Week 5: Factors Influencing Classical Conditioning Flashcards
What are the four major factors influencing classical conditioning?
- The Number of Pairings of the Conditioned Stimulus and the Unconditioned Stimulus
- The Intensity of the Unconditioned Stimulus
- How Reliably the conditioned stimulus predicts the unconditioned stimulus
- The Temporal Relationship between the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus
How does the number of pairings affect classical conditioning?
The greater the number of pairings, the stronger the conditioned response.
What is the effect of the intensity of the unconditioned stimulus?
A stronger unconditioned stimulus leads to a stronger and more rapidly acquired conditioned response.
Example: Striking the steel bar with a hammer produced a stronger and faster conditioning in Albert than clapping hands.
How does the reliability of the conditioned stimulus predict the unconditioned stimulus?
The neutral stimulus must reliably predict the occurrence of the unconditioned stimulus for conditioning to occur.
Example: A smoke alarm that only goes off in response to a fire elicits more fear than one with false alarms.
What is the ideal temporal relationship between the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus?
Conditioning occurs fastest if the conditioned stimulus occurs shortly before the unconditioned stimulus.
What is the optimal time interval for the conditioned stimulus to precede the unconditioned stimulus?
The ideal time is about half a second, but this can vary based on the type of response and the nature of the stimuli.
How does age affect classical conditioning?
Age may affect the optimal time interval for learning to occur.
What happens if the conditioned stimulus occurs too long before the unconditioned stimulus?
An association between the two will not form, except in the case of taste aversions.
