1. Reader’s Guide Main Idea Objectives
People acquire certain behaviors through classical conditioning, a learning procedure in which associations are made between an unconditioned stimulus and a neutral stimulus. 
Objectives
Describe the principles of classical conditioning. 
Outline the techniques of classical conditioning.
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Section 1-1

2. Click the Speaker button to listen to Exploring Psychology.
Reader’s Guide (cont.)
Vocabulary
classical conditioning 
generalization 
discrimination 
extinction
neutral stimulus 
unconditioned stimulus (UCS) 
unconditioned response (UCR) 
conditioned stimulus (CS) 
conditioned response (CR) 
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Section 1-2

3. Introduction
In classical conditioning, a person’s or animal’s old response becomes attached to a new stimulus. 
Classical conditioning is one example of learning. 
Learning can be defined as a relatively permanent change in behavior that results from experience.
classical conditioning
a learning procedure in which associations are made between a natural stimulus and a learned, neutral stimulus
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Section 1-3

4. Introduction (cont.)
Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist, discovered the principle of classical conditioning by accident. 
Pavlov became fascinated with how a dog anticipated food and how salivation occurred before the food was presented.
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Section 1-4

5. Classical Conditioning
Pavlov began his experiments by ringing a tuning fork and then immediately placing some meat powder on the dog’s tongue. 
The tuning fork was a neutral stimulus–it had nothing to do with the response to meat (salivation) prior to conditioning.
neutral stimulus
a stimulus that does not initially elicit a response
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Section 1-5

6. Classical Conditioning (cont.)
Soon the dog began salivating as soon as it heard the sound, even if the food was not placed in its mouth. 
Pavlov demonstrated that a neutral stimulus will cause a formerly unrelated response if it is presented regularly just before the stimulus that normally brings about that response. 
Pavlov used the term unconditioned to refer to stimuli and to the automatic, involuntary responses they caused.
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Section 1-6

7. Classical Conditioning (cont.)
In the experiment, food was the unconditioned stimulus (UCS)–an event that leads to a certain, predictable response without previous training. 
The salivation is an unconditioned response (UCR)–a reaction that occurs naturally and automatically when the unconditioned stimulus is presented, in other words, a reflex.
unconditioned stimulus
an event that elicits a certain predictable response without previous training
unconditioned response
an organism’s automatic (or natural) reaction to a stimulus
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Section 1-7

8. Classical Conditioning (cont.)
An ordinarily neutral event that, after training, leads to a response such as salivation is termed a conditioned stimulus (CS). 
The salivation it causes is a conditioned response (CR). 
A conditioned response is learned.
conditioned stimulus
a once-neutral event that elicits a given response after a period of training in which it has been paired with an unconditioned stimulus
conditioned response
the learned reaction to a conditioned stimulus
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Section 1-8

9. Classical Conditioning (cont.)
Section 1-9

10. Classical Conditioning (cont.)
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Section 1-10

11. General Principles of Classical Conditioning
Classical conditioning helps animals and humans adapt to the environment and avoid danger.
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Section 1-11

12. Acquisition
Acquisition of a classically conditioned response generally occurs gradually. 
With each pairing of the conditioned stimulus (CS) and the unconditioned stimulus (UCS), the conditioned response (CR)–or learned response–is strengthened. 
The timing of the association between the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus also influences learning.
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Section 1-12

13. Generalization and Discrimination
Generalization occurs when an animal responds to a second stimulus similar to the original CS, without prior training with the second stimulus. 
When Pavlov conditioned a dog to salivate at the sight of a circle, he found that the dog would salivate when it saw an oval as well.
generalization
responding similarly to a range of similar stimuli
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Section 1-13

14. Generalization and Discrimination (cont.)
Pavlov also taught the dog discrimination–to respond only to the circle, not the oval. 
Generalization and discrimination are complementary processes and are part of your everyday life.
discrimination
the ability to respond differently to similar but distinct stimuli
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Section 1-14

15. Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery
A classically conditioned response, like any other behavior, is subject to change. 
Pavlov discovered that if he stopped presenting food after the sound of the tuning fork, the sound gradually lost its effect on the dog. 
He called this effect extinction because the CR had gradually died out.
extinction
the gradual disappearance of a CR when a CS is repeatedly presented without the UCS.
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Section 1-15

16. Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery (cont.)
If a rest period is given following extinction, the CR may reappear when the CS is presented again but not followed by a UCS. 
This spontaneous recovery does not bring the CR back to its original strength.
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Section 1-16

17. Classical Conditioning and Human Behavior
John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner (1920) used conditioning on a human infant in the case of Little Albert. 
This experiment conditioned an 11-month-old infant named Albert to fear laboratory rats. 
It provided evidence that emotional responses can be classically conditioned in humans.
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Section 1-17

18. Classical Conditioning and Human Behavior (cont.)
Hobart Mowrer and his wife Mollie (1938) discovered a practical solution to the problem of bed-wetting. 
They developed a device known as the bell and pad. 
When the sleeping child moistens the sheet with the first drops of urine, an alarm goes off and awakens the child. 
The child can then use the bathroom. 
This has proven to be a very effective way of treating bed-wetting problems.
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Section 1-18

19. Examples of Common Conditioned Responses
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Section 1-19

20. Taste Aversions
When people or animals become ill, they seem to decide, “It must have been something I ate,” even if they have not eaten for several hours. 
Psychologists can even predict that people will probably blame a new food. 
John Garcia and R.A. Koelling (1966) first demonstrated this phenomenon with rats. 
Whenever a rat took a drink of flavored water, lights flashed and clicks sounded. 
Some rats were then given an electric shock.
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Section 1-20

21. Taste Aversions (cont.)
All of these rats showed traditional classical conditioning–the lights and the sounds became CS, and the rats tried to avoid them in order to avoid a shock. 
The other rats were not shocked, but given a drug that made them sick after they drank and the lights and sounds occurred. 
They developed an aversion only to the taste of the water. 
In summary, classical conditioning helps animals and humans predict what is going to happen.
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Section 1-21

22. Taste Aversions (cont.)
Learning associated with classical conditioning may aid animals in finding food or help humans avoid pain or injury. 
Classical conditioning is an example of a behaviorist theory. 
Behaviorism is the attempt to understand behavior in terms of relationships between observable stimuli and observable responses. 
Behaviorists are psychologists who study only those behaviors that they can observe and measure.
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Section 1-22

23. Classical Conditioning vs. Operant Conditioning
1. Always a specific stimulus (UCS) that elicits the desired response 
1. No stimulus; learner must first respond appropriately, then behavior is reinforced 
2. UCS does not depend on learner’s response 
2. Reinforcement depends upon learner’s behavior 
3. Learner responds to its environment 
3. Learner actively operates on its environment
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Section 1-23