Classical conditioning

Classical Conditioning vs operant definition

Classical:

Changes behaviour and involves learning

A dog hears the leash jingle (neutral sound) → becomes excited because it predicts a walk.

Operant:

“Learning to do by doing” or learning in which behaviour is affected by it’s consequences, emphasizing reinforcement and punishment

Positive reinforcement: give something good → behavior increases
(e.g., dog sits → gets a treat → sits more often)

Give a famous example classical conditioning?

Pavlov's dogs

US – unconditioned stimulus

animal can perceive and respond to – smell food

UR – conditioned response

the response to above US - salivation – no learning required!

NS – neutral stimulus

a meaningless stimuli eg. assistants with no meat powder

CS – conditioned stimulus

one the animal has learned to perceive – assistants with meat powder for me

CR – conditioned response

response to CS - salivate

Learning by Association—————> Behavior Modification

Occurs when a neutral stimulus is paired with a meaningful stimulus. This results in the previously neutral stimulus eliciting the same emotional response as the meaningful stimulus

Eg. Clicker training Eg. Cat going in a carrier = going to the vet

Habituation

Learns not to respond to a stimuli ▪ No classical conditioning occurs ▪ It is stimulus specific ▪ Ex: cars driving by, music, plane, baby crying, etc

Sensitization

Creating and strengthening a physiological/emotional response to a stimulus

Cats become sensitized to the sound of the can opener

Desensitization

Helping overcome fear in the presence of stimuli

Animal is exposed to scary stimulus that is reduced to the point where there is no response

Counterconditioning

learning a new and more appropriate response to stimuli that previously causesd an anxious or fearful response

What is flooding

• no escape

• eventually animal gives up

• must continue until fear subsides or animal will become more fearful

• not recommended