Classical Conditioning Flashcards
(16 cards)
How is classical conditioning learnt?
Association
How does classical conditioning take place?
An unconditioned stimulus (something that triggers a natural response) with a new neutral stimulus (something that would not normally trigger a response
What are the y terms in classical conditioning?
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
Unconditioned response (UCR)
Neutral stimulus (NS)
Conditioned stimulus (CS)
Conditioned response (CR)
What is the unconditioned stimulus?
Something that triggers a response
What is the unconditioned response?
A response which is natural and doesn’t need to be learnt
What is the neutral stimulus?
Something that doesn’t trigger a response
What is the conditioned stimulus?
Something that triggers a learnt response ; something we have been conditioned to respond to.
When the natural stimulus produces the same response as the UCS
What is the conditioned response?
A response that has been learnt through association
What is generalisation?
The CS produces the same behaviour to a similar stimulus after the response has been conditioned. E.g your cat may come when any can is opened not just cat food.
What is discrimination?
This is when, after a period of time, learning only occurs in response to a specific stimulus.
E.g your cat may only respond to a can opening at a certain time of day or your cat only responds to a can instead of a jar
What is extinction?
This is the removal of the behaviour. However, the association may not be entirely lost.
If the CS (sound of can opening) is continually presented without any food being paired with it, the cat will gradually learn to disassociate the behaviour
What is spontaneous recovery?
A form of learning, extinction is not the same thing as unlearning. While the response may disappear, it has certainly not been eradicated.
E.g if the tin is paired with the food following extinction, the cat will quickly learn to associate the food with the tin.
Evaluation- EVIDENCE
classical conditioning is supported by many studies conducted on both humans and animals.
Pavlov demonstrated classical conditioning of saliva ation responses in his study of dogs.
CA however, a problem with using animal research is that animals may function differently compared to humans. Watson and Rayner demonstrated that a fair response could be conditioned in human baby E.G little Albert.
This is important as it is evidence supporting the existence of classical conditioning in human and animal learning .
Evaluation- APPLICATION
Classical conditioning has led to treatments of phobias E.G systematic desensitisation which replaces the association of fear with association of relaxation instead to counter condition a learnt response.
Supported by Capafons who found that using this led to a reduction in fear to flying.
However, the theory may only be credible in its application if behaviour is learnt. If it is not learnt and is evolved (e.g for survival) then a treatment based on association would be poor.
Evaluation- STRENGTHS/SHORTCOMINGS
Research using lab experiments. This is a controlled environment and is not a natural way to observe behaviour. The contrived an artificial nature of such experiments questions the ecological validity of the findings and the extent to which the theories can be applied to real life settings. We cannot be sure that we would learn via association in day-to-day life.
The role of individual differences is largely ignored E.G. Some people may be more easy to manipulate in terms of learning mechanisms.
It is reductionist. Reducing behaviour to learning through association greatly underestimate the role of biological factors, including genetic differences on behaviour. Any mental processes are not considered, making the theory oversimplified.
CA that said, isolating complex behaviour allowed for research into classical conditioning to be carried out such as little Albert and this has given scientific credibility to the theory.
It is deterministic. Behaviours are said to be largely being governed by environmental forces. If individuals are a product of their environment, it suggests they cannot control their actions and intern can’t be responsible for them. Therefore, reducing the role of free will.
Evaluation- ALTERNATIVE
A weakness is that only explains how a limited range of behaviours can be acquired.
Classical conditioning only explains the acquisition of simple reflex responses like cation or anxiety. It can’t count for more complex chains of learned behaviours.
For example, classical conditioning could explain how we come to fear dogs but not the maintenance of this fear overtime or the behaviours we learned to avoid encountering dogs.
Therefore, classical conditioning is only a partial explanation.
