notes classical conditioning

Classical Conditioning

A type of learning where an organism learns to associate two stimuli, resulting in a response originally produced by one of the stimuli.

Ivan Pavlov

The psychologist who discovered classical conditioning.

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)

A stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response, such as food.

Unconditioned Response (UCR)

An unlearned, automatic response to the UCS, such as salivation to food.

Neutral Stimulus (NS)

A stimulus that does not initially cause a response, like a bell before learning.

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

A previously neutral stimulus that, after pairing with the UCS, triggers a response.

Conditioned Response (CR)

A learned response to the CS, such as salivation to a bell.

Acquisition

The initial learning phase where the NS is paired repeatedly with the UCS.

Simultaneous Conditioning

Conditioning where CS and UCS occur at the same time, leading to weak learning.

Delayed Conditioning

Conditioning where CS occurs before UCS and overlaps, leading to the strongest conditioning.

Trace Conditioning

Conditioning where CS ends before UCS begins, requiring moderate memory.

Backward Conditioning

Conditioning where UCS occurs before CS, resulting in poor or no learning.

Temporal Conditioning

A type of conditioning where time itself acts as the CS, such as a dog salivating at a scheduled time.

Salience

The noticeable or meaningful quality of a stimulus; more salient stimuli lead to faster learning.

Contiguity

The learning principle that relies on the timing of stimuli occurring close together in time.

Contingency

The learning principle emphasizing predictability, where CS must reliably predict the UCS.

Extinction

The decrease or disappearance of a CR after repeated presentations of the CS without the UCS.

Spontaneous Recovery

The reappearance of a previously extinguished CR after a rest period.

Generalization

The process where a CR occurs in response to stimuli similar to the CS.

Discrimination

The ability to distinguish between stimuli, responding only to the specific CS.

Second-Order Conditioning

The association of a new neutral stimulus with an already established CS.

Blocking

A phenomenon where prior learning prevents new learning, such as when a CS already predicts a UCS.

Equipotentiality

The old view that any stimulus can be paired with any response; not always true.

Taste Aversion

A learned association where animals connect taste to nausea, often occurring after one trial.

Biological Preparedness

The predisposition of organisms to form specific associations that are adaptive for survival.