Lesson 3: Respondent conditioning

Question 1

Definition: Phobia

Answer 1

A phobia is a convenient label that we apply to a long-lasting, intense set of behaviours, like irrational thoughts or fearful reactions.

Question 2

Research: Pavlov’s dog (4)

Answer 2

(1) His physiological research required him to surgically implant tubes into dogs’ saliva glands to measure how much they salivated.

(2) Usually when food was presented to the dogs they would salivate.

(3) After some time Pavlov noticed something strange: the dogs would salivate whenever he entered the room, even when he didn’t come with any food.

(4) he also started to ring a bell at the same time as he delivered food. Over time the bell started to elicit salivation.

Question 3

What’s the US, UR, CS and CR in Pavlovs research? (4)

Answer 3

(1) The food itself is an unconditioned stimulus (US)

(2) the salivating to the food is an unconditioned response (UR)

(3) the sound of the bell is a conditioned stimulus (CS) that only elicits (leads to) salivating after it’s been paired with food.

(4) the salivation to the bell is a conditioned response (CR)

Question 4

Definition: conditioning

Answer 4

We use the term conditioning to describe the procedure of pairing the conditioned stimulus with the unconditioned stimulus

Question 5

Definition: effect

Answer 5

We use the term effect to describe the change in behaviour that takes place due to the pairing of the CS with the US.

Question 6

Definition: unconditioned stimulus

Answer 6

US = A stimulus that elicits (causes) a response without previous pairing with another stimulus (e.g., food)

Question 7

Definition: unconditioned response

Answer 7

UR = A response that is elicited (caused by) an unconditioned stimulus (e.g., salivation)

Question 8

Definition: conditioned stimulus

Answer 8

CS = A stimulus that elicits (causes) a response because of its previous pairings with another stimulus (e.g., bell)

Question 9

Definition: conditioned response

Answer 9

CR = A response elicited (caused by) a conditioned stimulus (e.g., salivation)

Question 10

Definition: respondent conditioning

Answer 10

Pairing a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus causes it to elicit a conditioned response (e.g., pairing a bell with food causes the bell to elicit salivation).

Question 11

Definition: forward conditioning

Answer 11

A conditioned stimulus may occur before the unconditioned stimulus

Question 12

Definition: sequential/ simultaneous conditioning

Answer 12

When the conditioned and unconditioned stimulus are presented at the same time

Question 13

Definition: backward conditioning

Answer 13

If the conditioned stimulus comes after the unconditioned stimulus

Question 14

What is the best way to use respondent conditioning in real life? and what is the least effective way? (2)

Answer 14

(1) Forward is the best: CS is functioning as a cue for the US
(2) Backward is the least effective: CS is not a cue for the US, it’s mixed with other effects

Question 15

Definition: occasion setters

Answer 15

other stimuli can “signal” when a CS will or will not be followed by a US

Question 16

Two types of occassion setters (2)

Answer 16

(1) Positive occasion setters are stimuli that indicate a CS-US relationship is present when it is also present

(2) negative occasion setters indicates that a CS-US relationship is absent when it is present.

Question 17

Definition: stimulus generalisation (2)

Answer 17

(1) It’s possible for the responses elicited by one stimulus to also be elicited by other similar stimuli

(2) a stimulus similar to the CS produces a CR

Question 18

Definition: stimulus discrimination (2)

Answer 18

(1) There are many situations where the responses elicited by a stimulus won’t generalise to other stimuli.

(2) a stimulus significantly dissimilar to the CS will not produce a CR

Question 19

Research: Little Albert (Watson and Rayner) (5)

Answer 19

(1) they wanted to know if they could use respondent conditioning to establish a phobic reaction in a 9-month-old infant

(2) loud noises startled and frightened Albert and could elicit crying in him

(3) he showed no fear of white rats and other furry animals

(4) they showed Albert a white rat and then striked a piece of metal with a hammer behind his head

(5) they managed to establish a conditioned phobic in Little Albert (i.e., he started to cry when he later saw a white rat)

Question 20

What’s the US, UR, CS and CR in Watson and Rayner’s research? (4)

Answer 20

(1) The loud noice is an unconditioned stimulus (US)

(2) the fear response to the loud noice is an unconditioned response (UR)

(3) the white rat is a conditioned stimulus (CS) that only elicits (leads to) a fear response after it’s been paired with the loud noice.

(4) the fear response to the white rat is a conditioned response (CR)

Question 21

Definition: higher order respondent conditioning

Answer 21

The functions of a CS are transferred to another CS

A CS was paired with another CS

Question 22

Definition: respondent extinction

Answer 22

Present the conditioned stimulus without pairing it with the unconditioned stimulus or with an already established conditioned stimulus, and the conditioned stimulus will lose its eliciting power.

Question 23

Definition: spontaneous recovery

Answer 23

extinguished conditioned responses can sometimes spontaneously return after a period of time

Question 24

Definition: renewal

Answer 24

extinction takes place in a different context to the one where the CS-US relation was originally learned

Question 25

What is systematic desensitisation? (2)

Answer 25

(1) Systematic desensitisation is a widely used treatment in behaviour analysis for phobic responding

(2) Systematic desensitisation can be carried out in vivo (in real life) or in imagination.

Question 26

Definition: systematic desensitisation

Answer 26

Combining relaxation with a hierarchy of fear-producing stimuli, arranged from the least to the most frightening