Classical Conditioning Flashcards
Classical Conditioning suggests that learning is through what?
Association
Who discovered Classical Conditioning?
Pavlov (1927)
What is another way of saying ‘unconditioned’?
Not learned
Conditioning takes place in how many phases?
Three:
Before conditioning
During conditioning
After conditioning
In the case of Pavlov and his salivating dogs, what was the UCS?
The unconditioned stimulus was the food (this would trigger a response (salivation) without any conditioning.
What is a neutral stimulus?
Something that would not trigger a response before conditioning.
What was the neutral stimulus in Pavlov’s study?
Bell (this would not trigger salivation before conditioning).
What would happen during conditioning?
The UCS and the NS are paired.
After conditioning, what would produce the UCR?
The original Neutral Stimulus which is now a conditioned stimulus.
After conditioning, what would the conditioned stimulus trigger?
The conditioned response.
What is extinction?
When the CS no longer produces the CR because it hasn’t been paired with the UCS
What is spontaneous recovery?
When the extinct reponses reappear without new pairings with the UCS.
What is stimulus generalisation?
The conditioned response occurs when there is a similar stimulus.
E.g. once conditioned to salivate at one chocolate wrapper, we might also salivate at the sight of other wrappers.
Who provided supporting evidence for Classical Conditioning in animals?
Pavlov (1927)
Who provided supporting evidence for Classical Conditioning in humans?
Watson & Rayner (1920)
Why is Classical Conditioning an incomplete explanation for learning?
Classical Conditioning only explains the acquisition of simple reflex responses (e.g. salivation, anxiety, sexual arousal). But it cannot explain more complex chains of learned behaviour.
E.g. it can explain how we come to fear dogs but not the maintenance of this fear over time or the behaviours we learn to avoid encountering dogs.
How is Classical Conditioning useful in real life (application)?
It is the basis of aversion therapy.
It is used to treat people who have an unwanted behaviour such as experiencing sexual arousal to a photograph of a young child.
A painful electric shock (UCS) is paired with the photograph (NS), the shock produces a response of discomfort (UCR). The NS becomes the CS.
Where does Classical Conditioning fit in with Issues and Debates?
Psychology as a science.
It is a good science because it is falsifiable, it generates testable predictions.
