Classical Conditioning Flashcards
What is stimulus response learning?
- 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)
What is classical conditioning?
- Learning an association between 2 stimuli, in which a previously unimportant stimulus acquires characteristics from an unimportant stimulus
What is stimulus and response?
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
What is perceptual learning?
- Learning to identify and discriminate different types of stimuli e.g. an object or face recognition
What is motor learning?
- Learning how to modify your motor responses e.g. riding a bike of playing tennis
Where does stimulus response learning occur?
- In between perceptual learning and motor learning
How does stimulus response learning link with classical conditioning?
- 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
What is the definition of ‘unconditional stimuli’?
- Stimulus that produces an automatic, reflexive and unconditional response
What is the definition of ‘unconditional response’?
- An automatic and reflexive response to an unconditional response
What is the definition of ‘conditional stimulus’?
- Initially an irrelevant stimulus, but after repeated pairings with an unconditional stimulus it now elicits a conditional response
What is the definition of ‘conditional response’?
- 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
Who coined classical conditioning?
Ivan Pavlov
What was Pavlov’s experiment to explain classical conditioning?
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
What is extinction in relation to classical conditioning?
- Repeated presentation of an unconditional stimulus without an unconditional response
- This leads to a decreased conditional response
What is spontaneous recovery in relation to classical conditioning?
- After rest, seemingly extinguished responses may return
- If it does return, it is often not as strongly