Classical Conditioning

• Key Concepts:

  • Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): Stimulus that naturally elicits a response.
  • Unconditioned Response (UCR): Natural reaction to UCS.
  • Conditioned Stimulus (CS): Originally neutral stimulus that after association with UCS, elicits a conditioned response.
  • Conditioned Response (CR): Learned response to the CS.

• Process of Conditioning:

  • Pairing neutral stimulus with UCS leads to association.
  • Example: Sound (NS) + Food (UCS) → Salivation (UCR), later Sound (CS) → Salivation (CR).

• Extinction: Loss of CR when CS is repeatedly presented without UCS.

• Spontaneous Recovery: Reappearance of CR after extinction.

• Stimulus Generalisation: CR triggers from stimuli similar to CS.

Operant Conditioning

• B.F. Skinner's Research:

  • ABC Model:
  • Antecedent: Stimulus that triggers behavior.
  • Behavior: Action performed.
  • Consequence: Outcome (reinforcement/punishment).

• Types of Reinforcement:

  • Positive: Adds pleasant stimulus (e.g., food).
  • Negative: Removes unpleasant stimulus (e.g., shock).

• Punishment Types:

  • Positive Punishment: Adds unpleasant stimulus.
  • Negative Punishment: Removes pleasant stimulus.

• Schedules of Reinforcement:

  • Continuous: Reinforcement every time.
  • Partial: Reinforced occasionally (fixed/variable ratios/intervals).

Social Learning Theory (SLT)

• Albert Bandura's Theory:

  • Observational Learning: Learning through imitation of role models.
  • Key Processes:
  • Attention - focus on model’s behavior.
  • Retention - remembering the behavior.
  • Reproduction - ability to perform the behavior.
  • Motivation - incentive to imitate.

• Bobo Doll Experiment:

  • Children imitated aggressive behavior witnessed in adults, demonstrating effects of role models.

Psychosexual Stages (Freud)

• Stages:

  • Oral (0-2): Pleasure centers on mouth.
  • Anal (2-3): Focus on bowel and bladder control.
  • Phallic (3-6): Oedipus complex resolution.
  • Latency (6-puberty): Repression of sexual feelings.
  • Genital (puberty onward): Mature sexual intimacy.

• Defense Mechanisms: Repression of traumatic feelings impacting adult personality.

Systematic Desensitization

• Developed by Joseph Wolpe: Therapy for phobias by gradual exposure to feared stimuli.
  • Steps:
  1. Build anxiety hierarchy.
  2. Gradually expose to fear while teaching relaxation techniques.

Methodologies in Psychology

• Observational Methods: Participant/non-participant; structured/naturalistic observations.
• Content Analysis: Involves analyzing themes in qualitative data while transforming it to quantitative.
• Case Studies: In-depth analysis of individual cases to uncover patterns and relationships.

Ethical Considerations in Research

• Animal Research: Ethical guidelines ensuring humane treatment (3Rs: Replacement, Reduction, Refinement).
• Informed Consent: Essential in research involving human participants.

Major Studies

• Pavlov's Dogs: Demonstrated classical conditioning.
• Skinner's Box: Illustrated operant conditioning principles.
• Little Albert Experiment: Showed conditioned emotional responses.
• Capafóns et al.: Focused on systematic desensitization for fear of flying.