Classical conditioning

Question 1

Define unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

Answer 1

This stimulus produces a natural, unlearned behavioural response. e.g. If you bite a lemone your mouth will water (salivation).

Question 2

Define unconditioned response (UCR)

Answer 2

Any response that occurs naturally without having to learn it e.g. blinking in the sunlight. (We are born with it can’t be learnt)

Question 3

Define neutral stimulus (NS)

Answer 3

A stimulus which does not initially cause a response

Question 4

Define conditioned stimulus (CS)

Answer 4

A stimulus that has been associated with a UCS, so now it produces the same response as the UCS would do on its own.

E.g. the colour yellow makes you feel ill, as you
were once sick because of the taste of your lumpy
school custard.

Question 5

Define conditioned response (CR)

Answer 5

A learned behaviour that is shown in response to a learned
stimulus.
E.g. you are scared of lifts because many years ago,
you were trapped in a lift for 4 hours.

Question 6

Define stimulus generalisation

Answer 6

Stimuli that are similar to the CS will produce the CR.

Question 7

Define discrimination

Answer 7

Over a period of time, learning will only occur in response to
a specific stimulus.

Question 8

Define extinction

Answer 8

The loss of a conditioned response to the conditioned
stimulus.

Question 9

Define spontaneous recovery

Answer 9

Once an association is formed, it is never forgotten.
Even after extinction, a CR can reappear.

Question 10

Pavlov’s (1927) experiment with salivation in dogs (Aim)

Answer 10

Aim:
To investigate whether a reflex behaviour can be
produced in new situations through leaming. In particular, to see if associating a reflex with a extraneous variables (a sound) causes learning to take place, producing a conditioned response in new situations.

Question 11

Pavlov’s (1927) experiment with salivation in dogs (Procedure)

Answer 11

Procedure:
Experimental design - This is a repeated measures design it’s the same dogs before and after their conditioning.
IV - one condition of the IV is dogs’ different reflex behaviour: salivating when food is in their mouths. Other condition of the IV is the dogs’ behaviour after they have been conditioned to associate food with a natural stimulus.
DV - Pavlov’s careful set-up enabled him to count how many drops of saliva the dogs produced.
Pavlov placed each dog in a sealed room that did not allow the dog to see, smell or hear anything outside - there was no direct contact between the dogs and the experimenter. this was to prevent pther stimuli (NS) from making the dog salivate.
The dog was strapped into a harness to stop is from moving about an its mouth was linked to a tube that drained saliva away into a measuring bottle. pavlov knoew that food (UCS) would lead to salivation in the mouht of an anima(UCR). pavlov the used a neutral stimulus e.g. a metronome (NS)
over several learnign trials the dog was presented woth a ticking metronome drooling before the food appeared. if the metronomr was ticking in close immediatly with their meak, the dogs learned to associate the sounds of th emmetonome with food. after awhile just the sound of the metroome (CS)(no food) they responded by association (CR)
to condition the dog pavlov paired the sound of the metranome woth the presentation of food. he usually sis this 20 times but it depended on hoe active the dog was

Question 12

Pavlov’s (1927) experiment with salivation in dogs (Results)

Answer 12

Results:
pavlov found that the conditioned dog started to salivate 9 seconds after hearing the metronome and by 45 seconds had produced 11 drops of saliva.

Question 13

Pavlov’s (1927) experiment with salivation in dogs (Conclusion)

Answer 13

Conclusion:
Pavlov had discovered classical conditioning. the neutral stimulus after being repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus (the meat) turned into a conditioned stimulus producing the conditioned response (salivation) all by itself.

Question 14

Why is Generalisability a weakness?

Answer 14

The main problem with Pavlov’s experiment is generalising results from dogs to humans. Humans have different brains from dogs and much more complicated thoughts and motives. We are not strongly motivated to find food all the time.

CA - However, humans may have other motives that drive them just as strongly and they can be conditioned by those.

Question 15

Why is Reliability a strength?

Answer 15

Pavlov’s experiment is a good example of a reliable study because it had standardised procedures and it was carefully documented. He also repeated the study many times over 25 years, with different dogs and different NS. This gives the research test-retest reliability.

He even got different researchers to observe the dog and measure the saliva. This gives the research inter-rater reliability.

Pavlov’s carefully controlled setting makes his findings objective and scientifically credible. There doesn’t seem to be any other stimuli that could be making the dogs salivate, so his conclusions about conditioning seem to be the best explanation.

Question 16

Why is Validity a weakness?

Answer 16

Another criticism was the low ecological validity of Pavlov’s studies.

The dogs were kept in very unusual conditions (tied up in a harness in a box, cut off from other dogs and humans, with a drip feed attached to their mouths) and they were presented with odd stimuli. There was nothing normal about their reactions and the dogs may behave differently in real life.

Question 17

Why is Ethics a weakness?

Answer 17

If research like this was carried out today, it would be unethical.

Research animals should be treated humanely, not sealed up in small rooms, tied in harnesses and subjected to surgery.

CA - However, there were no Ethical Guidelines for Psychologists in the early 20th century.