Human Learning: Classical Conditioning

Flashcards testing core concepts of classical conditioning across all four lecture modules, including basic conditioning mechanisms, response measurement, contingency calculations, inhibition tests, temporal variables, salience and overshadowing, acquisition and extinction curves, latent inhibition, blocking, higher-order conditioning, sensory preconditioning, and Garcia & Koelling's selective associations.

How is classical conditioning defined?

Classical conditioning is the process through which an initially neutral stimulus (the conditioned stimulus), which does not elicit a particular reflexive response, comes to elicit a reflexive response (the conditioned response) as a result of being paired with a reflexive stimulus (the unconditioned stimulus which elicits the unconditioned response).

In Ivan Pavlov's classical conditioning experiments, what served as the unconditioned stimulus ($\text{US}$) and the unconditioned response ($\text{UR}$)?

The unconditioned stimulus ($\text{US}$) was meat powder, and the unconditioned response ($\text{UR}$) was salivation.

In Pavlov's conditioning experiments, what was the neutral stimulus that became the conditioned stimulus ($\text{CS}$), and what was the conditioned response ($\text{CR}$)?

The ticking metronome was the neutral stimulus that became the conditioned stimulus ($\text{CS}$), and salivation in response to the metronome alone became the conditioned response ($\text{CR}$).

According to the lecture, what is the primary adaptive function of classical conditioning for animals and humans?

It allows animals and humans to anticipate biologically significant events by responding appropriately to stimuli that have predicted them in the past.

In the computer start-up and Altoid mint conditioning demonstration, what are the $\text{CS}$, $\text{US}$, $\text{UR}$, and $\text{CR}$?

The conditioned stimulus ($\text{CS}$) is the computer start-up sound; the unconditioned stimulus ($\text{US}$) is the Altoid mint; the unconditioned response ($\text{UR}$) is enjoying the fresh mint taste; and the conditioned response ($\text{CR}$) is reaching for the mint and experiencing a bad taste in the mouth.

In the car travel taste aversion example from the lecture, what functioned as the $\text{CS}$, $\text{US}$, and $\text{CR}$?

The conditioned stimulus ($\text{CS}$) was food, the unconditioned stimulus ($\text{US}$) was car travel (which naturally produced sickness as the $\text{UR}$), and the conditioned response ($\text{CR}$) was food aversion and sickness.

If Jim becomes very sick after drinking a case of beer by himself, and subsequently begins to gag and retch whenever he smells beer, what conditioning term describes the smell of beer?

The conditioned stimulus ($\text{CS}$).

Given that the $\text{CS}$ and $\text{US}$ are typically presented close together in time, what two testing methods are used to determine if learning has occurred?

Measuring the latency of the response (e.g., when the dog begins drooling prior to food delivery) and presenting $\text{CS}$-alone test trials.

In classical conditioning research, what apparatus is depicted in this figure, and what is its experimental function?

It is headgear for recording eyelid movement (used in eyeblink conditioning), equipped with an eyelid tab, piano wire, rotary potentiometer, chin-rest, and air jet to deliver an air puff.

What three properties of the conditioned response ($\text{CR}$) are used to measure the strength of conditioning?

Frequency of the $\text{CR}$, size of the $\text{CR}$, and duration of the $\text{CR}$.

What two non-associative processes can cause a response to develop to a stimulus for reasons other than associative conditioning?

Sensitization and pseudo-conditioning.

What two control procedures can researchers use to demonstrate that a response is the result of true conditioning rather than non-associative processes?

A random control procedure (where the $\text{CS}$ and $\text{US}$ are presented entirely randomly over time) and differential conditioning (where one $\text{CS}$ is followed by the $\text{US}$ and a second $\text{CS}$ is explicitly not followed by the $\text{US}$).

What is the mathematical formula for contingency in classical conditioning, and what does each term represent?

$\text{Contingency} = P(\text{US}|\text{CS}) - P(\text{US}|\text{noCS})$, where $P(\text{US}|\text{CS})$ is the probability that the $\text{US}$ will occur given the presence of the $\text{CS}$, and $P(\text{US}|\text{noCS})$ is the probability that the $\text{US}$ will occur given the absence of the $\text{CS}$.

What types of associative learning are produced by positive contingency, zero contingency, and negative contingency?

A positive contingency produces excitatory learning; a zero contingency produces little or no learning; and a negative contingency produces inhibitory learning.

What relationship between the $\text{CS}$ and $\text{US}$ is necessary for conditioning to occur?

It is necessary for the $\text{US}$ to occur when the $\text{CS}$ is present, but not when the $\text{CS}$ is absent.

In an experiment where the buzzer is a $\text{CS}$ and shock is the $\text{US}$, Edward receives shock after all 12 buzzer presentations, while Edwina receives shock on only 6 of the 12 presentations. Whose conditioned response ($\text{CR}$) will be stronger?

The $\text{CR}$ is stronger in Edward because every presentation is reinforced ($\text{Contingency} = 1.0$ compared to $0.5$ for Edwina).

How is conditioned inhibition established in Pavlov's conditioned inhibition procedure?

