Chapter 5 Flashcards
What are two other names for respondent conditioning?
In this chapter, we describe basic principles and procedures of respondent conditioning, also called PAVLOVIAN conditioning (after Ivan Pavlov, the Russian physiologist who studied it), or CLASSICAL conditioning (because it was the first type of conditioning to be identified). We use these three terms interchangeably.
What are three characteristics of respondent behavior?
Some of our behaviors, like Susan’s feelings of fear while falling on her double-axel jump, seem to be reflexive and are called respondent behaviors, which are behaviors that are
(a) elicited by prior stimuli and are not affected by their consequences;
(b) referred to as involuntary; and
(c) usually involve smooth muscles and glands.
Define unconditioned reflex. Give three examples.
Examples include salivating when food is in your mouth, sweating when exposed to high temperatures, and experiencing a pounding heart when falling. Respondent behaviors are influenced by respondent conditioning, defined later, which is based on unconditioned reflexes. An unconditioned reflex is a stimulus–response relationship in which a stimulus automatically elicits a response apart from any prior learning. In other words, unconditioned reflexes are “hard wired” or inborn.
State the principle of respondent conditioning. Clearly diagram an example of respondent conditioning that is not diagramed in the text and that uses one of the unconditioned reflexes in Table 5.1.
The principle of respondent conditioning states that if an NS (the opening motif of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony) is followed closely in time by a US (food in the mouth) that elicits a UR (salivation), then the previous NS (the opening motif of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony) will also tend to elicit the response of salivation in the future. Of course, it may take more than just one pairing of the opening motif of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony with food before it would elicit any noticeable amount of salivation. Figure 5.1 illustrates respondent conditioning.
Define conditioned reflex and describe an example.
A conditioned reflex is a stimulus–response relationship in which a stimulus elicits a response because of prior respondent conditioning. If a salivation response were in fact conditioned to the opening motif of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, that stimulus–response relationship would be referred to as a conditioned reflex.
Define and give an example of the following: unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, conditioned stimulus, and conditioned response.
A stimulus that elicits a response without prior learning or conditioning is called an unconditioned stimulus (US). A response elicited by an unconditioned stimulus is called an unconditioned response (UR). In other words, an unconditioned reflex consists of a US and a UR. In the case of Susan, falling was a US, and Susan’s anxious feeling was a UR. Examples of unconditioned reflexes are listed in Table 5.1. The stimulus in a conditioned reflex is called a conditioned stimulus (CS; e.g., the opening motif of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony), defined as a stimulus that elicits a response because that stimulus has been paired with another stimulus that elicits that response. The response in a conditioned reflex is referred to as a conditioned response (CR; e.g., salivation to the opening motif of Beethoven’s Fi h Symphony), defined as a response elicited by a conditioned stimulus. In the case of Susan, approaching the take-off position for the double axel became a CS eliciting an anxious feeling as a CR. You can see how respondent conditioning might explain your reactions to certain words (such as the name of a loved one) or even to a single letter (such as “F” on an exam). Other examples include blushing when told that your fly or blouse is undone or becoming sexually aroused when watching X-rated movies.
Briefly, in a sentence each, describe five variables that influence the development of a conditioned reflex.
- First, the greater the number of pairings of a CS with a US, the greater is the ability of the CS to elicit the CR, until a maximum strength of the conditioned reflex has been reached.
- Second, stronger conditioning occurs if the CS precedes the US by about half a second, rather than by a longer time or rather than following the US.
- Third, a CS acquires greater ability to elicit a CR if the CS is always paired with the US than if it is only occasionally paired with the US.
- Fourth, when several neutral stimuli precede a US, the stimulus that is most consistently associated with the US is the one most likely to become a strong CS.
- Fifth, respondent conditioning will develop more quickly and strongly when the CS or US or both are intense rather than weak.
Diagram an example of higher-order conditioning.
Suppose that someone is conditioned to salivate to the opening motif of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony by pairing it with food many times. The opening motif of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony will thus have become a CS for salivation. Now let’s suppose that, over several trials, just before presenting the opening motif of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony by itself (i.e., without following it with food), we turn on a yellow light. e light is a neutral stimulus for salivation and is never paired with food. However, a er a number of pairings of the light with the music (an established CS for the response of salivation), the light itself will come to elicit salivation. The procedure in which a neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus by being paired with another conditioned stimulus, instead of with an unconditioned stimulus, is known as higher-order conditioning. The pairing of the music with the food is referred to as conditioning of the first order. Pairing the light with the music is referred to as conditioning of the second order. Although third-order conditioning has been reported (Pavlov, 1927), higher-order conditioning beyond the second order appears to be difficult. The model for higher-order conditioning is presented in Figure 5.2.
