Main Features Of Classical Conditioning

Question 1

What is unconditioned stimulus (UCS)?

Answer 1

The stimulus which automatically triggers a specific reflex response
-e.g food

Question 2

What is the unconditioned response (UCR)?

Answer 2

The automatic reflex response to the unconditioned stimulus

-e.g salivation

Question 3

What is the neutral stimulus (NS)?

Answer 3

A stimulus which would not normally trigger a specific reflex response
-e.g bell doesn’t normally trigger salivation

Question 4

What is the conditioned stimulus (CS)?

Answer 4

The NS now triggers the reflex response

-e.g bell now triggers salivation

Question 5

What is the conditioned response (CR)?

Answer 5

This is the learned response- the reflex behaviour is triggered by the CS
-e.g salivation in response to the bell

Question 6

What is extinction?

Answer 6

• When the learned response appears to be extinguished.
• E.g dogs hears bell on several trails when no food is presented, and so association weakens, and dog no longer salivates to bell

Question 7

What is spontaneous recovery?

Answer 7

Shows the association between the buzzer and salivation has not been completely extinguished.
-e.g when dog is removed from the experiment temporarily but when returned it will still salivate when it hears the bell

Question 8

What is generalisation?

Answer 8

When the conditional response was triggered by a similar stimulus
-e.g Pavlov found that dog salivated to a bell which had similar tone to original bell. More similar the tone of bell, the greater quantity of saliva produced by the dog