Chapter 3: Elicited Behaviors and Classical Conditioning

Elicited Behaviors

• Definition: An elicited behavior (also called a respondent behavior) is a behavior that is drawn out by a preceding stimulus.

  • Example: A sneeze caused by dust or a startle response to a gunshot.

  • These behaviors are involuntary responses to stimuli.

Reflexes

• Definition: A reflex is a relatively simple, automatic response to a stimulus.

  1. Some involve only a single muscle or gland (e.g., salivating in response to food).

  2. Others involve multiple body systems (e.g., startle response, orienting response).

• Reflex Arc: A neural structure underlying many reflexes, consisting of:

  1. Sensory neuron (detects stimulus)

  2. Interneuron (processes the signal)

  3. Motor neuron (triggers response)

Fixed Action Patterns (FAPs)

• Definition: A fixed sequence of responses elicited by a specific stimulus.

  • Example: Spiders spinning webs, birds performing mating dances.

• Sign Stimulus (Releaser): The stimulus that triggers a fixed action pattern.

Simple Mechanisms of Learning

Habituation and Sensitization

• Habituation: A decrease in the strength of a response after repeated exposure to a stimulus.

  • Example: Ignoring background noise over time.

• Sensitization: An increase in the strength of a response after repeated exposure.

  • Example: A soldier becoming more reactive to gunfire.

• Dishabituation: The reappearance of a habituated response after exposure to a novel stimulus.

  • Example: Noticing background music again after someone speaks to you.

Opponent-Process Theory of Emotion

• Definition: An emotional event elicits two competing processes:

  • A-process (primary process): Directly caused by the stimulus (e.g., happiness after winning a prize).

  • B-process (opponent process): A compensatory response to bring the body back to equilibrium (e.g., feeling empty after excitement fades).

• Characteristics:

  • The B-process strengthens with repeated exposure.

  • Explains phenomena like addiction and emotional adaptation.

Classical Conditioning

Pavlov’s Discovery

• Ivan Pavlov discovered that dogs could learn to associate a neutral stimulus (e.g., metronome) with food, leading to a conditioned response (salivation).

Basic Procedure & Definitions

• Unconditioned Stimulus (US): A stimulus that naturally elicits a response (e.g., food).

• Unconditioned Response (UR): A natural response to the US (e.g., salivation to food).

• Neutral Stimulus (NS): A stimulus that does not initially elicit the response (e.g., metronome).

• Conditioned Stimulus (CS): The NS becomes a CS after being paired with the US (e.g., metronome after association with food).

• Conditioned Response (CR): The learned response to the CS (e.g., salivating to the metronome).

Types of Conditioning

• Appetitive Conditioning: The US is something desirable (e.g., food).

• Aversive Conditioning: The US is something unpleasant (e.g., shock).

  • Tends to occur more quickly than appetitive conditioning.

Excitatory vs. Inhibitory Conditioning

• Excitatory Conditioning: The CS predicts the presence of the US.

• Inhibitory Conditioning: The CS predicts the absence of the US.

Temporal Factors in Conditioning

• Delayed Conditioning: NS is presented first, then overlaps with the US (most effective).

• Trace Conditioning: NS is presented, followed by a gap, then the US.

• Simultaneous Conditioning: NS and US occur at the same time.

• Backward Conditioning: US occurs first, followed by NS (least effective).

Pseudoconditioning

• Definition: When an elicited response appears to be conditioned but is actually due to sensitization.

  • Example: A dog startled by any sudden noise after being conditioned with a tone-shock pairing.

Key Terms & Definitions