Pavlovian Classical Conditioning.

1. LEARNING
Classical Conditioning

2. What is Classical Conditioning?
• learning: A relatively permanent change in behavior
caused by experience.
• classical conditioning: A type of learning in which a
stimulus gains the power to cause a response
• stimulus: Anything in the environment that one can
respond to.
• Classical conditioning is learning in which a stimulus
gains the power to cause a response because it predicts
another stimulus that already produces the response.

3. HOT WATER WARNING!

4. Four Main Components of Classical
Conditioning
• Unconditioned stimulus (US)—The US is a stimulus that triggers a response
reflexively and automatically, just as scalding water in a shower makes someone
jump away.
• Unconditioned response (UR)—The UR is the automatic response to the US. If
hot water is the US, jumping away is the UR. Again, notice that the relationship
between the US and the UR is reflexive and automatic, not learned.
• Conditioned stimulus (CS)—The CS is a previously neutral stimulus that, through
learning, gains the power to cause a (conditioned) response. On my first day in
the dorm, the word flush was a neutral stimulus—I did not associate it with
showers, and it did not make me jump away.
In basic classical conditioning, the neutral stimulus and the CS are always the
same thing. The term neutral stimulus describes the stimulus before conditioning,
and the term CS describes the stimulus after conditioning.
• Conditioned response (CR)—The CR is the response to the CS. In basic classical
conditioning, it is the same behavior that is identified as the UR. If I jump because
of hot water (a US), my jumping is a UR. However, if I have learned to jump when
someone yells, “Flush!” (a CS), my jumping is now a CR.

5. Give an example of your conditioning!

6. Ivan Pavlov’s Dog

7. US UR CS CR
• What is the Unconditioned Stimulus (US)?
• What is the Unconditioned Response (UR)?
• What is neutral stimulus? (This will later become the ___
stimulus).
• What is the Conditioned Stimulus (CS)?
• What is the Conditioned Response?
• [Notice that salivation can be either the UR or the CR, depending on
what stimulus led to the salivation.]

9. Classical Conditioning Processes
• Acquisition: the process of developing a new, learned
response. Acquisition occurs when a neutral stimulus is
repeatedly paired with a US. Each pairing is called a trial.
• Once acquired, the CR will be maintained only if the CS
continues to be paired with the US on some trials.
• Extinction: is the diminishing of a learned response.
Extinction occurs as the CS loses its power to trigger a
CR.
• When we want someone to acquire a CR, we repeatedly
pair a neutral stimulus with the US. But if we want to
reverse this learning, we must weaken the strength of the
association between the two stimuli. We do this by
repeatedly presenting the CS alone.

11. Generalization and Discrimination
• Generalization occurs when an organism produces the
same response to two similar stimuli.
If chemicals look too
similar to food and drink
packaging, a child may
generalize and ingest
dangerous products.

12. Generalization and Discrimination (cont)
• Discrimination (classical conditioning): In classical
conditioning, the ability to distinguish between two signals
or stimuli and produce different responses.
• You may have learned, for example, to respond with
anxiety (CR) to a particular tone of voice (CS) used by
your parent when that tone, in the past, had repeatedly
been followed by an outburst of anger (US). On the other
hand, your parent may have used a slightly different tone
of voice when expressing mock anger. In this case, you
probably learned to discriminate between the two and to
not become anxious when hearing the tone associated
with mock anger.

13. Did You Flinch?
The US is the explosion of the popped balloon. The UR is the flinch produced by
the pop. The CS is the sight of the pin approaching the balloon. The CR is the flinch
produced by the sight of the pin approaching the balloon.

14. Home Work (25 pts)
Due May 1st 2013
• Research the experiment conducted by John Watson and
Rosalie Rayner. They used the principles of classical
conditioning to create a learned fear.
• Its famously known as “Conditioning Little Albert”
• Write a 1-2 page paper describing the experiment, label
the US, UR, neutral stimulus, CS, and CR.
• Answer the following questions:
• What can we conclude from Watson and Rayner’s research?
• Give 2 examples from everyday experience where you see
classical conditioning taking place.
Bonus: What happened to Little Albert, what do we know of him
today?

15. What can you learn from a pigeon in a
box?

16. OPERANT CONDITIONING
• A type of learning in which the frequency of a behavior
depends on the consequence that follows that behavior.
• Law of effect:
• behaviors with favorable consequences will occur more frequently
and behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences will occur
less frequently.
Reinforcement: is any consequence that increases the future
likelihood of a behavior.
Punishment: is any consequence that decreases the future likelihood
of a behavior.

17. TWO KEY PSYCHOLOGISTs
• EDWARD THORNDIKE
(1874–1949) Author of the law of effect, the principle that
forms the basis of operant conditioning.
• B. F. SKINNER
(1904– 1990) Behavioral psychologist who developed the
fundamental principles and techniques of operant
conditioning and devised ways to apply them in the real
world.

18. Thispigeon in a Skinner box, or operant chamber, has been taught to peck a key for food
reinforcement

19. Reinforcement
• What are the different kinds of reinforcement?
• There are two ways to reinforce a behavior: positive
reinforcement and negative reinforcement.
• Positive reinforcement is anything that increases the
likelihood of a behavior by following it with a desirable
event or state.
• Negative reinforcement is anything that increases the
likelihood of a behavior by following it with the removal of
an undesirable event or state.

21. Immediate Versus Delayed
Reinforcement
• Immediate reinforcement is more effective than delayed
reinforcement.
• IMMEDIATE OR DELYAED:
• “Warning: If you smoke these cigarettes, your breath will
smell awful for the rest of the day!”
• Humans and delayed Gratification.

23. Punishement
• Positive punishment is anything that decreases the
likelihood of a behavior by following it with an undesirable
event or state.
• Negative punishment is anything that decreases the
likelihood of a behavior by following it with the removal of
a desirable event or state.