CLASSICAL CONDITIONING / LANGUAGE / 5 ELEMENTS / PROCESS IN CC

Question 1

DEFINITION: CLASSICAL CONDITIONING (Pavlov’s Dogs)

• Respondent
• Associative learning

5 ELEMENTS

• Neutral Stimulus
• Unconditioned Stimulus
• Unconditioned Response
• Conditioned Stimulus
• Conditioned Response

Answer 1

• Known as a three phase process as well as a simple form of learning that involves involuntary/automatic, reflexive responses
• Conditioning: Means learning
• Learning: Two UNRELATED stimuli are repeatedly presented together and FORM an association (elicit a response)

Question 2

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING: THREE PHASE MODEL

Answer 2

PHASE 1: Before Conditioning

• Testing the Neutral stimulus (Making sure it doesn’t elicit a response)
• When the NS and the UCS are presented SEPARATELY to make sure the UCS = response while the NS = no response

PHASE 2: Acquisition phase
- This is during conditioning/learning
- NS and the UCS are presented REPEATEDLY
- Form an association between the two stimuli
- NS: must come first and then the UCS
NOTE: the closer the pairing of the 2 stimuli, the BETTER the learning will be

PHASE 3: After conditioning

• When the NS is presented alone and a response still occurs
• Learning has taken place
• NS is now referred to as the CS which produces the CR

Question 3

DEFINITION: NEUTRAL STIMULUS / UCS / UCR

Answer 3

NEUTRAL STIMULUS
- Known as a stimulus that originally DOES NOT produce any response
UNCONDITIONED STIMULUS
- A stimulus that produces an AUTOMATIC reflex response (Without learning)
UNCONDITIONED RESPONSE
- A response that occurs AUTOMATICALLY when the UCS is presented

Question 4

DEFINITION: CONDITIONED STIMULUS / CR

Answer 4

CONDITIONED STIMULUS
- The stimulus that was neutral at the start, BUT through repeated association, the CS is able to produce the same effect as the UCS
CONDITIONED RESPONSE
- A new learned response
- Produced by the conditioned stimulus (NOT the UCS)

Question 5

PROCESSES IN CLASSICAL CONDITIONING x 5

• Acquisition
• Extinction
• Spontaneous Recovery
• Stimulus Generalisation
• Stimulus Discrimination

Answer 5

• ACQUISITION
• Learning phase
• NS and the UCS = presented repeatedly (Form an association)
• NS is presented first and then the UCS
• EXTINCTION
• A gradual decrease in strength of a CR when there UCS is no longer present
• When CS and CR is not always permanent
• CR no longer occurs after the presentation of the CS
• SPONTANEOUS RECOVERY: Short lived and weaker than the original
• Extinction is not always permanent
• The REAPPEARANCE of a CR when the CS is presented, after or following a REST PERIOD and the extinction of the CR
• STIMULUS GENERALISATION
• The tendency for ANOTHER stimulus to PRODUCE a response similar to the CR
• STIMULUS DISCRIMINATION
• The tendency for only one STIMULUS to produce a CR (No matter if the other stimulus is similar or not).