar stimuli) with the US Pavlov paired tone with black square Dog salivated to black square and gray squares Taught dog to discriminate by pairing food with black square and not with gray squares

Can humans be classically conditioned? : Can humans be classically conditioned? Conditioning fear John B. Watson gave Little Albert a furry white rat to play with then made a loud noise Repeated pairings of rat and noise produced fear Fear generalized to other furry white things (Santa Claus, white fur coat, bunny) Taste aversions Seligman and bernaise sauce Garcia’s rats were given radiation poisoning while drinking sweet water, hearing loud noise, and seeing bright light only avoided sweet water Adaptiveness makes us learn some associations more quickly than others