LEARNING: PRINCIPLES & APPLICATIONS CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
Feb 15, 2016
L E A R N I N G : P R I N C I P L E S & A P P L I C AT I O N S
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
• Learning: A relatively permanent change in behavioral tendency that results from experience• Definition: a learning procedure in which
associations are made between a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus• This was discovered accidentally by PAVLOV
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
• Neutral Stimulus: a stimulus that does not initially elicit any part of an unconditioned response (for Pavlov a bell)• Unconditioned Stimulus (US): an event that elicits
a certain predictable response typically without previous training (for Pavlov the food)• A dog doesn’t need to be taught to salivate when it
smells meat• Unconditioned Response (UR): an organism’s
automatic (or natural) reaction to a stimulus• Think REFLEX
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
• Conditioned Stimulus (CS): a once neutral event that elicits a given response after a period of training in which it has been paired with (occurred just before) an unconditioned stimulus• Conditioned Response (CR): reaction to the
conditioned stimulus
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING• Helps animals and
adults adapt to environments• Avoiding danger
• Acquisition of classical conditioning occurs gradually• The more often a CS &
US are paired, the conditioned response (CR) is strengthened
GENERALIZATION AND DISCRIMINATION• Generalization:
responding similarly to a range of stimuli
• Discrimination: the ability to respond differently to a stimuli
EXTINCTION & SPONTANEOUS RECOVERY
• Extinction: the gradual disappearance of a conditioned response when the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus• Doesn’t mean its gone
forever• With a rest period the CR
(saliva) can return when the CS (bell) when not followed by a US (food)
• This is called spontaneous recovery
CLASSICAL CONDITIONINGHUMAN BEHAVIOR
HUMAN BEHAVIOR
• John B. Watson• Little Albert• Now considered unethical
because it taught a child to fear something he originally had no fear of
TASTE AVERSIONS
TASTE AVERSIONS
• People usually write it off to “It must have been something I ate” even if they haven’t eaten for hours• Psychologists can
predict which part of your new meal will be the conditioned stimulus• How can we apply this
to help humans?
BEHAVIORISM
• Classical Conditioning is an example of behaviorism• The attempt to
understand behavior in terms of relationships between observable stimuli and observable responses