Clssical Conditioning Flashcards
Who suggested the classical conditioning theory?
Pavlov
What does classical conditioning claim?
That behaviour is learnt through stimulus association.
What happens BEFORE conditioning?
Neutral stimulus -> no response
Unconditioned stimulus-> unconditioned response
What happens DURING conditioning?
Neutral Stimulus + unconditioned stimulus -> unconditioned response
What happens AFTER conditioning?
Conditioned stimulus -> conditioned response
Give the definition of a UCS.
Give an example.
An unconditioned stimulus is a stimulus that causes an automatic or reflex response.
Eg balloon bursting.
Give the definition of a UCR.
Give an example.
An unconditioned response is an automatic reflex to an unconditioned response.
Eg fear
Give the definition of an NS.
Give an example.
A neutral stimulus is a stimulus that causes no natural reflex response.
Eg clown
Give the definition of a CS.
Give an example.
A conditioned stimulus is a stimulus after being paired with an UCS, causes a learnt conditioned response.
Eg clown
Give the definition of a CR.
Give an example.
A conditioned response is a learnt reflex response to a conditioned stimulus.
Eg fear
Give the definition of extinction.
Over time, conditioned stimuli gradually lose their association with the original unconditioned stimuli and revert back to neutral stimuli, causing no response. Over time. The conditioned response is no longer seen.
Give the definition of spontaneous recovery.
After extinction, this is seen where out of the blue the neutral stimulus triggers the conditioned response again.
Give the definition of stimulus generalisation.
Once a conditioned response is learnt, sometimes it will appear in response to other stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus.
What are the strengths of Pavlovs classical conditioning?
- Studies used to support CC used standardised procedures such as Pavlov’s experiment on the salivation of dogs where he had all dogs in a harness facing forwards. This means we can be sure that the salivation of the dogs came from the neutral stimulus of the sounds meaning the results come from objective and observable behaviour.
- Pavlov 1927- Pavlov found that by pairing food with the noise of a bell, dogs learnt to salivate to the sound of a bell- highly reliable and have high internal validity.
- Watson and Rayner 1920- They found that a phobia could be formed of a white rat through pairing it with a loud noise that Little Albert was scared of.
- Capafons et Al 1998- used systematic desensitisation to successfully treat patients who had a phobia of flying. Systematic desensitisation is based on classical conditioning so this shows that it must be an accurate explanation of how humans learn behaviour as it’s principles can be used to treat phobias.
What are the weaknesses of Pavlovs classical conditioning?
- Systematic desensitisation lacks application to real life situations- it only asks the participants to imagine each situation they are afraid in, rather than actually being in the situation EI it lacks validity in real life situations as they don’t know is the CC based treatment will work when they face a real fear.
- Animal Evidence- much supporting evidence is based on animals such as Pavlovs experiment on the salivation of dogs. Animals have much simpler cognitive processes that humans so we cannot generalise from animals to humans, meaning evidence for classical conditioning is limited in its generalisability.
- Reductionism- CC is the shallowest form of learning, based on reflex reactions to stimuli. It fails to consider the cognitive processes involved in learning. It also ignores the tor of consequences of behaviours.
