Lecture Pavlovian Learning

Pavlovian Conditioning Overview

  • Stimulus and Response: Central concept of Pavlovian or 'Classical' conditioning.

Ivan Pavlov

  • Background: Physiologist studying digestion.

    • Interest in how substances break down food.

    • Conducted experiments with dogs and saliva.

  • Discovery: Dogs salivating before food reached their mouths ("Psychic Reflex").

    • Observed variability based on stimulus (e.g., dry vs. wet food).

    • Suggested learning underlies these reflexes.

Basic Components of Pavlovian Learning

  • Unconditional Stimulus (US): Elicits an unconditional response before conditioning (e.g., food).

  • Unconditional Response (UR): Reflex response elicited by the US before conditioning (e.g., salivation in response to food).

  • Conditional Stimulus (CS): Stimulus that elicits a response after conditioning (e.g., footsteps).

  • Conditional Response (CR): Reflex response elicited by the CS (e.g., salivation in response to footsteps).

    • Key Point: Reflexes are independent from voluntary behavior.

General View of the Conditional Reflex

  • Various response systems can learn similarly:

    • Pain and analgesia, sexual arousal, immune suppression/enhancement, fear.

Stimulus Discrimination and Generalization

  • Stimulus Discrimination: Responding differently to similar stimuli (e.g., your phone vs. someone else's).

  • Stimulus Generalization: Responding similarly to stimuli resembling the CS (e.g., behaving when a professor enters).

  • Habituation: Learning not to respond to repetitive, unchanging stimuli (e.g., malfunctioning fire alarm).

Application Beyond Dogs

  • Example of Classical Conditioning: Application to human behaviors (e.g. anticipation of euphoria when using heroin).

Conditioning and Drug Use

  • Conditional Stimuli: Environment and cues associated with drug use become CS (e.g., car, friends).

  • Learning of Drug Tolerance: Repeated exposures lead to tolerance due to conditioning effects.

Overdose Risk

  • Absence of CS: Using drugs without associated cues can lead to overdose due to body not preparing for drug effect.

Drug Withdrawal Studies

  • Experimental Findings: Rats receiving same drug doses showed differing withdrawal symptoms based on conditioning.

    • SA-M rats had more pronounced symptoms.

Extinction of Conditioned Responses

  • Extinction: Process of repeatedly presenting the CS without the US.

    • Can lead to spontaneous recovery, where the behavior re-emerges unexpectedly.

Classical Conditioning and Emotion

  • Innate Emotional Responses: Some emotional reactions can be conditioned (e.g., fear).

  • John Watson's Experiment: Little Albert study demonstrated Classical Conditioning effects on emotions.

Birth of Behavior Therapy

  • Mary Cover Jones: Applied counterconditioning to reverse fear responses.

    • Introduced new CS alongside fear-inducing CS.

Treatment of Phobias

  • Systematic Desensitization: A form of counterconditioning for treating fears.

    • Steps: 1) Train relaxation, 2) Establish fear hierarchy, 3) Gradual exposure.

Treatment of Substance Use Disorders

  • Pharmacological Approaches: Utilize classical conditioning principles.

    • Extinction: Involves the removal of the conditioned response to drug cues.

    • Opioid Agonists/Antagonists: Treatments like Methadone (agonist) and Suboxone (antagonist).

    • Aversion Therapy: Antabuse blocks alcohol breakdown, causing sickness with alcohol use.

Addressing Bias, Discrimination, and Prejudice

  • Innate Responses in Humans: Pavlovian procedures can condition biases.

  • Implicit Evaluative Conditioning: Counterconditioning to produce opposing responses to biases.

Conclusion

  • Future Topics: operant and observational learning.