Classical Conditioning Flashcards
what are the main features of classical conditioning?
unconditioned stimulus
unconditioned response
conditioned stimulus
neutral stimulus
conditioned response
extinction
spontaneous recovery
unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
the stimulus which automatically triggers a specific response
unconditional response (UCR)
a response that is naturally occurring without any prior learning
conditioned stimulus (CS)
the NS now triggers the reflex response
neutral stimulus (NS)
a stimulus which would not normally trigger a specific reflex response
conditioned response
this is a learned response
extinction
the gradual weakening of a conditioned response that results in the behavior decreasing or disappearing
the loss of a conditioned response to the conditioned stimulus
spontaneous recovery
the sudden reappearance of a previously extinguished response
generalisation
the application of the results from a study, to the wider target population.
what type of conditioning did Pavlov develop?
Classical conditioning
what reflex in dogs did Pavlov study?
salivation
what did Pavlov note that dogs didn’t need to learn?
to salivate when they see food
Pavlov knew he needed to put food in a dog’s mouth for the animal to salivate. What did he notice after working with the same dog repeatedly?
The dog began to salivate to stimuli associated with the food.
how were control variables maintained in Pavlovs experiment?
the dog was restrained in a harness inside a cubicle
isolated from all distractions
how did the experimenter avoid becoming associated with the food?
observed through a one way mirror
presented the dog with food via remote control
how was the experiment a quantitative measure?
a tube carried saliva from the dog’s mouth to a container where it was measured.
how were extraneous variables controlled?
examples:
windows of the room covered in extra thick sheets of glass
each room had double steel doors which sealed when closed
prevented vibration, noise, temperature extremes and odours
what types of neutral stimuli did Pavlov use?
metronome
bell
buzzer
how did Pavlov condition the stimulus of the metronome to produce the same response as the food?
he paired the metronome and the food
just before placing the food in the dogs mouth to produce salivation,Pavlov sounded a metronome
after several pairings of the metronome and the food, what happened?
the dog began salivating to the metronome alone, in anticipation of the meat powder
how many times did the tone and the food need to be paired for the dog to salivate from the tone alone?
usually 20 or more
what were the quantitative results of the metronome study?
salivation started after 9 seconds
by 45 seconds, 11 drops had been collected
what order did the stimuli have to be presented for salivation to occur from the conditioned stimulus?
when the NS / CS was presented before the UCS,
not if it came after
what could distract or affect the acquired learning?
the dog had to be alert
no other stimuli present to distract or affect the acquired learning.
