Lecture 2- Classical Conditioning 1 Flashcards
Name the different elements in these scenarios:
Bang+ rabbit —- crying
Rabbit—- crying
Bang — crying
US,CS,UR
CS,CR
US,UR
Name the different elements in the following scenarios:
Food— salivation
Food + bell —– salivation
Bell —– salivation
US, UR
US, CS,UR
CS, CR
When can classical conditioning be used in a clinical setting?
Classical conditioning techniques are used in phobias and fears. The aim is for the stimulus not to produce the fear anymore, usually done through exposure.
Explains john watsons little Albert experiment.
The experiment of little Albert presented little Albert with a loud blast (US) which caused little Albert to cry (UR). Watson then introduced a rabbit (CR) every time a loud blast occurred (US) which again causes little Albert to cry (UR). Finally, little Albert was conditioned to cry (CR) when the rabbit (CS) was presented on it’s own. Interestingly, Alberts fear generalised to all fluffy things.
What are the 3 typical phases of a classical conditioning experiment?
Stage 1: habituation- present conditioned stimulus alone to establish baseline behaviours
Stage 2: acquisition - present CS with US
Stage 3: extinction - present CS alone
Draw the acquisition curve.
Curve the increases over trials
Draw the acquisition/extinction curve
Acquisition curve increases over trials- extinction curve in opposite direction
What 2 factors influence the acquisition curve?
- Intensity of US (more intense= quicker learning)
2. Timing and order of US/CS (faster learning when CS presented first, and when little gap between CS/US
Draw the following timing of US/CS presentations:
- Short time delay
- Long time delay
- Trace conditioning
- Simultaneous conditioning
- Backward conditioning
- Short delay of US after CS presentation
- Long delay of US after CS presentation
- Gap between presentation of CS and US
- Present CS and US at the same time
- Present US before CS
Which of the following would require a smaller temporal gap between CS and US presentation? Visual stimuli or taste aversion
Visual stimuli- taste aversion is the strongest and quickest form of classical learning
What is the recommended time between stimuli In humans?
O.4-1 second
What is excitatory conditioning? Give an example.
Excitatory conditioning is when the CS predicts the US. Eg. A-US,A-US,A-US
What is inhibitory conditioning? Give an example.
Inhibitory conditioning is when a CS predicts the absence of a US. Eg. A-US, AB,A-US (B is absence of US)
What two tests according to Rescorla do stimuli have to pass to be an inhibitor?
Summation test
Retardation test
Explain the retardation test.
The retardation test is the presentation of a novel stimulus with a US compared with the inhibitory stimulus with the US. The rate of learning is compared for each. If the I-US pairing is slower than the N-US, then the stimulus is called inhibitory (passed the test)
Explain the summation test. Graph the results if inhibitor passed.
Present an excitatory CS alone and an excitatory CS with an inhibitor. If A+I learning < A learning than the stimulus has passed the test.
Identify the processes that are involved in extinction: Spontaneous recovery Forgetting Unlearning Reinstatement Inhibitory conditioning The renewal effect
Spontaneous recovery
The renewal effect
Reinstatement
What is the process of spontaneous recovery?
When acquisition and extinction have both occurred and then a break is taken. When the CS is then presented the CR may be elicited spontaneously.
What is the renewal process?
Renewal occurrs when extinction is context specific. For example if extinction of CS occurs in red room- when CS is presented in blue room it will produce a CR
What is the reinstatement (reminder) effect?
When CS is presented with CR once- the association is relearnt quicker than before
What is latent inhibition or CS prexposure? Explain an experiment done to demonstrate latent inhibition.
Latent inhibition is the presentation of a CS without a CR over and over again. To test this participants were divided into two groups. 1 was exposed to the CS (yellow light) and the other to a blue light over and over again. Both groups where then presented with the yellow light and a shock. The blue group learnt quicker the the yellow light predicted the shock compared to the yellow group.
Why can habituation and inhibition be ruled out as causes for latent inhibition ?
Not habitual because latent inhibition is context specific- habituation occurs across all contexts
Not inhibition as it does not pass test of summation.
What are the 3 hidden assumptions of classical conditioning? And what shows that they are incorrect?
- Equipotentiality - any stimulus can be paired with any response
- Contiguity- the more two stimuli are paired, the stronger the association
- Contingency - conditioning changes trial to trial in a regular way
Super conditioning and blocking show these are not true
What is blocking? Describe Karmins experiment on blocking.
The learning of a novel stimulus is blocked when it is paired with an excitatory stimulus. Karmin divided rats into 2 groups. One group (control) was presented with a light and heard a noise and then received a shock. Karmin tested if they would react to each stimulus separately and they did. The other group heard a noise and then got shocked. They then were presented with a light, heard a noise and then got shocked. When these ps were tested on just the light- they did not exhibit a CR. This is because they learnt to associate the shock with the noise and the light was blocked from learning.
