AP Psych Classical Conditioning Examples

conditioned stimulus

Students are accustomed to a bell ringing to indicate the end of a class period. The principal decides to substitute popular music for the bell to indicate the end of each class period. Students quickly respond to the music in the same way they did to the bell. In this example, the music is a (n)

discrimination

A family uses the microwave to prepare their cat's food. The cat comes running into the room when the microwave timer sounds, but not when it hears the over timer. The cat is demonstrating the concept of

spontaneous recovery

Students in school are accustomed to moving to the next class when music is played. After a period of time, the principal replaces the music with a bell to signal the end of class. If one day he plays music by mistake and the students leave class, which of the following is being shown?

N- Tom

US- yelling

UR- blood pressure rises

CS- Tom

CR- blood pressure rises

Tactless Tom yells at Emotional Ernie. As a result, Ernie's blood pressure automatically rises. The next time that Ernie sees Tom, Ernie's blood pressure rises (N, US, UR, CS, CR?)

N- "whoa"

US- kick

UR- "go wild"

CS- "whoa"

CR- "go wild"

Two practical jokers want to get a horse to involuntarily "go wild" (the horse's heart races, and so on) every time the horse hears "whoa". The jokers will kick the horse in order to train him. (N, US, UR, CS, CR?)

N- sight of cat

US- shock

UR- afraid

CS- sight of cat

CR- afraid

The same practical jokers want to make a dog afraid of a cat by shocking the dog every time he sees the cat (N, US, UR, CS, CR?)

N- bell

US- medicine

UR- upset stomach

CS- bell

CR- upset stomach

As a child, Joni's mother would ring a bell every time she gave Joni medicine. The medicine naturally

produced an upset stomach. Nowadays, every time Joni hears a bell, her stomach becomes queasy and upset (N, US, UR, CS, CR?)

N- light

US- fish food

UR- swim up

CS- light

CR- swim up

Each day Sam turns the light on in his aquarium to feed his fish, now whenever Sam turns the light on the aquarium the fish swim up to the top (N, US, UR, CS, CR?)

US - poison

UR - dizziness & nausea

CS - smell of sheep

CR - run away

To discourage coyotes from attacking their sheep, ranchers feed the coyotes small pieces of mutton tainted with poison that, when ingested, cause the coyotes to experience extreme dizziness and nausea. Later, when the coyotes are placed in the pen with the sheep, the mere smell of the sheep causes the

coyotes to run frantically away from their former prey. (US, UR, CS, CR?)

US - drug (that was injected)

UR - weakened immune system

CS - Saccharine flavored water

CR - weakened immune response

As part of a new and intriguing line of research in behavioral medicine, researchers give mice

saccharine flavored water (a sweet substance that mice love) and then follow it up with an injection of a

drug that weakens mice's immune systems. Later, when these mice drank saccharine flavored water, they showed signs of a weakened immune response. Research is currently underway to see if the reverse is possible (I.e., if conditioning can be used to increase immune functioning), a discovery which would

surely have important implications for new medical treatments. (US, UR, CS, CR?)

US - important job interview

UR - uneasy/nervous

CS - flying (on airplane)

CR - nervous/anxious

A passenger on an airplane was feeling very anxious about an important job interview the next morning, and as a result, he was uneasy and nervous throughout the flight. Back at home weeks later, he is contemplating a holiday trip. Though he hadn't previously been afraid to fly, he finds himself suddenly nervous about flying and decides to cancel his plans to visit an out of state relative. (US, UR, CS, CR?)

US - bad weather

UR - unhappy/negative mood

CS - weather forecasters

CR - unhappy/dislike/violent behavior

It's no secret that people become unhappy when bad weather strikes, but what is surprising is that weather forecasters are consistently blamed for weather over which they obviously have no control. Weather forecasters around the country have been wacked by old ladies with umbrellas, pelted with snowballs, and even threatened with death (e.g., "You're the one that sent that tornado and tore up my

house ... l'm going to take your head off!", or "If it snows over Christmas, you won't live to see New

Year's!") by people who mistakenly infer a causal relationship between the forecaster with subsequent

foul weather patterns. (US, UR, CS, CR?)

US - attractive women

UR - desire

CS - sports car

CR - desire (to purchase)

Why is it that automobile advertisementsespecially those for sports cars often feature beautiful

young women? Because smart advertisers know (and research confirms) that new car ads that include an attractive female are rated by men as faster, more appealing, betterdesigned, and more desirable than

similar ads that do not include an attractive female (US, UR, CS, CR?)

US - spanked

UR - pain/fear

CS - rolled up newspaper

CR - fear-like posture

While caring for a friend's dog, you notice that it displays a fear-like posture as you roll up a newspaper. You try this several times more and become convinced that this dog is generally afraid of rolled-up newspapers.

US - the attack

UR - fear

CS - monkey

CR - fear

Example of: extinction

Joan, an animal trainer, has been phobic about monkeys since an earlier attack. However, because of the money, she has agreed to work with monkeys for a movie studio. At first, just going anywhere near cages makes Joan tense, sweaty, and apprehensive. Lately, though, things have changed. Working with such cuddly, affectionate, human-like creatures is causing Joan to wonder why she ever felt such extreme distress.

US - accident/mental image of accident

UR - tense up and flinch

CS - screeching tires

CR - tense up and flinch

Ex of: discrimination

At a red light, Bob and Fred automatically tensed and felt chills when they heard the screech of tires behind them. Later, while watching a car race, Bob remarked how the screeching of tires was having little effect then. Fred agreed and wondered why they reacted at all because neither had as much as a dent on his driving record.

US - relationship

UR - romantic excitement

CS - sight of Donna

CR - excitement

Ex of: spontaneous recovery

Early in their relationship, the mere sight of Donna excited Jack. This gradually died out, however, as Donna behaved tolerantly but indifferently. When the relationship ended, Jack was bored with Donna and didn't even think about her for the next year. Now, he was surprised at how excited he was becoming as he saw Donna through the window of a bus.

US - contaminated food

UR - being sick and nauseated

CS - turkey

CR - feeling nauseous

Ex of: generalization

Bill couldn't ever remember being so sick and nauseated. He would never go to that restaurant again, and he would never again eat chicken. All he could think about was the good dinner his mother would prepare for his homecoming. As he entered the kitchen, he became flushed and felt nauseated when he saw the golden-brown turkey sitting on the table.