Lesson 3: Respondent conditioning Flashcards
Definition: Phobia
A phobia is a convenient label that we apply to a long-lasting, intense set of behaviours, like irrational thoughts or fearful reactions.
Research: Pavlov’s dog (4)
(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.
What’s the US, UR, CS and CR in Pavlovs research? (4)
(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)
Definition: conditioning
We use the term conditioning to describe the procedure of pairing the conditioned stimulus with the unconditioned stimulus
Definition: effect
We use the term effect to describe the change in behaviour that takes place due to the pairing of the CS with the US.
Definition: unconditioned stimulus
US = A stimulus that elicits (causes) a response without previous pairing with another stimulus (e.g., food)
Definition: unconditioned response
UR = A response that is elicited (caused by) an unconditioned stimulus (e.g., salivation)
Definition: conditioned stimulus
CS = A stimulus that elicits (causes) a response because of its previous pairings with another stimulus (e.g., bell)
Definition: conditioned response
CR = A response elicited (caused by) a conditioned stimulus (e.g., salivation)
Definition: respondent conditioning
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).
Definition: forward conditioning
A conditioned stimulus may occur before the unconditioned stimulus
Definition: sequential/ simultaneous conditioning
When the conditioned and unconditioned stimulus are presented at the same time
Definition: backward conditioning
If the conditioned stimulus comes after the unconditioned stimulus
What is the best way to use respondent conditioning in real life? and what is the least effective way? (2)
(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
Definition: occasion setters
other stimuli can “signal” when a CS will or will not be followed by a US
Two types of occassion setters (2)
(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.
Definition: stimulus generalisation (2)
(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
Definition: stimulus discrimination (2)
(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
Research: Little Albert (Watson and Rayner) (5)
(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)
What’s the US, UR, CS and CR in Watson and Rayner’s research? (4)
(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)
Definition: higher order respondent conditioning
The functions of a CS are transferred to another CS
A CS was paired with another CS
Definition: respondent extinction
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.
Definition: spontaneous recovery
extinguished conditioned responses can sometimes spontaneously return after a period of time
Definition: renewal
extinction takes place in a different context to the one where the CS-US relation was originally learned
What is systematic desensitisation? (2)
(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.
Definition: systematic desensitisation
Combining relaxation with a hierarchy of fear-producing stimuli, arranged from the least to the most frightening
