Classical Conditioning RG 6a Modified PowerPoint from: Aneeq Ahmad -- Henderson State University. Worth Publishers © 2007

Today’s Goals Other Goals From College Board… Describe basic classical conditioning phenomena, such as acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization, discrimination, and higher- order learning. Other Goals Identify each unit of classical conditioning (UCS, CS, NS, UCR, CR, etc.) Identify Pavlov and describe his significance to the field of psychology.

Definition of Learning Learning is a relatively permanent change in an organism’s behavior due to experience.

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. Then 200 years ago Locke and Hume reiterated this law.

Stimulus-Stimulus Learning Learning to associate one stimulus with another.

Classical Conditioning Ideas a of classical conditioning originate from old philosophical theories, however it was a Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov who exposed classical conditioning to the world. Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) In CC – learning occurs when a neutral stimulus comes to bring about a response after it is paired with a stimulus that naturally brings about a response.

Things to remember… An unconditioned stimulus leads to an unconditioned response. Unconditioned = unlearned and untrained Conditioned = learned and trained During conditioning, a previously neutral stimulus is transformed into the conditioned stimulus. Unconditioned response and conditioned response are similar Stimulus = “thing” Response = “reaction”

Pavlov’s Experiment Pavlov was NOT a psychologist…but instead a physiologist, trying to understand the digestive process (he eventually won a Nobel Prize for this research). When he stumbled upon classical conditioning, his actual research was going awry because the dogs were salivating BEFORE the food was put into their mouths.

The tone (neutral stimulus, NS) does not produce a response. Pavlov’s Experiment Before conditioning – food (Unconditioned Stimulus, UCS) produces salivation (Unconditioned Response, UCR). The tone (neutral stimulus, NS) does not produce a response.

Paired the NS with UCS numerous times to “condition” the dog Pavlov’s Experiment During conditioning, neutral stimulus (tone) and UCS (food) are paired resulting in salivation (UCR). Paired the NS with UCS numerous times to “condition” the dog

Pavlov's Example of CC Use Pavlov's dog research to fill in the lines below. ________________________ -> _______________ UCS                                                          UCR ________________________ -> no response NS ___________ + __________ ->  ______________ NS                              UCS                      UCR ________________________ ->  ______________ CS                                                             CR

Current Example of CC Every time someone flushes a toilet in your house, the shower becomes very hot and causes the person in the shower to jump back. ________________________ -> _______________ UCS                                                          UCR ________________________ -> no response NS ___________ + __________ ->  ______________ NS                              UCS                      UCR ________________________ ->  ______________ CS                                                             CR

Balloon Experiment Let’s see how you respond to classical conditioning…

Balloon Experiment What was the UCS? Balloon pop Flinching What was the UCR? What was the CS? Counting (+ hand motion) What was the CR? Muscles Tightening

Other examples of CC? Bell ringing to end class Advertisements using attractive people to sell products Anxiety when hear sound of dentist’s drill …

Examples? Did anyone find an example of classical conditioning over the weekend?   Did anyone classically condition someone else?

Acquisition The initial stage in classical conditioning. during which association between a neutral stimulus and a UCS takes place. Neutral stimulus needs to come before the UCS for conditioning to occur (most cases). The time between the two stimuli should be about half a second.

Extinction When a UCS (food) does not follow a CS (tone) CR (salivation) starts to decrease and at some point goes extinct.

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

Stimulus Generalization Tendency to respond to stimuli similar to CS is called generalization. Pavlov conditioned the dog’s salivation (CR) by using miniature vibrators (CS) to the thigh. When he subsequently stimulated other parts of the dog’s body, salivation dropped.

Stimulus Discrimination Discrimination is the learned ability to distinguish between a CS and other stimuli that do not signal a US.

Current Example of CC Nerf gun/quack boy video ________________________ -> _______________ UCS                                                          UCR ________________________ -> no response NS ___________ + __________ ->  ______________ NS                              UCS                      UCR ________________________ ->  ______________ CS                                                             CR

Welcome! 1. The Neutral Stimulus becomes the _________________. 2. Another word for learning or training is_______________. 3.  Pavlov’s dogs naturally responded to the food; food is the _______________. 4.  When Pavlov’s dogs salivate to the food, salivation is the ________, when they salivate to the bell, salivation is the _________________. 5.  Pavlov used a ________________ in conditioning the dogs.

The Office Example of Classical Conditioning… The Office Altoid Episode