Chapter 3: Classical conditioning Flashcards
Blocking effect
interference with the conditioning of a novel stimulus because of the presence of a previously conditioned stimulus
comparator hypothesis
the idea that conditioned responding depends on a comparison between the associative strength of the conditioned stimulus (CS) and the associative strength of other cues present during training of the target CS
Conditioned compensatory response
a conditioned response opposite in form to the reaction elicited by the US and that therefore compensates for the reaction
conditioned diminution of the UR
a reduction in the magnitude of the response to an unconditional stimulus caused by presentation of a CS that had been conditioned with that US
CS preexposure effect
interference with conditioning produced by repeated exposures to the CS before the conditioning trails
aka. latent inhibition effect
dryg tolerance
reduction in the effectiveness of a drug as a result of repeated use
higher order conditioning
a procedure in which a previously conditioned stimulus (CS1) is used to condition a new stimulus (CS2)
relative waiting-time hypothesis
the idea that conditioned responding depends on how log the organism has to wait for the US in the presence of the CS, as compared to how long the organism has to wait for the US in the experimental situation irrespective of the CS
Stimulus-response learning
the learning of an association between a stimulus and a response
with the result that the stimulus comes to elicit the response directly
Stimulus-stimulus learning
the learning of an associatio between 2 stimuli , with the result that exposure to to one of the stimuli comes to activate a representation, or “mental image” of the other stimuli
sensory preconditioning
a procedure in which one biologically weak stimulus (CS2) is repeatedly paired with another biologically weak stimulus (CS1). Then, CS1 is conditioned with an with an US. In a later trial, CS2 also will elect the conditioned response, even though CS2 was never directly paired with the US
stimulus salience
the significance or noticeability of a stimulus
generally conditioning precedes more rapidly with more salient conditioned and unconditioned stimuli
Stimulus substitution
the theoretical idea that as a result of classical conditioning participants come to respond to the CS in much the same way they respond to the US
US preexposure effect
interference with conditioning produced by repeated exposures to the unconditioned stimulus before conditioning trials
US devaluation
reduction in the attractiveness of an unconditioned stimulus, usually achieved by aversion conditioning of satiation
learning is
acquiring new info
classical conditioning
learning about relationships between 2 events
learning to predict the future based on what has already happened
allows animals to predict or anticipate
activating or suppressing behvaiour
Ivan Pavlov
Father of classical conditioning
physiologist
digestive research without vivisection of dogs
disocovered “psychic secretions”
can use this to study associative learning and the nervous system
Vul’fson and Snarskii
Pavlov’s lab students
studied object learning
object learning
learning associations between different stimulus elements of an object
NS
neutral stimulus that precedes US
becomes the CS
Classical conditioning paradigm
NS + US presented together => UR
CS => CR
CR is usually the same as the UR
The CR is _______ upon the _____ being paired with the US/UR
conditional
CS
Habituation and sensitization are changes in the _______
UR because it is changes in a reflex that already occurs
Classical conditioning lead to
creating a conditional response by painting the CS and the US
creating a NEW response
Reproductive success Hollis et al. (1997)
investigated male aggressive behaviour in relation to mating success of Blue Gouramis
classically conditioned the males to anticipate the arrival of a female
these males had more reproductive success that did control males
first evidence of reproductive benefits from classical conditioning
Training:
- experimental group: 10 sec light -> 5min female (US)
- control: 10 sec light/4-6 hr/5 min female
test: after 18 days of training
- both groups: 10 sec light (CS) -> 5min female (US)
male and females interacted for 6 days
control males were more aggressive towards females
experimental group performed more nest-building beaver, spawned more, had more clasps, had more fry compared to control
Fears are _______. They are ____ responses
learned
complex
Watson and Rayner (1920) Fear conditioning
Lil’ Albert
classical conditioning of emotional responses
Phobias in humans
initial trauma (US and UR) -> irrational fear to otherwise neutral stimuli (CS and CR)
Fear conditions in non-humans
CS is paired with aversive US
Fear is measured indirectly becasue it is an emotional response and hard to measure)
shocks are often used because you can control the strength it is unpleasant but not harmful they are quick cause a fear response without lasting damage to the animal
Suppression Ratio
CS behvaiour/ (CS behaviour + pre-CS behaviour)
values range from 0 (full suppression) to 0.5 (no suppression)
Less behaviour = more suppression = more fear = more learning
Kamin (1969) suppression studies
initially”
rats press just as often after the tone as they do before the tone
the light is more distracting, the rates don’t press as much
Conditioned emotional responses
advertising
i.e. adveritising
associating emotions with previously unfamiliar stimuli using familiar emotional stimuli
Sign tracking/autoshaping
in nature animals they have to learn to go near food based on what indicates food is near (i.e. smell, sight)
reflexive response happens due to the presentation of a stimulus
an appetitive reflex
because it predicts the thing that you want (i.e. food)
Autoshaping Brown and Jenkins (1968)
pigeon in operant chamber
light illuminated before food delivery
pigeons pecked at light (food would arrive without pecking)
at no point was it required that the pigeon pecked at the light
but the pigeon decked anyway
it was an appetitive response to something that is associated with the food!
