L2: Classical conditioning Flashcards
;why study learning?
Most human behaviour is learned (though not all) - like reflexes
* Essential for survival: allows organisms to adjust to changing environments (which stimuli are likely to
satisfy their needs, and which signal danger)
* Understanding the fundamental principles/processes of learning will help us understand
* why we behave the way we do (adaptive and maladaptive behaviours)
* help us use these processes to modify behaviour
what is learning?
Learning is a relatively permanent change
in behaviour or in behavioural potentiality
that results from experience and cannot be
attributed to temporary body states such as
those induced by illness, fatigue, or drugs
(Olson & Ramirez, 2020, p. 8)
learning can be unconscious or conscious
Change in behaviour
Overt or covert (behavioural potentiality)
* Translation of learning to behaviour may not
occur until a later time
Results from experience
Relatively permanent
* Fatigue, illness, intoxication
types of learning?
Learning can be divided into non-associative and associcative and observational learning
Non: sensitization and habituation
Habituation- imagine in noisy place. Feel distressed by loud noise. After time brain becomes habituated to it. Learn that stimuli is not danger.
Associative: classical conditioning and instrumental (operant) conditioning.
habituation?
An organism tends to attend novel stimuli as
they may signal danger or reward (orienting
reflex)
* If, over time, the stimulus turns out not to signal
imminent danger or reward, the intensity of the
response declines
* The organism has learned that the stimulus does
not warrant its attention
i.e: a general process in which repeated or prolonged exposure to a stimulus results in gradual reduction in responding. habituation is a simple form of learning. an experience results in a change in the state of the learner. however the change usually isn’t permanent and in most cases a person will exhibit the original reaction if enough time has gone.
sensitisation?
- Involves increased responsiveness (e.g.
behavioural, emotional) to a stimulus or certain
aspects of the environment (which might not
evoke a response under normal conditions)
Imagine at normal street. Power cut happens. Suddenly become scared. Responsiveness increases.
classical conditioning?
- Classical conditioning is a flexible and adaptive form of associative learning
- The influence of classical conditioning on learning and applications in a range of fields cannot be
overestimated
Classical/Pavlovian conditioning = first signalling system
* Conditioning explains how organisms learn to
anticipate future events of biological significance
* Allows an organism to prepare for and engage in
appropriate behaviour
* Takes place incidentally all the time, every time a neutral
event is paired with a meaningful event
Absence of awareness
- Past lover perfume→ positive feelings. For others= neutral stimulus but for you associate with past memory so positive.
- Having difficult subjects in the morning → mild
dislike for mornings
Classical or pavlovian conditioning
Ivan Pavlov (1849 – 1936)
Studied digestive processes in animals and became
Russia’s first Nobel laureate (1904) for his
contribution to the physiology of digestion
His study of the conditioned reflex did not start till
he was in his 50s…
pavlov’s study?
The dog was fitted with an oesophageal and a
gastric fistula (narrow tube).
* The dog could be fed but food did not reach the
stomach – gastric juices from the stomach could
be measured.
* The stimulation of one part of the body (mouth)
could cause a reflexive response in another
(gastric fluids).
* Pavlov noticed that even the mere sight of food
could cause the release of gastric fluids → the
conditioned reflex.
Before conditioning the sounding of the tone has no effect on the dog’s salivation (innate unconditioning response) as tuning fork is a neutral stimulus placing food in the mouth does have an effect on salivation because food is an unconditioned stimulus.
During conditioning the tune is sounded just before food is placed just before fod is placed in dogs mouth (pairing of neutral stimulus with the unconditioned stimulus). This is done repeatedly.
After conditioning the dog has learned to associate the sounding of the tune with the food placed in the mouth. The tune is now the conditioned stimulus and salivation is the conditioned response.
methods for studying cc?
Eye- blink response:
Skin conductance response :
When stressed, sns signals to glands and we start to sweat. These can be measured. When seeing email with exam result start to sweat. Overtime start to sweat when reading emails?
Eye blink: pair neutral tone with an air puff. Can measure when eyes are blinking. As time goes by as soon as you hear the tone you start blinking as you know air puff is coming.
evaluative conditioning?
Evaluative conditioning is a type of learning where your feelings or attitudes toward a stimulus change due to its association with something positive or negative.
How is it different from classical conditioning?
Classical conditioning (e.g., Pavlov’s dogs) creates an automatic, reflexive response (like salivating).
Evaluative conditioning changes your attitudes or preferences rather than causing a physical reflex.
Bottle of water- neutral. No attachment to unpleasant or pleasant feeling
If begin learning to associate bottle of water with e.g: happy family. Neutral bottle of water gives you pleasant feeling
Sometimes the CR is assessed indirectly by
effects on other behaviours
