9/22 phyc Classical Conditioning: Reflexes, Instincts, and Learning Principles
Reflexes vs. Instincts
Reflexes: Simple and basic bodily reactions that are automatic and unlearned.
Examples: Knee-jerk reflex, sucking reflex in babies (innate, not taught), startling at a loud noise.
Instincts: Automatic actions without conscious thought, but generally more sophisticated or complicated than reflexes.
Examples: Attempting to soothe a crying baby (shushing, rocking, patting back), nesting in pregnant women (cleaning, preparing the home for the baby), avoiding heights, fight or flight response when threatened.
Both reflexes and instincts are unlearned; they are present from birth.
Understanding Learning: Definition and Types
Learning (Official Definition): A relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge that results from experience.
Also known as Conditioning in psychology, as psychologists often use specific terminology. It's akin to physical conditioning (training muscles) but applied to training the mind to respond in a certain way.
Three Types of Learning (to be covered this week):
Classical Conditioning (focus for today)
Operant Conditioning (to be discussed later)
Observational Learning (to be discussed later)
These three types are collectively categorized as Associative Learning.
Associative Learning: Learning that involves connecting or relating things in one's mind, making connections between different stimuli or events.
Classical Conditioning: Ivan Pavlov's Discovery
Developer: Ivan Pavlov, a scientist who initially studied dog saliva and won a Nobel Prize for his work in this area.
The Experiment: Pavlov observed that dogs salivated (drooled) when presented with meat powder.
He noticed that dogs began to salivate upon seeing him or his assistants, even without the meat powder, because they associated the person with the food.
Pavlov then conducted experiments pairing a neutral stimulus (a bell) with the unconditioned stimulus (meat powder).
After repeated pairings, the dogs began to salivate at the sound of the bell alone, even without the presence of meat powder.
Key Terminology in Classical Conditioning:
Stimulus: Anything that causes something to happen (e.g., the sun causing someone to sneeze if they have photosensitivity).
Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): A stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers an unconditioned response without any prior learning.
Example: Meat powder (causes salivation naturally).
Unconditioned Response (UCR): The unlearned, natural, and automatic reaction to an unconditioned stimulus.
Example: Salivation/drooling in response to meat powder (dogs do not need to learn to salivate at the sight of food; it's a reflex).
Neutral Stimulus (NS): A stimulus that initially produces no specific response other than perhaps focusing attention. It becomes a conditioned stimulus after being paired with an unconditioned stimulus.
Example: The bell (initially did not cause salivation).
Conditioned Stimulus (CS): A previously neutral stimulus that, after becoming associated with the unconditioned stimulus, eventually comes to trigger a conditioned response.
Example: The bell (after being paired with meat powder, it now causes salivation).
Conditioned Response (CR): The learned response to the previously neutral (now conditioned) stimulus.
Example: Salivation/drooling in response to the bell (it's a learned response).
Important Relationships: The UCR and CR are always the same behavior (e.g., salivation). The NS and CS are always the same entity (e.g., the bell).
Examples of Classical Conditioning
Acquisition: The process by which the neutral stimulus (NS) becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) through repeated pairing with the unconditioned stimulus (UCS).
The Office Example (Jim and Dwight):
UCS: Jim offering a mint (naturally leads Dwight to accept it).
UCR: Dwight accepting the mint.
NS (initially): Computer reboot sound (initially no response from Dwight).
Pairing: Jim repeatedly pairs the computer reboot sound with offering a mint.
CS: Computer reboot sound (Dwight learns to associate it with mints).
CR: Dwight automatically reaching for/accepting a mint when he hears the reboot sound.
Teacher's Personal Example (Dial Soap):
UCS: Tim Bernier (naturally caused feelings of happiness/being "down bad").
UCR: Feeling happy/"down bad."
NS (initially): Dial soap smell (no prior emotional reaction).
Pairing: Repeated exposure to Tim Bernier who smelled like Dial soap.
CS: Dial soap smell (learned to associate with Tim Bernier).
