Classical Conditioning

Question 1

What is stimulus response learning?

Answer 1

• Learning to perform a particular response e.g. behaviour to a particular stimulus
• Learning to recognise the relevance of different stimulus (level crossing)
• Learning of particular response when specific stimulus is detected and recognised (stop crossing - the road)

Question 2

What is classical conditioning?

Answer 2

• Learning an association between 2 stimuli, in which a previously unimportant stimulus acquires characteristics from an unimportant stimulus

Question 3

What is stimulus and response?

Answer 3

Stimulus - Changes in the neural circuit that detects a particular stimulus (perceptual learning) - Changes in the neural circuit that controls a particular behaviour (motor learning) - Response

Question 4

What is perceptual learning?

Answer 4

• Learning to identify and discriminate different types of stimuli e.g. an object or face recognition

Question 5

What is motor learning?

Answer 5

• Learning how to modify your motor responses e.g. riding a bike of playing tennis

Question 6

Where does stimulus response learning occur?

Answer 6

• In between perceptual learning and motor learning

Question 7

How does stimulus response learning link with classical conditioning?

Answer 7

• Many stimuli prompt response without you needing to learn either what stimulus is how to respond
• We can learn associations between these stimuli and other stimuli

Question 8

What is the definition of ‘unconditional stimuli’?

Answer 8

• Stimulus that produces an automatic, reflexive and unconditional response

Question 9

What is the definition of ‘unconditional response’?

Answer 9

• An automatic and reflexive response to an unconditional response

Question 10

What is the definition of ‘conditional stimulus’?

Answer 10

• Initially an irrelevant stimulus, but after repeated pairings with an unconditional stimulus it now elicits a conditional response

Question 11

What is the definition of ‘conditional response’?

Answer 11

• A response that originally only occurs after an unconditional stimulus that, through repeated pairings of the unconditional stimulus and conditional stimulus/response, it is now elicited by the conditioned response

Question 12

Who coined classical conditioning?

Answer 12

Ivan Pavlov

Question 13

What was Pavlov’s experiment to explain classical conditioning?

Answer 13

Pavlov’s dogs:

• he was examining the digestive system of dogs
• served food to the dogs to make them salivate
• eventually, the dogs started salivating as soon as anyone even entered the room
• the food was the unconditional stimulus (US), which prompted a response from the dogs without any need for training
• salivation was the unconditional response (US), when saw food the dogs began to salivate reflexively
• the bell was the conditional stimulus (CS) as the repeated clanging of the bell with food was necessary to make dogs to respond it
• salivation that was prompted by the bell was an unconditional response (UR), after conditioning the bell alone elicited the same (salivating) response as food

Question 14

What is extinction in relation to classical conditioning?

Answer 14

• Repeated presentation of an unconditional stimulus without an unconditional response
• This leads to a decreased conditional response

Question 15

What is spontaneous recovery in relation to classical conditioning?

Answer 15

• After rest, seemingly extinguished responses may return

- If it does return, it is often not as strongly

Question 16

In Pavlov’s experiment how specific is the association of the bell?

Answer 16

• The dogs learnt to associate the bell ringing with the appearance of food
• But what if another bell rings, would this confuse them or would they automatically associate this with food too?

Question 17

Why is classical conditioning useful?

Answer 17

• Many of the stimuli that often evoke reflexive, involuntary unconditional response(s) are aversive

Question 18

What is conditioned defensive burying?

Answer 18

For example:

• rats placed in a chamber littered with bedding material
• an object is mounted on the wall
• as soon as the rat touches the object it receives a single aversive stimulus e.g. shock or air blast
• = conditioned defensive burying

Question 19

What is conditioned taste aversion?

Answer 19

• The development of an aversion to taste of food following the experience of feeling ill after consuming it
• e.g. if you drink something and fall ill soon after, you may/are likely to develop an aversion to the taste of the drink

Question 20

What was Spector et al’s., (1998) study into taste aversion?

Answer 20

Procedure:

• Injected rats with saline or lithium chloride (LiCl)
• LiCl induce mausea and sickness
• The rats were then given sucrose at 5 minute intervals

Findings:

• In the minutes following the injection, the rats (level of) aversion responses gradually went up if they were injected with LiCL
• But the did not go up from 0 when injected with saline
• But, when injected with saline, in the minutes following the injection, the rats ingestive response went up to around 60 at first and continued around this level for the rest of the time
• When injected with LiCl, in the minutes following the injection, the rats ingestive response went up to 60 at first, then 120 but then for the rest of the time recorded, they gradually went down/reduced