Describe three examples of conditioned reflexes, one for each of these categories: digestion, circulation, and respiration.
In addition to salivation, a stomach reaction, feelings of nausea, and defecation are digestive responses that are susceptible to Pavlovian conditioning. A student experiences butterflies in the stomach (a CR) before giving a talk in class (a CS). A er experiencing chemotherapy, some patients feel nauseous (a CR) while waiting in the treatment room for therapy to begin (a CS). An extremely frightening experience, such as being threatened by a knife-wielding intruder (a CS), can cause anxiety defecation (a CR). Increased heart rate and blood flow are involved in many conditioned reflexes. Feeling embarrassed in a social setting, overhearing risqué topics discussed, having socially inappropriate thoughts—are all CSs for blushing in many individuals as blood flows to the outer layers of the skin. e circulatory system is involved when a scary scene in a movie or novel causes your heart to pound and when nude photographs elicit increased heart rate and increased blood flow to the genitals. Pavlovian conditioning has also been implicated in influencing coughing, sneezing, and asthma attacks—reflexes of the respiratory system. Suppose a person’s aunt, who visits rarely, happens to visit when that person suffers an asthma attack. e aunt might become a CS for the coughing and wheezing characteristic of an asthmatic reaction. Dekker and Groen (1956) reported that asthmatic responses have been elicited by such CSs as the sight of horses, caged birds, goldfish, and police vans.
*Describe an example of a conditioned taste aversion.
A teenager drank several ounces of lemon gin in a short period of time. Approximately an hour later, he became violently ill. Since that time, the smell or taste of lemon gin causes instant nausea, and influences the teenager to avoid lemon gin.
*Why do you suppose that we have evolved so that we are susceptible to conditioned taste aversion?
Having evolved so that we are susceptible to conditioned taste aversion likely had survival value for our ancestors. If, early in evolution, some humans evolved such that conditioned taste aversion occurred, those individuals were more likely to subsequently avoid eating substances that might kill them. If they had to learn to taste dangerous substances several times before learning to avoid them, repeated consumption of such substances might have been enough to cause death.
What is biological preparedness? Give an example.
Seligman (1971) coined the term biological preparedness to refer to the predisposition of members of a species to be more readily conditioned to some neutral stimuli as CSs than to others. As an example of biological preparedness, humans will more quickly learn fears to stimuli, such as snakes and insects, that posed a threat to our survival than to stimuli, such as pictures of flowers, that were nonthreatening in our distant ancestors’ history. Conditioned taste aversion is another example of biological preparedness. Having evolved the strong tendency for taste to be conditioned to nausea greatly decreases the chances that one will repeatedly consume food that causes illness and perhaps death.
Discuss, with examples, whether all stimuli are equally capable of becoming CSs.
Now suppose that the parent takes the child to a dog show. Although there are lots of large dogs around, they have been trained to walk and sit quietly while on display. Repeated contact with these dogs (without them being paired with barking) will help the child overcome the fear of seeing dogs. at is, the sight of dogs loses its capability of functioning as a CS to elicit the fear reaction as a CR. Many of the fears that we acquire during childhood—fears of needles, the dark, lightning, and so on—undergo respondent extinction as we grow older, due to repeated exposure to these things in the absence of dire consequences. Figure 5.3 illustrates respondent extinction.
State the procedure and result of the principle of respondent extinction. Describe an example that is not in this chapter.
The principle of respondent extinction involves the procedure of presenting a CS while withholding the US, with the result that the CS gradually loses its capability of eliciting the CR. Suppose that a child reaches out to touch a large dog just as the dog barks very loudly, scaring the child. As a function of the pairing of the loud bark with the sight of the big dog, the sight of the dog alone now elicits crying and trembling. This is a Pavlovian conditioned response that we label fear.
*Describe the process of counterconditioning. Describe or diagram an example of counterconditioning that is not in this chapter.
A CR may be eliminated more effectively if a new response is conditioned to the CS at the same time that the former CR is being extinguished. For example, suppose that a young gymnast has learned to fear being on the balance beam because of a number of bad falls. Counterconditioning might involve having the young gymnast lick an ice cream cone (that would elicit responses to compete with fear) while standing on the beam.
