Chapter 8: Respondent Conditioning Flashcards
What is an unconditioned stimulus (US)?
A stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response without prior learning.
What is an example of an unconditioned stimulus (US)?
The smell of food (US) makes you salivate.
What is a conditioned stimulus (CS)?
A previously neutral stimulus that, after being repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus, triggers a learned response.
What is an example of a conditioned stimulus (CS)?
The sound of a bell (CS) that has been associated with food can make a dog salivate.
Describe how a neutral stimulus (NS) becomes and conditioned stimulus.
A Neutral Stimulus (NS) becomes a Conditioned Stimulus (CS) through respondent conditioning (classical conditioning).
What is the process called when turning an NS into a CS?
- Before conditioning: The NS (e.g., a bell) does not trigger a response.
- During conditioning: The NS is repeatedly paired with an Unconditioned Stimulus (US) (e.g., food).
- After conditioning: The NS becomes a Conditioned Stimulus (CS) and elicits a Conditioned Response (CR) (e.g., salivation).
What is an example of a neutral stimulus (NS) becomes and conditioned stimulus.
A child who initially has no fear of white coats (NS) starts associating them with painful shots (US). Over time, the white coat becomes a Conditioned Stimulus (CS) that triggers fear.
Describe higher-order conditioning.
Higher-order conditioning occurs when a new Neutral Stimulus (NS) is paired with an already established Conditioned Stimulus (CS), creating a second level of conditioning.
What is an example of higher-order conditioning?
A dog is conditioned to salivate when hearing a bell (CS) because the bell was paired with food (US).
Then, a flashing light (new NS) is paired with the bell (CS) repeatedly.
Eventually, the flashing light alone (new CS) triggers salivation (CR) even without the bell or food.
What is spontaneous recovery of respondent behavior?
The reappearance of a conditioned response (CR) after it has been extinguished and a period of time has passed.
Even though the response seemed to be “forgotten,” it can re-emerge under the right conditions.
What is an example of spontaneous recovery of respondent behavior?
A person who overcame their fear of dogs may suddenly feel anxious again when encountering a large barking dog after months without exposure.
How is generalization of respondent behavior developed?
It occurs when a conditioned response (CR) is triggered by stimuli that are similar to the original conditioned stimulus (CS).
It happens naturally when an organism does not distinguish between different but related stimuli.
What is an example of generalization of respondent behavior being developed?
A child who was bitten by a large black dog (CS) may develop a fear (CR) not just of black dogs but of all dogs, even if they are different in size or color.
