Classical Conditioning

Question 1

Classical conditioning

Answer 1

A learning process which builds up an association between two stimuli through repeated pairings

Question 2

Neutral stimuli

Answer 2

Something in the environment which does not initially cause a response e.g. a dog would not normally salivate in response to a bell

Question 3

Unconditioned Stimulus

Answer 3

Anything that naturally has the power to produce a response in a human or animal e.g the smell of food

Question 4

Unconditioned response

Answer 4

A natural reflex response to and unconditioned stimulus e.g. salivation in response to the presence of food

Question 5

Conditioned stimulus

Answer 5

The neutral stimulus becomes the conditioned stimulus when it acquires the ability to produce a specific response in the human or animal e.g. a bell

Question 6

Conditioned response

Answer 6

A learnt response to something that doesn’t naturally have the power to produce a response in a human or animal e.g. salivating to the sound of a bell

Question 7

Extinction

Answer 7

When the CR declines and disappeared as the CS is repeated presented in the absence of the UCS e.g. when the bell is presented repeatedly without the food present the salivation eventually disappears

Question 8

Constantaneous recovery

Answer 8

When the CR reappears in a weakened form in response to the CS e.g. the bell is rung some time later and the dog will salivate a little

Question 9

Generalisation

Answer 9

When stimuli similar to the CS produce the CR
E.g. the dog will salivate to stimuli similar to bells such as the door bell

Question 10

Discrimination

Answer 10

The CR is only produced in response to the CS and not to similar stimuli. E.g. the dog will only salivate in response to the specific bell it has been conditioned with

Question 11

Strengths

Answer 11

• Anecdotal evidence for classical conditioning e.g feeling sick with cleaning products
• evidence comes from lab studies. These are highly controlled and can establish cause and effect relationship
• can explain how people develop phobias and lead to develop,ent of treatments using classical conditioning (systematic desensitisation + aversion theory)

Question 12

Weakness

Answer 12

• can’t explain how novel behaviours are acquired only explains when association is made
• lots of research uses animals, doesn’t take into account humans have higher order cognitive processes so can’t generalise to humans as they understand and may be less influenced