Lecture 2: Classical Conditioning Flashcards
The conditioned response was first referred to as what, by who?
Pavlov termed it the “psychic reflex’
What is second order conditioning
When a Conditioned stimulus is made meaningful for an organism through initial conditioning and acquires a conditioned response, then the CS1 acts as a US itself. Therefore the CR occurs in the presence of CS2
Give an example of second order conditioning
An animal might learn to associate a bell with food, but then learn to associate a light with the bell. Animal would salivate with only the light present.
What would the respective phases of acquisition and extinction be with respect to classic dog conditioning
Acquisition = Bell (CS) + Food (US) Extinction = Bell (CS) + No Food = Bell (CS) ALONE
What is extinction
repeated CS alone presentations resulting in a reduction in the CR. Can be product of the removal of a stimulus AND the experimental phase itself.
Why might extinction slow down or the response not reduce consistently?
There is complex info being learned and retained across experiments and there is remnants of conditioning.
How does classical conditioning relate to human psychology more generally? (3 concepts)
1) classical conditioning as an experimental model for studying learning processes
2) do the same mechanisms extend beyond the transmission of primitive reflexes?
3) Associative learning - how do events relate to other events, learning and remembering relationships between unrelated items (classical and operant are both forms of this)
Is the CR always the same as the UR? Give an example
CR is not always the same as UR
US : warning signal
UR : fear
CS : painful/unpleasant event
CR : Escape behaviour, defence/aggression
How is extinction not just unlearning?
Spontaneous recovery - the reappearance of the conditioned response after a rest period - may occur. The renewed CR is usually much weaker than the CR observed prior to extinction.
Explain rat’s fear
the presentation of the warning signal after conditioning –> rat freezes. This is an example of the CR not being the same as the UR
What are some common examples of classical conditioning
- Eyeblink conditioning
- food preferences - repetitive conditioning, e..g caramel giving a sweet smell is a food preference
- place preferences
- anticipatory nausea - chemotherapy leads to this. Some patients even say talking on the phone makes them ill
- conditioned fear
- conditioned taste aversions
- place avoidance
How is strength of CR related to frequency during acquisition? DRAW GRAPH
The CR is negatively accelerating in form. The CR gets stronger by a smaller amount every trial until it reaches a max limit - the asymptote/ asymptotic level of responding.
How is strength of CR related to intensity of CS during acquisition? DRAW GRAPH
A weaker CS leads to the same strength of CR at same asymptotic level in the same number of trials, however, it reaches it with a less steep gradient, with gaps in amount increased per trial more pronounced and steady than for stronger CS.
How is strength of CR related to intensity of US during acquisition? DRAW GRAPH
A weaker US leads to a lower strength of CR at a lower asymptotic level of responding. The gaps close in on each other faster. N.B this is despite same number of trials.
What is contiguity? and the ISI?
This is the time between onset of CS and when US occurs.
Second is the inter-stimulus interval - the time between CS on and US on
