Classical Conditioning

Key Concepts in Classical Conditioning:

  • UCR (Unconditioned Response): A natural, reaction to an unconditioned stimulus.

    • Ex: salivating when food is presented

    • Ex: flinching when in pain 


  • US (Unconditioned Stimulus): is a stimulus that naturally triggers a response or Automatically elicits a response

    • EX: food in the mouth leading to salivation.

    • Ex: feeling pain when stepping on a nail


  • NS (Neutral Stimulus): Something that initially elicits no response before conditioning occurs

    • Ex: The sound of a bell 

    • Ex: A visual cue 


  • CS (Conditioned Stimulus): When the neutral stimulus becomes associated with the unconditioned stimulus, it transforms into a Conditioned Stimulus (CS).

    • Ex: Ringing a bell when food is brought out


  • CR (Conditioned Response): A learned response to a previously neutral stimulus that has become conditioned or  Learned response to CS

    • Ex: Bell ringing causes dog to salivate 


Detailed Examples of Classical Conditioning:

  1. Karate Training: A boy learns to raise his hands (NS) in preparation for a karate punch. Initially, when he accidentally hits his sister while practicing, she flinches in response (UCR) to the pain caused by the impact. Over time, the raising of his hands (CS) becomes a signal for her to flinch (CR) due to the prior association with pain (US).

Karate Training: Hands raised (CS) -> Flinching (CR)

  1. Break-up and Music: Lorenzo experienced profound sadness corresponding to his breakup. Initially, the song "Call Me Maybe" (NS) did not evoke any emotional response. However, after repeatedly hearing the song during his sadness, it becomes associated with his feelings of loss, making him sad when he experiences the song again (CR).

Break-up and Music: Song (CS) -> Sadness (CR)

  1. Dog Sight: After being bitten by her dog, little Lily cries (UCR). Subsequently, the dog bite (US) creates a fear response. Soon, even the mere sight of a dog becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS), prompting whimpering in fear (CR).

Dog Sight: Sight of dog (CS) -> Whimpering (CR)

  1. Coffee Aroma: Caterina consumes coffee (US) which naturally makes her feel energetic and increases her heart rate (UCR). After regularly associating the smell of coffee (NS) with this feeling, she begins to feel more energized simply upon smelling coffee (CS), triggering a similar physiological response (CR).

Coffee Aroma: Smell of coffee (CS) -> Increased heart rate (CR)

  1. Pickles Display: Anton salivates at the sight of sour pickles (UCR) due to their taste (US). After seeing a display of them in the market (NS), he starts salivating (CR) at the mere sight of the display.

Pickles Display: Pickle display (CS) -> Salivation (CR)

  1. Thunder and Fear: After experiencing the terror of a tree crashing due to thunder, the thunder (NS) becomes a trigger for fear (CR). Initially unresponsive to thunder, Lola now feels an instinctive fear response (CR).

Thunder and Fear: Thunder (CS) -> Fear (CR)

  1. Excitement at Class End: In a classroom, the students feel excited (UCR) when class ends. Ms. Fenton frequently mentions the word "tomorrow" before the end of class (NS). Eventually, the mention of this word triggers an increase in their heart rate (CR) as they anticipate the end of class and meeting with friends.

Excitement at Class End: Word "tomorrow" (CS) -> Heart rate increase (CR).

  1. Phone Experiament: In a practical example, someone may hear a specific phone ringtone (NS), which originally does not elicit a response. However, if this ringtone previously indicated an important message (US), the natural reaction to reach for the phone (UCR) can lead to its new association as a conditioned stimulus; thus, hearing that ringtone now triggers the conditioned response of instinctively reaching for the phone (CR)


Advertising and Conditioning**

  • Before Conditioning: Coca-Cola (US) evokes emotions.

  • During Conditioning: Coca-Cola + Christmas establishes consistent associations.

  • After Conditioning: Coca-Cola becomes CS linked to excitement and happiness.


Pavlov’s Experiment**

John Watson's Contributions**

  • Watson's "Little Albert" experiment demonstrated learned fear responses through conditioning.

He conducted an experiment where he would have a baby who goes by the name of little albert play with a rat. After a while of playing with said rat he would make a loud sound causing the baby to cry. After repeating this a couple of times it caused the baby to cry when seeing the rat. (no loud noise)

Key Terms**

Generalization, , 


Stimulus: Elicits a response

Response: Reaction to a stimulus

stimulus generalization -process in which a

response spreads from one specific stimulus to

other stimuli that resemble the original


discrimination - the learned ability to distinguish

between a conditioned stimulus and similar stimuli

that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus.


extinction-the gradual loss of an association over

time


spontaneous recovery- the sudden reappearance

of an extinguished response