lecture 18,19,20 : classical conditioning

Question 1

examples of reflexive behaviours in newborns

Answer 1

eyeblinking, “sucking” and “gripping”

Question 2

examples of instinctual behaviors

Answer 2

imprinting, homing, migratory behaviour (pre-programmed)
eg: ducklings don’t recognise mother duck as the mother, chicks imprint on the first moving object they see, they instinctually imprint. on this and follow it around

Question 3

what are instinctual behaviours

Answer 3

hard wired behaviours that come with organisms

Question 4

learning def

Answer 4

a relatively permanent change in behaviour or knowledge as a result of experience

Question 5

what causes learning (behaviours selected by experience)

Answer 5

• by habituation
• by the association of events (classical conditioning)
• by the consequence of events (instrumental conditioning)
• by the observation of events (observational learning)

Question 6

habituation

Answer 6

the decline in the tendency to respond to stimuli that have become familiar due to repeated exposure
- it takes energy to have a response, so after repeated exposure it would be a waste of energy to maintain this response
eg: startiling to a new sight or sound decreases quite quickly with experience

Question 7

is the response in young turkeys showing alarm to a ‘hawk’ shape but not a ‘goose’ shape, pre-programmed or habituation

Answer 7

it is a process of habituation due to where they were raised, leading to differences in responses to the silhouette

Question 9

general description of experiment for classical conditioning

Answer 9

1. present stimuli in isolation
   Neutral stimulus (NS) –> no response
   Unconditioned stimulus (US) –> unconditioned response (UR)
2. NS immediately precedes US - pair repeatedly
   NS + US –> UR
3. present previously neutral stimulus alone
   conditioned stimulus –> conditioned response

Question 10

classical conditioning def

Answer 10

• a neutral stimulus (NS) is repeatedly paired with a stimulus (US) that automatically elicits a particular response (UR)
• the previously neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) that also elicits a similar response (CR)
• found in many species

Question 11

conditioned emotional responses

Answer 11

many emotions carry distinct physiological correlates
- increased heart rate
- “hair standing on end”
- flushes
- muscle tension
–> neural stimuli (sounds, smells) associated with emotional events can elicit emotional responses

Question 12

connection between fetishes and classical conditioning

Answer 12

• a person has heightened sexual arousal in the presence of certain inanimate objects (eg: shoes, rubber)
• the object has become a conditioned stimulus that can elicit arousal on its own

Question 13

what else is classical conditioning involved with

Answer 13

• allergic reactions
• anticipatory nausea
• immune responses

Question 14

what is the relationship between the UR and the CR

Answer 14

• Pavlov believed that the CS came to elicit the CR by a process of stimulus substitution i.e. the CS was equivalent to the US
• however, while UR and CR are often very similar, they are not necessarily identical

Question 15

how does the salivation experiment show that UR and CR are not the same

Answer 15

tone (CS) –> salivation (CR)
- salivation is less copious and has fewer digestive enzymes than if food itself is presented
- classical conditioning is not so much directed toward replacing the US with the CS, but a learning mechanism whereby the CS (and the CR) prepares the animal for the onset of the US and the UR
- Conditioned stimulus causes a condition response so your body is prepared

Question 16

what is the compensatory reaction hypothesis

Answer 16

sometimes the UR and the CR can be opposites
Eg:
- insulin injections = insulin depletes blood sugars. after a number of such injections, bodily reactions to the various CS produce opposite response to the drug (i.e. blood sugar levels go up)
- the body “prepares” itself for the drug, and “tilts” the other way
–> tilting the system in the other direction
stimulus response = is to raise blood sugar
drug response = is to lower blood sugar

Question 17

conditioned fear experiment: J.B. Watson & Rosalie Raynor

Answer 17

Used a child (Little Albert) to show that fear is not entirely innate, but can be conditioned through associative learning
US = loud noise
UR = caused fear/startle response
NS = rat (no fear)
CS = rat (after pairing with loud noise)
CR = fear of rat

Question 18

how is the compensatory reaction hypothesis seen in drug tolerance

Answer 18

• opiates (eg: morphine, heroin) produce pain relief, euphoria, and relaxation
• after repeated injections, stimuli surrounding drug injections produce a compensatory reaction –> depression, restlessness, increased sensitivity to pain
• the same effect requires more of the drug because system has been “tilted” the other way

Question 19

how is the compensatory reaction hypothesis involved in drug overdose

Answer 19

• the compensatory reaction requires CSs to elicit the physiological “preparedness” for the drug
• what if the drug is administered without the compensatory reaction?
• the same dose might be lethal because the body is unprepared

Question 20

acquisition

Answer 20

the process by which a conditioned stimulus comes to produce a conditioned response. i.e. how a NS becomes a CS

Question 21

what are the important factors in acquisition

Answer 21

• Number of NS and US pairings
• US intensity (the more intense the US, the stronger the CR, and the quicker the rate of conditioning)

Question 22

what is the relevance of CS-US temporal relations

Answer 22

• the timing of the CS and US can be important

temporal relations = the gap between the stimulus and presentation of the meat

Question 23

CS-US temporal relations: delayed (forward) conditioning

Answer 23

–> CS comes immediately before (and overlaps) with US
= most effective procedure for acquiring CR. effective interval depends on the type of CR

