Classical Conditioning
Classical conditioning is “a type of learning in which one learns to link two or more
stimuli and anticipate events” (Myers & DeWall, 2015, p. 282). I borrowed the example I
will be using for this assignment from the video linked here. In the video, a boy
establishes that throwing a paper ball at his brother will prompt him to retaliate if he
does not stop. He then rings an alarm on his phone to see if it elicits a response from
his brother, but it does not. Afterward, he throws a paper ball at his brother each time
immediately after ringing an alarm and does this until his brother becomes infuriated
and retaliates by throwing a pen at him. The next time he rings an alarm, his brother
turns back and immediately throws another pen at him without him throwing the paper
ball first.
In this example, the unconditioned stimulus (US) is the paper ball because throwing it
naturally triggers retaliation, which is the unconditioned response (UR). The neutral
stimulus (NS) is the alarm because it elicits no response from the brother before
conditioning. The alarm becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) when the brother
immediately retaliates the next time it rings, without any paper ball being thrown at him.
Also, retaliation, formerly an unconditioned response, now becomes a conditioned
response (CR) because it is elicited by the previously neutral (but now conditioned)
stimulus.
References
Myers, D.G., & DeWall, N.C. (2015). Psychology (11th Edition). Worth Publishers.
Daughters, A. (2015). Ivan Pavlov's Classical Conditioning Psychology Experiment. Apr
24,
2015. YouTube. Retrieved May 4, 2022, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB7AIrt06ck.