In autoshaping, the CS must be _________
localized
this is why pen lights are used instead of tones (you can’t peck and locate a sound)
long box autoshaping
pigeon will actually continue to peck the light despite never getting food
due to appetite reflex
taste aversions
can be learned in a single trial (this is what makes it unique)
aversion occurs even if the negative outcome is delayed by several hours
rats and CTA
rats are unable to vomit
picky eaters
will only eat small amount of a substance the first time they encounter it
if it makes them sick, they’ll never eat it again
x-ray condition: will never choose the saccharine over the water after getting sick
- even after 12 hours between the saccharine and the x-rays
control group: will always choose saccharine and they were never given x-rays
taste conditioning
can be conditioned through evaluative conditioning
evaluative conditioning
NS gains favour through assocition with something that is already liked
Aversion therapy
using an unpleasant US/UR to condition a previously-pleasant (but unwanted) CS/CR
alcohol and antabuse = vomiting
not super effectiveq
Excitatory conditioning procedures
CS + US
following repeated pairings the CS alone leaves to behaviour previously associated with the US
Conditioning trial
each CS-US pairing
Intertrial interval (ITI)
time from the end of one trial to the start of the next
interstimulus interval (ISI)
time from the start of the CS until the start of the US
taste aversion is different/unique because it can have super long ISI intervals!
Generally speaking you ideally want a shorter interval for effective conditioning
Five common Classical conditioning procedures
Short delay trace conditioning long delay simultaneous backward
short delayed conditioning
a bit of overlap between the CS and the US presentation
most effective form of conditioning
easier to predict when the US will be happening
and therefore the link is easily formed between the CS and the US
trace conditioning
no overlap between CS and US memory trace (useful for studying memory) conditoining drops rapidly with longer traces
gap between the two S is called the trace interval (aka the memory trace) because it assumes that the animal is able to remember that the CS occurred in order to form an association between the CS and US
the longer the trace interval, the less effective the conditioning is
because it’s hard to form an association between the two S
because you actually do have to remember the CS and then relate it to the US may be very hard for some animals to do
long delay conditioning
longer ISI but there IS CS and US overlap, therefore animal does not need to remember the CS because it’s still on when the US is presented
harder to figure out when the US is coming because of the long CS presentation and delay in the US presentation
simultaneous conditoning
not a lot of conditioning, no associations formed
why?
the CS does’t give you lots of info, theres no predictive power of the CS to tell you about the US
emotional responses, evaluative conditioning
ex. going on a date and having lobster
date went well, more likely to like lobster and to order it again
two things happening at the same time, will impact each other
backward conditioing
US occurs before the CS
why would this produce unpredictable results
the CS no longer allows you to predict anything about the US
they are not even co-occuring
but it does’t always need to be predictable
ex. a shock delivered AFTER food presentation
could work with emotions
I.e. commercials on a commercial break take advantage of your emotional state (i.e. heightened sense pro arousal)
ISI and strength of conditioning
short delay = most effective!
how do we know learning has occurred
Test trial (present the Cs without the US)
compare behaviour between two groups
CCR
- magnitude
- latency
- probability of CR occurring over multiple test trials
What makes for strong associations?
contiguity and contingency
contiguity
events close together in tome and space
contingency
one event is perceived as causing the other
Control groups are important because
pseudoconditioning
how do we control?
present CS unpaired with the US
- random
- explicitly unpaired (most common)
both CS (NS) and the US are presented as much as it is for the experimental group, just unpaired
Inhibitory conditioning
learning to predict the absence of the US
- predictable aversive events are better than unpredictable aversive events
- safety signal
- allows you to predict when bad things will not happen
tells you that you are safe and that there’s no need to be as vigilant
ex. allows animals to go to sleep at night in their den
Conditioned inhibitor
Conditioned inhibitor
signal for the absence of the US
Excitatory conditioning
the learning of a relationship between the presence of the CS and the subsequent presentation of the US
For inhibitory conditioning, theUS must…
already occur sometimes
for the removal or absence of the US following the CS- to be meaningful (and hence, for this association to be learned) the US must occur (or be expected to occur) in the context where the reaction to its absence (following a CS-) is tested
Standard Conditioned inhibition procedure (Pavlovian procedure)
- excitation context created by CS+ (Trial A)
- Presentation of CS+ with CS- results in no US (Trial B)
- trials are intermixed in training
- CS- acquires inhibitory properties
Inhibitory procedure: negative CS-US contingency
No CS+ (animal is not trained to predict the arrival of the US)
US occurs, but never just after the CS-
CS- signals reduction in probability that US will occur (safety signal)
How do you quantify inhibitory conditioning?
It’s difficult
- bidirectional response systems
- compound-stimulus or summation test
- retardation of acquisition test
Bi-directional response systems
measure increase (conditioned excitation) or decrease (conditioned inhibition) from a know baseline - moving towards or away from something, drinking or eating more or less
does not work for all behavioural systems (i.e. freezing)
Compound stimulus (summation test)
conditioned inhibition counteracts conditioned excitation
therefore: presence of CS- should not affect responding
training: thirsty rats drinking water, measure how long until they drank continuously for 5 seconds
these rats have learned that auditory cue mean that they won’t get shocked
retardation of acquisition test
two opposing learning processes, take advantage of previous learning
turning a previous CS- into a CS+
Cole et al. 1997 Retardation of acquisition test
turning a CS- into a CS+
in rats
X = previously trained CS-
Y = NS
training - both paired with shock test - little fear to X - lots of fear to Y
