1. Classical Conditioning Chapter 6 Psychology

2. Learning  Learning: some kind of change in behavior or knowledge that is long-lasting due to an increase in one’s experience  Experience is key to the learning process.  Humans learn best through association - our minds naturally connect events that occur in sequence  Called Associative Learning  Learning: some kind of change in behavior or knowledge that is long-lasting due to an increase in one’s experience  Experience is key to the learning process.  Humans learn best through association - our minds naturally connect events that occur in sequence  Called Associative Learning

3. Behaviorism  John B. Watson (1913)  Founder of the Behaviorist view of psychology  Urged colleagues to discard reference to inner thoughts and feelings and focus on observable behavior  “The theoretical goal [of Behaviorism] is the prediction and control of behavior. Introspection forms no essential part of its methods.”  John B. Watson (1913)  Founder of the Behaviorist view of psychology  Urged colleagues to discard reference to inner thoughts and feelings and focus on observable behavior  “The theoretical goal [of Behaviorism] is the prediction and control of behavior. Introspection forms no essential part of its methods.”

4. Classical Conditioning  A type of learning in which a stimulus acquires the capacity to evoke a response that was originally evoked by another stimulus.  Sometimes called Pavlovian Conditioning after its first pioneer - Ivan Pavlov  A type of learning in which a stimulus acquires the capacity to evoke a response that was originally evoked by another stimulus.  Sometimes called Pavlovian Conditioning after its first pioneer - Ivan Pavlov

5. Who was Ivan Pavlov?  Nobel Prize-winning work on digestion  Studied the role of saliva in the digestive process of dogs  Stumbled onto “psychic reflexes”  Nobel Prize-winning work on digestion  Studied the role of saliva in the digestive process of dogs  Stumbled onto “psychic reflexes”  Discoveries were purely accidental  Psychologists for years have modified and replicated Pavlov’s findings

6. Pavlov’s Accidental Findings  Subjects: dogs; restrained in harnesses in an experimental chamber  Saliva collected through a surgically implanted tube in the salivary gland  Pavlov would present meat powder to the dog and collect the resulting saliva  Noticed that dogs accustomed to the procedure would salivate before the meat powder was presented  Subjects: dogs; restrained in harnesses in an experimental chamber  Saliva collected through a surgically implanted tube in the salivary gland  Pavlov would present meat powder to the dog and collect the resulting saliva  Noticed that dogs accustomed to the procedure would salivate before the meat powder was presented

7. Experimental Chamber

8. Further Studies  To investigate further, Pavlov paired the presentation of meat powder with various stimuli that would stand out (tone, bell)  After the tone and meat powder were presented together a number of times, then the tone was presented alone  Even with the tone alone, the dogs responded by salivating  To investigate further, Pavlov paired the presentation of meat powder with various stimuli that would stand out (tone, bell)  After the tone and meat powder were presented together a number of times, then the tone was presented alone  Even with the tone alone, the dogs responded by salivating

11. Terminology  Neutral Stimulus: stimulus that elicits no response prior to conditioning  Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally - naturally and automatically - triggers a response  Unconditioned Response (UCR): in classical conditioning, the unlearned, naturally occuring response to the UCS  Neutral Stimulus: stimulus that elicits no response prior to conditioning  Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally - naturally and automatically - triggers a response  Unconditioned Response (UCR): in classical conditioning, the unlearned, naturally occuring response to the UCS

12. Terminology  Conditioned Stimulus (CS): in classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an UCS, comes to trigger a conditioned response  Conditioned Response (CR): in classical conditioning, the learned response to a previously neutral conditioned stimulus  Conditioned Stimulus (CS): in classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an UCS, comes to trigger a conditioned response  Conditioned Response (CR): in classical conditioning, the learned response to a previously neutral conditioned stimulus

13. Classical Conditioning in Daily Life!  Conditioned Fears - Phobias are a good example of this. Many irrational fears can be traced back to experiences  Other Emotional Responses - advertisers use their products with UCSs that elicit pleasant emotions (attractive persons, enjoyable surroundings)

14. Classical Conditioning in Daily Life!  Physiological Responses - Immune system functioning; when an infectious agent invades your body, your immune system triggers the release of antibodies to fight the invasion  Immunosuppression - a decrease in the production of antibodies  Many studies have been done using this concept with animals

15. Other Important Terms!  Acquisition: the initial stange of learning something  Extinction: the gradual weakening and disappearance of a conditioned response tendency  Spontaneous recovery: the reappearance of an extinguished response after a period of nonexposure to the conditioned stimulus  Generalization: occurs when an organism that has learned a response to a specific stimulus responds in the same way to new stimuli that are similar to the original stimuli  Acquisition: the initial stange of learning something  Extinction: the gradual weakening and disappearance of a conditioned response tendency  Spontaneous recovery: the reappearance of an extinguished response after a period of nonexposure to the conditioned stimulus  Generalization: occurs when an organism that has learned a response to a specific stimulus responds in the same way to new stimuli that are similar to the original stimuli

16. More Important Terms!  Discrimination: occurs when an organism that has learned a response to a specific stimulus does not respond in the same way to new stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus  High Order Conditioning: a conditioned stimulus functions as if it were an unconditioned stimulus  Discrimination: occurs when an organism that has learned a response to a specific stimulus does not respond in the same way to new stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus  High Order Conditioning: a conditioned stimulus functions as if it were an unconditioned stimulus

17. Little Albert  Experiment conducted by John B. Watson  Studied “Little Albert” an 11-month old boy  Initially the child was unafraid of a little white rat (live)  Then Watson paired the presentation of the rat with a loud, startling sound (striking gong with hammer)  Little Albert showed fear to loud noise  Experiment conducted by John B. Watson  Studied “Little Albert” an 11-month old boy  Initially the child was unafraid of a little white rat (live)  Then Watson paired the presentation of the rat with a loud, startling sound (striking gong with hammer)  Little Albert showed fear to loud noise

18. Little Albert  After several pairings, the rat was established as a CS - eliciting a fear response  Watson then exposed the boy to other similar stimuli - white and furry (rabbit, dog, fur coat, and a Santa Clause mask)  Little Albert’s fear response was generalized to the variety of stimuli  After several pairings, the rat was established as a CS - eliciting a fear response  Watson then exposed the boy to other similar stimuli - white and furry (rabbit, dog, fur coat, and a Santa Clause mask)  Little Albert’s fear response was generalized to the variety of stimuli