Classical Conditioning
RG 6a
Modified PowerPoint from: Aneeq Ahmad -- Henderson State
University. Worth Publishers © 2007
Today’s Goals
●From College Board…
o Describe basic classical conditioning phenomena,
such as acquisition, extinction, spontaneous
recovery, generalization, discrimination, and higherorder learning.
●Other Goals
oIdentify each unit of classical conditioning
(UCS, CS, NS, UCR, CR, etc.)
oIdentify Pavlov and describe his significance
Definition of Learning
Learning is a relatively permanent change
in an organism’s behavior due to
experience.
How Do We Learn?
We learn by association. Our minds
naturally connect events that occur in
sequence.
Aristotle, 2000 years ago, suggested this
law of association. Then 200 years ago
Stimulus-Stimulus Learning
Learning to associate one stimulus
with another.
Classical Conditioning
Ideas a of classical
conditioning originate from
old philosophical theories,
however it was a Russian
physiologist Ivan Pavlov who
exposed classical
Ivan Pavlov (18491936)
conditioning to the world.
In CC – learning occurs when a neutral stimulus
comes to bring about a response after it is paired
with a stimulus that naturally brings about a
Things to remember…
An unconditioned stimulus leads to an unconditioned
response.
Unconditioned = unlearned and untrained
Conditioned = learned and trained
During conditioning, a previously neutral stimulus is
transformed into the conditioned stimulus.
Unconditioned response and conditioned response
are similar
Stimulus = “thing”
Pavlov’s Experiment
Pavlov was NOT a
psychologist…but instead a
physiologist, trying to understand
the digestive process (he
eventually won a Nobel Prize for
this research).
When he stumbled upon classical
conditioning, his actual research
was going awry because the
dogs were salivating BEFORE
Pavlov’s Experiment
Before conditioning –
food (Unconditioned Stimulus, UCS) produces
salivation (Unconditioned Response, UCR).
The tone (neutral stimulus, NS) does not produce a
response.
Pavlov’s Experiment
During conditioning, neutral stimulus (tone) and
UCS (food) are paired resulting in salivation
(UCR).
Paired the NS with UCS numerous times to “condition” the dog
Pavlov's Example of CC
Use Pavlov's dog research to fill in the lines below.
________________________ -> _______________
UCS
UCR
________________________ -> no response
NS
___________ + __________ -> ______________
NS
UCS
UCR
________________________ -> ______________
CS
CR
Current Example of CC
Every time someone flushes a toilet in your house, the
shower becomes very hot and causes the person in the
shower to jump back.
________________________ -> _______________
UCS
UCR
________________________ -> no response
NS
___________ + __________ -> ______________
NS
UCS
UCR
________________________ -> ______________
CS
CR
Balloon Experiment
Let’s see how you respond to classical conditioning…
Balloon Experiment
What was the UCS?
Balloon pop
What was the UCR?
Flinching
What was the CS?
Counting (+ hand motion)
What was the CR?
Muscles Tightening
Other examples of CC?
●Bell ringing to end class
●Advertisements using attractive people to sell
products
●Anxiety when hear sound of dentist’s drill
●…
Examples?
Did anyone find an example of classical conditioning
over the weekend?
Did anyone classically condition someone else?
Acquisition
The initial stage in classical conditioning.
during which association between a
neutral stimulus and a UCS takes place.
1.Neutral stimulus needs to come before the
UCS for conditioning to occur (most cases).
1.The time between the two stimuli should be
about half a second.
Extinction
When a UCS (food) does not follow a CS
(tone) CR (salivation) starts to decrease and at
some point goes extinct.
Spontaneous Recovery
After a rest period an extinguished CR
(salivation) spontaneously recovers and if CS
(tone) persists alone becomes extinct again.
Stimulus Generalization
Tendency to respond to
stimuli similar to CS is called
generalization. Pavlov
conditioned the dog’s
salivation (CR) by using
miniature vibrators (CS) to
the thigh. When he
subsequently stimulated
other parts of the dog’s
body, salivation dropped.
Stimulus Discrimination
Discrimination is the learned ability to
distinguish between a CS and other stimuli
that do not signal a US.
Current Example of CC
Nerf gun/quack boy video
________________________ -> _______________
UCS
UCR
________________________ -> no response
NS
___________ + __________ -> ______________
NS
UCS
UCR
________________________ -> ______________
CS
CR
Welcome!
1. The Neutral Stimulus becomes the _________________.
2. Another word for learning or training is_______________.
3. Pavlov’s dogs naturally responded to the food; food is the
_______________.
4. When Pavlov’s dogs salivate to the food, salivation is the
________, when they salivate to the bell, salivation is the
_________________.
5. Pavlov used a ________________ in conditioning the dogs.
The Office
●Example of Classical Conditioning…
oThe Office Altoid Episode