Lecture 2- Classical Conditioning 1

Question 0

Name the different elements in these scenarios:
Bang+ rabbit —- crying
Rabbit—- crying
Bang — crying

Answer 0

US,CS,UR
CS,CR
US,UR

Question 1

Name the different elements in the following scenarios:
Food— salivation
Food + bell —– salivation
Bell —– salivation

Answer 1

US, UR
US, CS,UR
CS, CR

Question 2

When can classical conditioning be used in a clinical setting?

Answer 2

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.

Question 3

Explains john watsons little Albert experiment.

Answer 3

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.

Question 4

What are the 3 typical phases of a classical conditioning experiment?

Answer 4

Stage 1: habituation- present conditioned stimulus alone to establish baseline behaviours
Stage 2: acquisition - present CS with US
Stage 3: extinction - present CS alone

Question 5

Draw the acquisition curve.

Answer 5

Curve the increases over trials

Question 6

Draw the acquisition/extinction curve

Answer 6

Acquisition curve increases over trials- extinction curve in opposite direction

Question 7

What 2 factors influence the acquisition curve?

Answer 7

1. 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

Question 8

Draw the following timing of US/CS presentations:

1. Short time delay
2. Long time delay
3. Trace conditioning
4. Simultaneous conditioning
5. Backward conditioning

Answer 8

1. Short delay of US after CS presentation
2. Long delay of US after CS presentation
3. Gap between presentation of CS and US
4. Present CS and US at the same time
5. Present US before CS

Question 9

Which of the following would require a smaller temporal gap between CS and US presentation? Visual stimuli or taste aversion

Answer 9

Visual stimuli- taste aversion is the strongest and quickest form of classical learning

Question 10

What is the recommended time between stimuli In humans?

Answer 10

O.4-1 second

Question 11

What is excitatory conditioning? Give an example.

Answer 11

Excitatory conditioning is when the CS predicts the US. Eg. A-US,A-US,A-US

Question 12

What is inhibitory conditioning? Give an example.

Answer 12

Inhibitory conditioning is when a CS predicts the absence of a US. Eg. A-US, AB,A-US (B is absence of US)

Question 13

What two tests according to Rescorla do stimuli have to pass to be an inhibitor?

Answer 13

Summation test

Retardation test

Question 14

Explain the retardation test.

Answer 14

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)

Question 15

Explain the summation test. Graph the results if inhibitor passed.

Answer 15

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.

Question 16

Identify the processes that are involved in extinction: 
Spontaneous recovery 
Forgetting 
Unlearning
Reinstatement
Inhibitory conditioning 
The renewal effect

Answer 16

Spontaneous recovery
The renewal effect
Reinstatement

Question 17

What is the process of spontaneous recovery?

Answer 17

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.

Question 18

What is the renewal process?

Answer 18

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

Question 19

What is the reinstatement (reminder) effect?

Answer 19

When CS is presented with CR once- the association is relearnt quicker than before

Question 20

What is latent inhibition or CS prexposure? Explain an experiment done to demonstrate latent inhibition.

Answer 20

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.

Question 21

Why can habituation and inhibition be ruled out as causes for latent inhibition ?

Answer 21

Not habitual because latent inhibition is context specific- habituation occurs across all contexts
Not inhibition as it does not pass test of summation.

Question 22

What are the 3 hidden assumptions of classical conditioning? And what shows that they are incorrect?

Answer 22

1. Equipotentiality - any stimulus can be paired with any response
2. Contiguity- the more two stimuli are paired, the stronger the association
3. Contingency - conditioning changes trial to trial in a regular way
   Super conditioning and blocking show these are not true

Question 23

What is blocking? Describe Karmins experiment on blocking.

Answer 23

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.

Question 24

What is superconditioning? Explain Rescorla’s study on superconditioning in rats.

Answer 24

The learning of a novel stimulus is superconditioned (enhanced) when paired with an inhibitory stimulus. Rescorla had rats be presented with a tone and then no shock. (Inhibitory stimulus) Then she had rats be presented with a tone, light and a shock. She then tested how rats would respond to just the light and they elicited a response! Since tone was associated with no shock, the light was attributed to be the cause of the shock hence the response.

Question 25

How does blocking disprove the hidden assumptions of classical conditioning ?

Answer 25

1. Equipotentiality- not all stimuli elicit a response (particularly those paired with excitatory stimuli)
2. Contiguity- no made the number of pairings of the excitatory stimulus and novel stimulus, the Novel stimulus was still not learnt
3. Contingency- conditioning did not change from trial to trial, the rats continued to ignore the light