2.1. Classical Conditioning, (Pavlov, 1902), (Watson and Rayner, 1920)

Learning

a relatively permanent change in behaviour due to ones experience

classical conditioning

is learning through an association pairing between two stimuli of an innate response with a neutral stimulus that eventually creates a conditioned response

In classical conditioning…

• An unconditioned stimulus must be biologically potent (e.g. food)- this must produce an involuntary unconditioned response e.g. salivation

• When the unconditioned stimulus is repeatedly paired with a neutral stimulus e.g. a bell- the UCS becomes associated with it, making an organism feel that one stimulus predicts the presence of the other

• After this association has been established, the neutral stimulus now becomes the conditioned stimulus because the bell now leads to a conditioned response, e.g. salivation in absence of the UCS

aquisition

process of establishing this association

Extinction

the process of losing this association over time

When any similar stimulus leads to a conditioned response it is called…

stimulus generalization.

the opposite is…

stimulus discrimination

When an extinguished conditioned response returns after a delay in conditioning session it is termed

spontaneous recovery