Classical Conditioning

Question 1

classical conditioning

Answer 1

• form of learning, in which an animal learns that one stimulus (such as a doorbell) predicts an upcoming important event (such as delivery of food)

Question 2

Unconditioned stimulus (US)

Answer 2

• A cue that has some biological significance and in the absence of prior training naturally evokes a response

Question 3

Unconditioned response (UR)

Answer 3

• the naturally occurring response to an unconditioned stimulus

Question 4

Conditioned stimulus (CS)

Answer 4

• A cue that is paired with an unconditioned stimulus and comes to elicit a conditioned response

Question 5

Conditioned response (CR)

Answer 5

• The trained response to a conditioned stimulus in anticipation of the unconditioned stimulus that it predicts
  -> Serves as preparation for upcoming events

Question 6

Appetitive Conditioning

Answer 6

• Conditioning in which the US is a positive event (e.g. food)

-> Strong conditioners

Question 7

Aversive Conditioning

Answer 7

• US is negative event, learning to avoid or minimize the consequences of an expected aversive event

Question 8

Conditional emotional response

Answer 8

• Technique where US is a shock which leads to freezing of CR

Question 9

Eyeblink conditioning

Answer 9

• A classical conditioning procedure in which the US is an airpuff to the eye and the conditioned and unconditioned responses are eyeblinks (CS is a tone)

Question 10

Compensatory response

Answer 10

• Compensate an event before it actually happens (e.g. lowering water level in a pool before heavy rain)

Question 11

Compound Conditioning

Answer 11

• The simultaneous conditioning of two cues, usually presented at the same time (CR is faster established but when only one of them is used it doesn’t work)

Question 12

Overshadowing

Answer 12

• A effect seen in compound conditioning when a more salient cue within a compound acquires more association strength, and is thus more strongly conditioned, than does the less salient cue

Question 13

Kamin’s Block Effect

Answer 13

• two ways of blocking
  1. Being more salient (louder)
  2. Getting there sooner (a prior trained CS can block learning about another because it already predicting 100% so there is no more space for another)

Question 14

Blocking

Answer 14

• A two phase training paradigm in which prior training to one cue (CS1 → US) blocks later learning of a second cue when the two are paired together in the second phase of the training (CS1+CS2 →US)

Question 15

Mackintosh Theory

Answer 15

• CS modulation theory: the way attention to different CSs is modulated determines which of them become associated with the US. Predicts that salience of a tone as a potential CS will decease when the tone is present without any US (as tone develops history of predicting nothing)
  -> Previously conditioned stimulus derives its salience from its past success as a predictor of important events & other co-occurring cues don’t get access to your limited pool of attention anymore

Question 16

The Rescola-Wagner Model of Conditioning

Answer 16

• three assumptions
• meaning put in 2 equations
• prediction error = occurence of the US - expectation of US based on CS
• expactancy change = prediction error x learning rate
• first trial: no expectations, increase in predictive value (IPVL), added to the accumulative PV
• second trial: former APVL is the new eUS
• learning: increase in eUS associated with reducction of the predictive error: predicitve error is crucial for learning
• cannot account for every type of learning

Question 17

prediction error

Answer 17

• difference between weather animal expects the US and wether the US actually occurs

Question 18

negative error

Answer 18

• US doesn’t take place even if its predicted

Question 19

Error-correction rule

Answer 19

1. prediction error = Actual US-Expected US -> Result is positive
2. negative error = Actual US - Expected US -> Result is negative
3. Actual US and expected US are equal -> No error -> no learning

Question 20

Associative Weight

Answer 20

• value representing the strength of association
• resorla-wagner model
• before training: 0
• changes through learning
• gluck and bower’s network model of category learning: diagnose patients suffering from two diseases (midrosis, burlosis), learned symptoms through practice, weighted different paths differently since symptoms partally overlaped

Question 21

latent inhibition

Answer 21

• conditioning paradigm
• prior exposure to a CS retards later learning
• studies with rabbits: control group (receives no training), seond group (exposed to sound), resorla-wagner incorrectly predicts no learning in phase 1

Question 22

US-modulation theory

Answer 22

• stimulus that enters into an association is determined by a change in how the US is processed
• how unexpected the US is
• explaines learning when US is present
• resorla-wagner theory

Question 23

CS modulation theory

Answer 23

• stimulus that enters into an association is determined by a change in how the CS is processed
• mackintosh predicts that salience of a tone as CS will decrease, because it has no effect, paying attention to one stimulus diminishes ability to attent to other stimuli, blocking (CS derives its salience from past success)

Question 24

CS input pathway

Answer 24

• projects to ponitine nuclei (brainstem): subregion for each kind of sensory information
• projects to deep nuclei of the cerebellum via mossy fibers: interpositus nucleus (exitatory), granule cells - parallel fibres - purkinje cells

Question 25

US input pathway

Answer 25

• US activates inferior olive (connections to thalamus, cerebellum, spinal cord
• inferior olive activates interpositus nucleus (exitatory)
• cerebellar cortex via climbing fibres: wrap around purkinje cells

Question 26

CR output pathway

Answer 26

• starts at purkinje cells
• then from cerebellar cortex into deep nuclei where inhibitory synapse is formed with unterpositus

Question 27

inferior olive

Answer 27

• brain codes prediction error
• CR learned: little activity
• during training: prediction error diminishes
• no inferior olive = no classical conditioning
• no inhibition from interpositus to inferior olive = no blocking

Question 28

electrophysiological recording in the cerebellum

Answer 28

• electrode inserted in to interpositus nucleus
• neural activity occurs milliseconds before the actual behaviour
• no activity in unpaired CS or US alone trials (cerebellum no responsible for unconditioned eye-blinks)
• purkinje cellls sponaneously always fire: decrease in firing leads to response, inhibition on interpositus is removed

Question 29

brain stimulation as substitute for behavioural training

Answer 29

• brain stimulation of the pathways
• response indistinguishable from those of behavioural training

Question 30

reducing medication through classical conditioning

Answer 30

• pairing of a neutral stimulus with a powerful medication
• train the body to cope with a disease
• used when medications have serious side effects

Question 31

classical conditioning in tolerance of addictive drugs

Answer 31

• automatic compensatory responses
• conditioned tolerance: dependent on environmental cues, acts as CS associated with US drug, cravings are CR (result from body conditioned compensatory response of lowering cheimcals)
• latent inhibition: pre-exposure slows down
• extinction does apply to drug tolerance