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Classical Conditioning Name: ______________________________ READ THE FOLLOWING!! When most students see the chapter entitled "Learning", they immediately think of the kind of "book learning" we do in school. That form of learning is associated with memory, Concept formation, and cognitive strategies which will be explored in chapter 10. In the vast majority of instances in psychology, the term "Learning" refers to the learning of behaviors that are adaptive (i.e., they help us survive.) In fact, the terms learning theory and behaviorism are pretty much interchangeable. READ THAT SENTENCE AGAIN!!! IT IS REALLY IMPORTANT. There are two dominant traditions of learning theory in psychology. Ivan Pavlov accidentally discovered the principles of Classical Conditioning (also called Pavlovian Conditioning) when he was studying the digestive processes of dogs. His approach helps us understand how we "learn" to attach significance to events associated with automatic, reflexive, or involuntary responses. Operant Conditioning is attributed to B. F. Skinner. It switches the emphasis from "reflex-based" behavior to VOLUNTARY BEHAVIOR that is shaped by the consequences that follow the behavior. The Classical Conditioning Connection In most classical conditioning examples, you should be able to identify an involuntary response at the core of the learning process. In Pavlov's original conditioning experiment, the dog's salivary reflex was the involuntary response. When food is presented to a hungry dog, the dog will salivate. This CONNECTION between food and salivation is natural. It doesn't have to be LEARNED. Thus, we say it is UNLEARNED or UNCONDITIONED. Salivation is the brain's way of readying the digestive track of the dog and it assists in the dog's survival. You could say that a dog's salivation at the sight or smell of food is "hard-wired". Food is an UNCONDITIONED STIMULUS (UCS) and salivation is an UNCONDITIONED RESPONSE (UCR) which is natural and UNLEARNED! If you present a neutral stimulus---one that has no particular meaning, such as a bell---to a dog just PRIOR to presenting food, and if you present the pair of stimuli (food and bell) often enough, you are likely to see a new learned connection develop. The bell will come to signify that the food is on its way. Since the bell had no effect initially (with respect to dog spit), the response to the bell had to be learned or CONDITIONED. Therefore, the bell is called the CONDITIONED STIMULUS (CS). When you have successfully conditioned the dog to salivate in the absence of food, yet to the sound of the bell, the salivation is referred to as the CONDITIONED RESPONSE (CR). Note that the UCR and the CR are virtually the same. They are likely to differ only in intensity. (Even dogs are smart enough to know that you shouldn't eat a bell). HOMEWORK Your job is to read the following descriptions and identify the UCS, UCR, CS, and CR. (Remember, a "stimulus" (whether conditioned or unconditioned) is "something" that occurs in the environment---outside of the person. The "response" (whether conditioned or unconditioned) is a BEHAVIOR----NOT a "thought or feeling". THE TROUBLESOME SHOWER Martin likes to take a shower after finishing his 2 mile jog each morning. During one such shower, Martin's hears his roommate flushing the toilet in the other bathroom. Suddenly, boiling hot water rusher out of the shower head, causing Martin serious discomfort. As he continues his shower, he hears the toilet flush again and immediately jumps out from under the showerhead. What is the UNCONDITIONED RESPONSE (UCR)? (The UCR is the involuntary, "hard-wired" reaction that does not need to be learned. ___________________________________________________________________ What is the UNCONDITIONED STIMULUS (UCS)? (The UCS is the environmental event that automatically elicits the involuntary response. ___________________________________________________________________ What is the CONDITIONED RESPONSE (CR)? (The CR is the new behavior that is acquired through learning). ___________________________________________________________________ What is the CONDITIONED STIMULUS (CS)? (The CS is the event in the environment that takes on new meaning due to the conditioning procedure. ____________________________________________________________________ THE WATER SHOW Jeanette was happy when she heard her family's plan to watch a water-skiing competition at a nearby lake. Unfortunately, as she sat on the beach, the temperature rose to over 105 degrees. As she watched the skiers perform to Led Zeppelin music, she got more and more sweaty and uncomfortable. Eventually, Jeanette fainted from the heat and had to be removed from the site by paramedics. After that unfortunate family outing, Jeanette could never again listen to Led Zeppelin music without feeling a little dizzy. Unconditioned Response ________________________________________________ Unconditioned Stimulus _________________________________________________ Conditioned Response __________________________________________________ Conditioned Stimulus ___________________________________________________ THE TROUBLE WITH TUNA Brian was really looking forward to lunch. His mother had prepared his favorite--a tuna sandwich. Unfortunately, the mayonnaise she used had been left out too long and was tainted with nasty bacteria. Not long after eating his lunch, Brian felt extremely nauseated and had to rush to the bathroom in order to puke!! Thereafter, the mere mention of a tuna sandwich would send Brian scurrying to the bathroom with a rolling stomach. Unconditioned Response ________________________________________________ Unconditioned Stimulus _________________________________________________ Conditioned Response __________________________________________________ Conditioned Stimulus ___________________________________________________ CAPTAIN HOOK'S PROBLEM WITH WATCHES (TICK TOCK) Ok, you know the story. Captain Hook had a nasty encounter with a crocodile in Never-Never Land. As a result of the battle, he lost his hand when the croc bit it off. The interesting thing is that the crocodile also swallowed an alarm clock. (Frankly, I don't remember why that happened). In any event, the ticking sound of that clock always warned Captain Hook whenever the crocodile was approaching. Unfortunately, whenever Captain Hook's wife fixes breakfast and turns on the "egg timer", the captain has a full-blown anxiety attack and rushes out of the kitchen. Unconditioned Response ________________________________________________ Unconditioned Stimulus _________________________________________________ Conditioned Response __________________________________________________ Conditioned Stimulus ___________________________________________________
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