classical conditioning Flashcards
what is classical conditioning?
a type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events.
theory states that behaviors are learned by connecting a neutral stimulus with a positive one, such as pavlov’s dogs hearing a bell (neutral) and expecting food (positive). has to do with involuntary behaviors
(ex: a father comes home and slams the front door when he’s had a bad day. it’s usually followed by him yelling at his children. after that, the children associate door slamming with being yelled at. every time they hear the door slam, they shake with fear)
how did Pavlov study classical conditioning?
pavlov was studying digestion when he noticed that dogs’ reactions to food subtly changed over time. at first, the dogs would only salivate when the food was placed in front of them. later on, they started salivating a bit before that and pavlov realized it was because they heard certain noises before getting the food. so he took a bell and started ringing it before they got food. at first they had no response but then they started to salivate at the sound of the bell.
what are the unconditioned response, unconditioned stimulus, conditioned response, and conditioned stimulus?
unconditioned response- automatic response or a response that occurs without thought when an unconditioned stimulus is present. (ex: smelling your favorite food and your mouth starts watering, the watering is an unconditioned response)
conditioned response- is a learned response or a response that is created where no response existed before. (ex: after being bit by a dog, the fear you experience of dogs after the bite is a conditioned response)
unconditioned stimulus- a stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response (no prior conditioning) (ex: a cold breeze making you shiver. the cold breeze is the US)
conditioned stimulus- a stimulus that was once neutral (didn’t trigger a response) but now leads to a response. (ex: if you previously didn’t pay attention to dogs, but then got bit by one, and now you feel fear every time you see a dog, the dog has become a conditioned stimulus)
what is generalization?
conditioned response to stimuli that are not the conditioned stimulus (but are similar to the conditioned stimulus). (ex: dog salivating at a noise that SOUNDS SIMILAR to the bell but isn’t)
what is discrimination?
conditioned response occurs only to a specific stimulus (ex: not salivating at anything besides the bell)
what is extinction?
occurrences of a conditioned response decrease or disappear. this happens when a conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with an unconditioned stimulus.
(ex: if the smell of food and the sound of a whistle are paired, the sound of the whistle would be conditioning to bring about hunger. however, if the smell of food disappeared, the hunger that comes with the whistle would eventually disappear)
what was Watson and Raynor’s study with Little Albert?
a white lab rat was placed near albert and he was allowed to play with it. at this point, watson and rayner made a loud sound behind albert’s back by striking a suspended steel bar with a hammer each time the baby touched the rat. albert responded to the noise by crying and showing fear. after several such pairings of the two stimuli, albert was presented with only the rat. upon seeing the rat, albert became very distressed, crying and crawling away. apparently, the infant associated the white rat with the noise.
what is counterconditioning?
linking new, positive responses to previously unwanted stimuli (ex: mary jones helping a child get over his fear of rabbits by exposure therapy) REPLACING STIMULUS WITH ANOTHER ONE