Question 24

CS-US temporal relations: trace (forward) conditioning

Answer 24

–> the CS starts and finishes before the US
= procedure is less effective than delayed conditioning
- have a bigger delay = less likely to have classical conditioning with these circumstances

Question 25

CS-US temporal relations: simultaneous conditioning

Answer 25

--> the CS and the US start and end together = often fails to produce CR

Question 26

CS-US temporal relations: backward conditioning

Answer 26

--> the CS begins after the US = the least effective way to acquire the CR (can actually produce the opposite effect)

Question 27

why does it matter where the conditioned stimulus is in regards to the unconditioned stimulus

Answer 27

for classical conditioning, condition stimulus needs to be a good predictor of the unconditioned stimulus which is coming up

Question 28

extinction

Answer 28

- if the CS is repeatedly presented without the US, then the CR will gradually decrease - the rate of decrease depends on factors such as initial response strength

Question 29

spontaneous recovery

Answer 29

- A CS--> CR relation is extinguished. after a period with no CS presentations, the CS may elicit the CR again - a revived CR is less intense. although it can recur repeatedly, it re-extinguishes relatively quickly

Question 30

behaviour therapy application: flooding

Answer 30

flooding = technique used to treat phobias by exposing a person intensely and directly to the feared object without gradual buildup - fear elicited by a CS (certain phobias) is eliminated by process of extinction - some therapists regard flooding as too stressful for the patient - spontaneous recovery has obvious implications therapies such as flooding

Question 31

stimulus generalisation

Answer 31

a conditioned response formed to one conditioned stimulus will occur to other, similar stimuli eg: "Little albert" also feared a furry white rabbit, fur coat, santa mask

Question 32

stimulus discrimination

Answer 32

occurs when an organism does not respond to stimuli that are similar to the stimulus used in training

Question 33

generalisation gradients

Answer 33

continuous stimulus dimensions can produce generalisation gradients. stimuli closer to the CS, produce greater CRs

Question 34

discrimination training

Answer 34

--> teaches an organism to respond differently to similar stimuli stimulus A is associated with the US, and stimulus B is not, if the subject discriminates, the CR occurs only with A orderly gradient = generalizations gradients

Question 35

behaviour therapy application: systematic desensitization

Answer 35

- combines ideas from extinction, stimulus generalisation and counterconditioning - treatment for phobias and anxiety problems eg: starting off with a picture of a spider, ending with holding a spider

Question 36

blocking

Answer 36

conditioning does not occur if a good predictor of the US already exists control group causes response

Question 37

high order conditioning

Answer 37

- once a stimulus has become an effective CS for a certain CR, then that stimulus can be used to condition other stimulus - shows a different way classical conditioning can be spread 1st order, 2nd order, 3rd order the result decreases as we go along the orders NS1 + US NS1 becomes CS1 then take a second neutral stimulus (NS2) NS2 + CS1 NS2 becomes CS2

Question 38

sensory preconditioning

Answer 38

- learning occurs in the absence of UR. classical conditioning reveals the association already learnt between two events eg: 1. light + tone (no. of trials) 2. light + meat = salivation 3. light = salivation 4. tone = salivation - CS-US pairings were not necessary for conditioning. organisms can make more general associations between stimuli (S-S learning)

Question 39

what do stimulus generalisation, higher order conditioning, sensory preconditioning allow for

Answer 39

allow learning in one context to extend to a wide range of situations

Question 40

what do stimulus discrimination and blocking do

Answer 40

limit the extent that learning in one context influences behaviour in other situations

Question 41

what was the original assumption in regards to biological restraints

Answer 41

- so far have looked at US-CS relations as largely arbitrary; i.e., any discrete NS can become a CS for a CR - some behaviour theorists have treated this as a basic principle

Question 42

reality of biological restraints

Answer 42

- associations between US & CS are more readily formed if they seem to belong together

Question 43

theoretical implications for biological restraints

Answer 43

1. US-CS connections are not arbitrary. depends on biological constraints or predispositions - a simple temporal contiguity (i.e. delayed conditioning) is not sufficient to produce conditioning 2. conditioned taste aversions can occur after quite long delays between the CS and the UR - so a close temporal contiguity is not always necessary for conditioning

Question 44

how is chemotherapy related to learned taste aversions

Answer 44

- chemo often produces severe nausea and vomiting in patients - loss of weight is not conducive to recovery from the cancer - individual is already sick enough - is some of the loss of appetite (and weight) due to learned taste aversions)

Question 46

chemotherapy study : Bernstein (1978)

Answer 46

group 1: ice cream + chemo group 2: no ice cream + no chemo group 3: ice cream + no chemo After 2-4 weeks patients given a choice between ice cream and playing a game grp 1 = majority didnt want ice cream grp 2 & 3 = chose ice cream

Question 47

taste aversion learning

Answer 47

- type of classical conditioning - where an organism learns to associate the taste of a particular food or drink with an illness or unpleasant experience, leading to a strong aviodance of that food in the future