CR: Feeling happy/"dreamy and sweet" upon smelling Dial soap.
Family Party Example (Fresh Cut Grass):
UCS: Parties (naturally caused feelings of excitement/happiness).
UCR: Feeling happy/excited.
NS (initially): Smell of fresh cut grass (no initial strong emotional reaction).
Pairing: Dad mowed the lawn before parties, so the smell was always present during happy party times.
CS: Smell of fresh cut grass.
CR: Feeling happy/excited upon smelling fresh cut grass.
Student Example (Slim Shady & Lemonade Powder):
UCS: Sour lemonade powder (naturally caused a sour taste/mouth watering).
UCR: Sour taste/mouth watering.
NS (initially): Slim Shady song (no initial specific response).
Pairing: Teacher played the song while students tried the sour powder.
CS: Slim Shady song.
CR: Mouth watering/anticipation of sourness upon hearing Slim Shady, even without the powder.
Student Example (Football & Grilling):
UCS: Fall (perhaps the general atmosphere/tradition of the season leading to grilling).
UCR: Grilling.
NS (initially): Football game on TV.
Pairing: Dad grilled during football games in the fall.
CS: Football game on TV.
CR: Immediate desire to grill when a football game is playing.
Advanced Concepts in Classical Conditioning
Extinction: The weakening and eventual disappearance of a conditioned response (CR) when the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) is no longer presented with the conditioned stimulus (CS).
Example: The teacher's happiness from Dial soap is weaker now than in eighth grade because it hasn't been paired with Tim Bernier since then.
Spontaneous Recovery: The sudden reappearance of a previously extinguished conditioned response after a period of rest or absence of the conditioned stimulus.
Example: After a period of not smelling Dial soap or having no intense reaction, a sudden smell of Dial soap brings back the strong feelings of happiness as intensely as before.
Stimulus Discrimination: The ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus (CS) and other similar stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus (UCS), resulting in different responses.
Example: Being afraid of fast-moving spiders but not slow-moving spiders; being uncomfortable touching cotton swabs but not cotton T-shirts.
Stimulus Generalization: The tendency to respond with the conditioned response (CR) to a stimulus that is similar to the conditioned stimulus (CS).
Example: The teacher finding all blonde children adorable because her own blonde children were adorable babies.
Classical Conditioning: John B. Watson and Little Albert
John B. Watson: Known as the "father of behaviorism" and for his unethical experiments.
The Little Albert Experiment: A highly unethical study classical conditioning a baby to fear white rats.
Participants: Baby "Little Albert" (died at age $6$ from illness), his mother (an unwitting participant).
Procedure (Unethical):
Baseline: Albert initially showed no fear of various animals, including a white rat.
Conditioning: Watson and Rosalie Rayner repeatedly paired the presence of a white rat (NS) with a loud, frightening noise from striking a steel bar (UCS).
Result: Albert developed a strong fear response (CR) to the white rat (CS).
Generalization: Albert's fear generalized to other furry, white objects (e.g., rabbits, dogs, a fur coat, a Santa Claus mask), demonstrating stimulus generalization.
Key Terms for Little Albert Experiment:
UCS: Loud noise (gong/steel bar).
UCR: Being scared, crying, fear (natural reaction to loud noise).
NS (initially): The white rat/furry objects.
CS: The white rat/furry objects (after pairing).
CR: Being afraid of the white rat/furry objects.
Implications: Little Albert was never deconditioned and likely lived with a fear of fuzzy white things for his short life, highlighting significant ethical concerns in psychological research.
Extra Credit Opportunity
Assignment: Identify an experience from your own life (or someone you know) where classical conditioning occurred.
Task: Break down the experience using the five key terms of classical conditioning (UCS, UCR, NS, CS, CR).
Details: Worth 10 points, due this Sunday. Late submissions will have points docked. This extra credit can help improve overall cumulative scores, including quizzes. Only one example is required. There will be 4 such opportunities in total throughout the class.