3.7: Classical Conditioning

Learning

the process of acquiring new and relatively enduring information or behaviors

Habituation

decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation.

associative learning

learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequences (as in operant conditioning).

Stimulus

any event or situation that evokes a response

Respondent Behavior

behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus

operant behavior

behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences

cognitive learning

the acquisition of mental information, whether by observing events, by watching others, or through language

classical conditioning

a type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events

Behaviorism

the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes.

neutral stimulus (NS)

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally—naturally and automatically—triggers a response.

Unconditioned Response (UCR)

in classical conditioning, the unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

in classical conditioning, an originally neutral stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned response.

Conditioned Response (CR)

in classical conditioning, the learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS)

acquisition

In classical conditioning, the initial stage, when one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response.

higher-order conditioning (second-order conditioning)

a procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second (often weaker) conditioned stimulus.

Extinction

in classical conditioning, the diminishing of a conditioned response when an unconditioned stimulus does not follow a conditioned stimulus.

spontaneous recovery

the reappearance, after a pause, of a weakened conditioned response

Generalization (stimulus generalization)

in classical conditioning, the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses.

Discrimination

in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus

Preparedness

a biological predisposition to learn associations, such as between taste and nausea, that have survival value