Learning:classical Conditioning

Question 1

Learning is?

Answer 1

A process
Experience
Enduring
Adaptive
Change 
Behaviour

Question 2

Think about evolutionary adaptation

Answer 2

What will signal an upcoming important event that will have positive or negative consequences for me?

Question 3

Behaviourism was founded by?

Answer 3

John Watson in 1913

Question 4

Behaviourism is

Answer 4

Psychology as the study of behaviour and sees learning as the centrepiece of psychology

Question 5

Behaviourism is focused on

Answer 5

The relationship between behaviour and stimuli and events in the environment

Question 6

Habituation doesn’t describe learning an association between two stimuli (unlike conditioning)

Answer 6

But describes the attenuation of a current response

Question 7

Habituation requires

Answer 7

Repetition of a single stimulus
E.g in humans a loud noise
Aplysia (snail) touch skin to cause contraction of Gill

Question 8

What is another term for sensitisation?

Answer 8

Dishabituation

Question 9

Sensitisation again is not about the association between two stimuli but

Answer 9

Describes an increase in strength of a response to a repeated stimulus

Question 10

An example of sensitisation in humans is

Answer 10

Tap dripping (or water torture if you prefer a more dramatic example)

Question 11

An example of sensitisation in aplysia is

Answer 11

Stronger tactile stimulus causes withdrawal of more body parts

Question 12

Sensitise or habituate?

Answer 12

Clearly important to respond in some way to harmful stimuli but not expend energy on reacting to safe events

Question 13

Groves and Thomson (1970) believed

Answer 13

Both happen at the same time. If the amount of arousal produced is high then sensitisation occurs more than habituation and so the overall behavioural response is increased response to the stimulus- if arousal is low then the opposite happens

Question 14

A form of associative learning: study pionneered by

Answer 14

Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)

Question 15

Pavlov won a Nobel prize for?

Answer 15

Psychology-medicine (1904)

Question 16

Basic Pavlovian procedure requires?

Answer 16

A hungry dog

Question 17

What is classical conditioning?

Answer 17

Association of two stimuli such that one stimulus comes to be associated with the repose normally given to the other

Question 18

The original research is classical conditioning examined

Answer 18

Digestion and measured salivary response to food

Question 19

What was noticed in classical conditioning?

Answer 19

That saliva production began to happen before the presentation of food

Question 20

Serendipity: tested the idea of saliva production before food using

Answer 20

Tones- dogs do not normally salivate to tones- they do to food

Question 21

To test this idea sound a tone every time the dog gets food

Answer 21

Dogs salivate to tone even when there is no food

Question 22

Food and tone have become associated to

Answer 22

Produce the same response

Question 23

Terminology

Answer 23

Unconditioned stimulus UCS-food
Unconditioned response UCR-salivate to food
Conditioned stimulus CS-tone
Conditioned response CR-salivate to tone

Question 24

The important principle from this is that

Answer 24

Stimulus substitution has occurred- the CR is similar to, but weaker than, the UCR

Question 25

Stimulus substitution is a basic learning process that

Answer 25

Occurs across species- it's function is to alert organisms to an important upcoming event

Question 26

If salivation can be conditioned

Answer 26

So might a whole lot of other responses

Question 27

Learning occurs most quickly when?

Answer 27

The CS (tone) appears first and is still present when the UCS (food) appears This is known as forward pairing

Question 28

If there is a delay between CS and UCS

Answer 28

It should only be for a couple of seconds maximum for best effect

Question 29

Slower learning happens during

Answer 29

Simultaneous pairing

Question 30

Slowest learning of all happens when

Answer 30

The UCS precedes the CS This is know as backward pairing

Question 31

Pavlov- a similar stimulus to the CS will also elicit a CR

Answer 31

The greater the similarity, the more likely it is that CR will occur This is described as generalisation

Question 32

A stimulus which is markedly different

Answer 32

Will not elicit a CR This is described as discrimination

Question 33

The adaptive value of generalisation and discrimination

Answer 33

Should be apparent

Question 34

Higher order conditioning HOC:

Answer 34

Hungry dog gets repeated tone-food pairings Tone becomes CS with salivation as CR Now show black square prior to tone (no food given) Square eventually becomes a CS which can elicit salivation on its own While chain of items associated with response

Question 35

An application of classical conditioning is

Answer 35

Phobias

Question 36

Watson used behaviourist ideas to

Answer 36

Challenge the current Freudian psychoanalytic views of mental disorders such as phobias

Question 37

Could a single pairing of a particularly aversive stimulus be enough to cause a lifelong fear?

Answer 37

Needed experimental evidence

Question 38

Conditioned fear

Answer 38

Watson and Rayner (1920)

Question 39

Little Albert

Answer 39

- 11 month old boy introduced to rat | - Played happily with animal- or no fear- until the experimenter standing behind him hit gong

Question 40

After gong sounded

Answer 40

Paired showing him the rat with banging a steel bar with a hammer After several rat-noise pairings little Albert cried when he saw the rat itself

Question 41

The rest of fear of rat resulted in

Answer 41

Fear generalised to similar creatures and objects- rabbit, Santa clause mask

Question 42

Fear of rat

Answer 42

Less generalisation of fear to a dog-not as furry

Question 43

Other evidence for conditioned fear

Answer 43

Ayres (1998) animas become afraid of neutral stimuli that are paired with a shock Wolpe and Paul (1997) therapies based on the principles of classical conditioning are amount at the most effective forms of treatment for phobia ie if phobias are learned they can be unlearned

Question 44

Exposure therapies

Answer 44

Exposure the the stimulus CS without the UCS allowing extinction to occur

Question 45

Exposure therapies

Answer 45

Can use real life, hypnosis, mental imagery and virtual reality

Question 46

Exposure therapies

Answer 46

Flooding- intense exposure to trigger stimulus, anxiety at maximum level- no adverse consequences Problem- phobic has to stay in the room

Question 47

What is systematic desensitisation ?

Answer 47

Graduated exposure to the trigger stimulus-same idea but less likely that the patient will do a runner

Question 48

Attraction and aversion

Answer 48

As well as phobia, classical conditioning has also been linked to fetishism Ralph McGuire and his trainees The game and what to give a waitress Aversion therapy Advertising

Question 49

Allergic reactions

Answer 49

E,g asthma- plastic fish gave same reaction as real goldfish allergen

Question 50

Anticipatory nausea

Answer 50

Chemotherapy

Question 51

Even the immune system response can become paired with a neutral stimulus

Answer 51

Sherbet and immune enhancing drug eventually leads to better immune response from just sherbet alone