One conditioned stimulus ($\text{CS}_1$) is paired alone with the unconditioned stimulus ($\text{CS}_1 \rightarrow \text{US}$), while $\text{CS}_1$ presented together with a second conditioned stimulus ($\text{CS}_2$) is followed by no unconditioned stimulus ($\text{CS}_1\text{CS}_2 \rightarrow \text{no US}$), making $\text{CS}_2$ a conditioned inhibitor.

What two tests are used to determine whether a stimulus has acquired conditioned inhibitory properties?

The summation test (pairing the inhibitory stimulus with a known excitatory $\text{CS}$ reduces the magnitude of the $\text{CR}$) and the retardation test (pairing the inhibitory stimulus directly with the $\text{US}$ retards or slows the acquisition of an excitatory $\text{CR}$).

Which temporal arrangements of the $\text{CS}$ and $\text{US}$ support reliable conditioning, and which are often unreliable or fail?

Short-delay conditioning, long-delay conditioning, and trace conditioning produce reliable conditioning; simultaneous conditioning and backwards conditioning are often unreliable or fail to produce conditioning.

How does the CS-US interstimulus interval (ISI) affect the amount of classical conditioning?

There is an optimal CS-US interval (ISI); learning is highest at this optimal interval and decreases as the interval becomes shorter or substantially longer.

What is temporal conditioning?

A conditioning procedure in which there is no explicit external $\text{CS}$, but because the $\text{US}$ is delivered at regular time intervals, the passage of time since the previous $\text{US}$ functions as the $\text{CS}$.

How does the salience of a conditioned stimulus influence learning, and what phenomenon occurs when stimuli of unequal salience are conditioned together?

Salience is how attention-grabbing a stimulus is; salient stimuli are learned about quickly. When conditioned together, a more salient stimulus will overshadow a less salient stimulus, resulting in greater learning to the salient cue.

How does the intensity of the unconditioned stimulus ($\text{US}$) affect conditioning?

A more intense $\text{US}$ causes learning to occur more quickly and produces a larger conditioned response ($\text{CR}$).

According to Weidemann and Kehoe (2005), what is the typical pattern of response increases across trial blocks during acquisition?

Increases in conditioned responding as a result of CS-US pairings are initially very dramatic during the early blocks, after which the rate of increase becomes very slow.

What defines extinction in classical conditioning, and what rate pattern did Weidemann and Kehoe (2005) observe?

Extinction is the result of the presentation of the $\text{CS}$ and the omission of the $\text{US}$; the first few $\text{CS}$-alone trials are the most effective in reducing $\text{CR}$s, and the rate of decrease slows down over subsequent trials.

What is latent inhibition?

The phenomenon whereby an organism is slower to learn an association to a stimulus that has been experienced numerous times in the past without consequence compared to a novel stimulus.

What is blocking in classical conditioning, and what does it reveal about the role of surprise?

Blocking is the phenomenon whereby an organism fails to learn about a new $\text{CS}$ if another $\text{CS}$ is already present that reliably predicts the $\text{US}$; it reveals that the occurrence of the $\text{US}$ must be surprising for conditioning to occur.

How does the concept of blocking explain why adults develop a fear of needles but typically not of the doctor who administers them?

Because adults already have experience showing that the needle reliably predicts pain, the onset of pain is unsurprising when the needle is seen, which blocks associative learning to the accompanying doctor.

What is higher-order conditioning, and how do second-order and third-order conditioning differ?

Higher-order conditioning occurs when a well-trained $\text{CS}$ acts like a $\text{US}$ to condition a response to a new neutral stimulus. In second-order conditioning, a novel $\text{CS}_2$ is paired with $\text{CS}_1$ to elicit the $\text{CR}$; in third-order conditioning, a novel $\text{CS}_3$ is paired with $\text{CS}_2$ to elicit the $\text{CR}$.

What is sensory preconditioning, and what example was used in the lecture to illustrate it?

Sensory preconditioning occurs when two neutral stimuli ($\text{CS}_1$ and $\text{CS}_2$) are repeatedly paired together before either is reinforced; when $\text{CS}_1$ is subsequently paired with a $\text{US}$, $\text{CS}_2$ also comes to elicit a response (e.g., Fred and Barney are paired together; Fred is paired with being obnoxious; Barney subsequently elicits dislike).

Based on the Garcia and Koelling (1966) study results depicted in this graph, what selective associations did rats form between the conditioned stimuli (taste vs. light & noise) and unconditioned stimuli (poison vs. shock)?

Rats selectively associated taste with poison (sickness), showing decreased licking to sweet water but not bright-noisy water; conversely, rats selectively associated audio-visual cues (light and noise) with shock (pain), showing decreased licking to bright-noisy water but not sweet water.

What broad conclusion about classical conditioning was established by Garcia and Koelling's (1966) experiment using 'bright-noisy-tasty' water?

The extent to which the conditioned stimulus ($\text{CS}$) is biologically relevant or prepared for the unconditioned stimulus ($\text{US}$) governs the amount of learning that occurs.