Classical Conditioning Flashcards
what is the definition of Classical Conditioning
- A relatively permanent change in behaviour or behaviour potential which occurs as a result of prior experience
- Must be inferred from changes in behaviour
Laws of Association
Law of Contiguity - Dog sitting for treat
Law of Similarity - Organising wardrobe
Some learned behaviour examples?
Riding a bike, reading, maths, baking
Nature Vs Nurture?
The debate of whether behaviour is innate or learned
Realistically. its a combination of both
Habituation
Decline in the tendency to respond to stimuli that have become familiar due to repeated exposure
(e.g., tick of a clock)
Adaptation
‘Fitting in’ with the environment
(e.g., shivering in cold conditions,
increasing pupil size in reduced light)
What is the action of Classical Conditioning
The association between one object/event and another
Formulating an association between two things/stimuli that are typically unrelated (The bell + the dog = salivation)
UCS and UCR meaning
Unconditioned Stimulus
Unconditioned Response
NS and CS and CR meanings
Neutral Stimulus
Conditioned Stimulus
Conditioned Response
Stimulus Contiguity
Acquisition of a conditioned response
depends upon the degree to which stimuli are paired in time
Extinction
When the CR is weakened and eventually broken by repeated use of of CS in absence of UCR
Stimulus Generalisation
Process in which CR can be triggered by a stimulus that has never been conditioned but resembles the conditioned stimulus
Stimulus Discrimination
CR is learned only to a specific stimulus and response is not evoked by new stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus.
Effects of generalisation have to be extinguished to facilitate stimulus discrimination
Example of Stimulus Discrimination
In the case of the dog and the bell, a metronome (similar stimulus) must be presented repeatedly without pairing it with food and the sound of the bell continuously presented with food. Resulting in dog discriminating between the bell and metronome
Spontaneous recovery
Reappearance of previously extinguished CR after a period of no exposure to CS
