Classical Conditioning: Basic
Phenomena and Various Complexities
Chapter 4
Dr. Steven I. Dworkin
Respondent Conditioning
• Acquisition
– Magnitude of CR increases over repeated pairings
– Asymptote for CR
– Asymptote for CR function of intensity of US
• Extinction
– Repeated presentation of CS only results in a decrement
of CR
Dr. Steven I. Dworkin
Respondent Conditioning
• Extinction
• Spontaneous Recovery
– Increase in CR after extinction after passage of time.
• Internal inhibition (Pavlov blocking of CS-CR
relationship)
• Disinhibition – sudden recovery of a response
during an extinction procedure following
presentation of a novel stimulus.
• CS-CR relationship weakened (Behavioral
Analysis).
Dr. Steven I. Dworkin
Stimulus Generalization
• Stimulus generalization – is the tendency for a CR to occur
in the presence of a stimulus that is similar to the CS
– Semantic generalization – generalization of a
conditioned response to verbal stimuli similar in
meaning to CS
Dr. Steven I. Dworkin
Generalization
Salivation (in cc’s)
• CR occurs to values of CS not trained during acquisition.
1
0.5
0
75 150 225 300 375 450 525 600 675
Dr. Steven I. Dworkin
Stimulus Discrimination
• Stimulus discrimination – tendency for a response to be
elicited by one stimulus and not another.
• Discrimination training
– Peak Shift
– Experimental Neurosis
Dr. Steven I. Dworkin
Higher Order Conditioning
• Second order conditioning
– CS1 paired with US
– CS2 paired with CS1
– CS2  CR
• Sensory Preconditioning
– CS1 paired with CS2
– CS1 paired with US
– CS2  CR
Dr. Steven I. Dworkin
Limitations to Classical Conditioning
• Compound Stimulus – simultaneous presentation of two or
more individual stimuli.
• Overshadowing – most salient member of a stimulus more
readily conditioned as a CS
• Blocking – presence of an established CS interferes with
the conditioning of a new CS
• Latent inhibition – familiar stimulus more difficult to
condition as a CS than an unfamiliar stimulus.
– schizophrenia
Dr. Steven I. Dworkin
Additional Phenomena
• Temporal Conditioning – CS is passage of time
• Occasion setting – signal signals CS is likely to be
followed US
• US Revaluation – post conditioning presentation of the US
at a different level of intensity thereby altering the strength
of the response to the CS
• Pseudoconditioning – an elicited response that appears to
be a CR is the result of sensitization.
– Pseudoconditioning control
Dr. Steven I. Dworkin
Applications
• Psychological Disorders
– Phobias
– Overgeneralizations
– Neurosis
• Treatments
• Systematic Desensitization
• Extinction of CR to Drug Related CSs
Dr. Steven I. Dworkin