Classical and Operant Conditioning

Classical conditioning involves learning through association.
A neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus after being paired with an unconditioned stimulus.
The conditioned stimulus elicits a conditioned response, which is a learned response.

Food (unconditioned stimulus) presented to a dog causes salivation (unconditioned response).
A bell (neutral stimulus) is presented with the food.
After repeated pairings, the bell (now a conditioned stimulus) causes salivation (conditioned response).

John Watson and Rosalie Rayner conditioned a baby, Albert, to fear white rats.
A loud, frightening noise (unconditioned stimulus) naturally elicits fear (unconditioned response).
The rat (initially neutral) is paired with the loud noise.
After several pairings, the rat (conditioned stimulus) elicits fear (conditioned response) even without the noise.
The fear response can persist for years without conscious memory of the conditioning.

A man feels stressed when hearing the song "Yesterday" by The Beatles.
As a child, hearing the song was associated with his father's abusive behavior.
The song (conditioned stimulus) now elicits a stress response (conditioned response), even without conscious memory of the original trauma.

Aims to reverse conditioning by unlearning fear.
Pairs the feared stimulus with a positive stimulus.
Example: A girl eats chocolate (positive stimulus) while looking at a rat (feared stimulus).
Repeated pairings can lead to the rat eliciting a happy feeling.
Other positive stimuli include music, calming voices, or meditation.
Slowly exposing the individual to the feared stimulus enhances success.
Start with pictures and gradually introduce plastic, then real spiders.

Success is not always guaranteed.
The pulse rate may initially increase upon exposure to the actual spider, but if it is close to the levels when seeing a picture, the therapy is successful.

Fears can disappear if the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli are no longer paired (extinction).
The conditioned response may reappear after a period of absence (spontaneous recovery).

Stimulus generalization: Fearing similar stimuli (e.g., Albert fearing all furry objects).
Stimulus discrimination: Only fearing the specific conditioned stimulus (e.g., only fearing rats, not other furry objects).

A strong form of conditioning where a specific food is associated with nausea or sickness.
Evolutionary advantage: Prevents consumption of potentially poisonous foods.
Disgust reactions warn others.

Positive Reinforcement: Presenting a desirable stimulus to encourage behavior.
Negative Reinforcement: Removing an undesirable stimulus to encourage behavior.
Presentation Punishment (Positive Punishment): Presenting an undesirable stimulus to discourage behavior.
Removal Punishment (Negative Punishment): Removing a desirable stimulus to discourage behavior.
Positive means a stimulus is presented.
Negative means a stimulus is removed.

Positive Reinforcement: A child receives good grades (presented stimulus) for studying, so they continue to study.
Negative Reinforcement: A child avoids chores (removed stimulus) by completing homework, so they continue to do homework.
Positive Punishment: A child receives detention (presented stimulus) for misbehaving, so they stop misbehaving.
Negative Punishment: A child loses TV privileges (removed stimulus) for being naughty, so they stop the behavior.

Ellen throws a temper tantrum because she doesn't want to clean her room.
Positive Reinforcement (unintentional): Alice hugs Ellen to soothe her, potentially reinforcing the crying behavior.
Negative Reinforcement (unintentional): Alice stops asking Ellen to clean the room, reinforcing the crying behavior.
Punishment: Alice tells Ellen off, which may stop the crying and lead to cleaning.

Ratio: Reward based on the number of responses.
Interval: Reward based on the time elapsed.
Fixed: Predictable outcome.
Variable: Unpredictable outcome.
Fixed Ratio: Reward after a fixed number of responses (e.g., $200$ baht for every piece produced).
Variable Ratio: Reward after a variable number of responses (e.g., occasional cash bonuses).
Fixed Interval: Reward after a fixed time interval (e.g., monthly paycheck).
Variable Interval: Reward after a variable time interval (e.g., surprise payment).

Variable ratio schedules are most effective in producing consistently high performance.
Fixed interval schedules are least effective but most commonly used.

An undesirable event following a behavior.
Not always effective and often leads to temporary behavior change.
May lead to seeking alternative ways to do the behavior, revenge, or blaming the punisher.

Emotional and physical consequences.
Importance of understanding why the punishment is wrong to avoid blaming the punisher.