Classical Conditioning

He made a dog associate feeding time with the sound of the bell. Once the food was put in front of the dog he would desire it as a natural instinct or unconditional stimulus according to Pavlov. The dog would initially be hungry when seeing food this is unconditional response, the dog wasn’t taught to be hungry. Ringing the bell just before feeding the dog would teach the dog that food is coming soon therefore the dog would know food is coming this is called conditional stimulus it is taught. Eventually the dog would feel hungry every time he heard the bell that would be called condition response.

In the early 1900s classical conditioning was founded by Ivan Petrovich Pavlov. The process of classical conditioning examines the type of learning where one discovers a new behavior by association. To break this down further one must understand the relationship between a stimulus and the response to that stimulus. Putting together how classical conditioning functions we must begin with the first stage where a stimulus called the unconditioned stimulus triggers a response called the unconditioned response. Once this process is concluded we are left with a neutral stimulus. Following this, the neutral stimulus will transcend into what is none as a conditioned stimulus. This new stimulus is applied to the person or thing and triggers a conditioned response.

This is known as the unconditioned stimulus (UCS). Meat is the unconditioned stimulus because at the sight of the meat the dogs begin to salivate (Feldman, 2010).   The dog’s response to the meat educes salivation and is known as the unconditioned response (UCR). An unconditioned response is defined as a reflexive and natural response that is not connected to prior learning. Unconditioned responses always occur in the presence of the unconditioned stimulus (Feldman, 2010).   While conditioning the dogs, Pavlov would ring a bell right before the presentation of meat. Eventually, the dogs would associate the ringing of the bell with the meat. Therefore, the dogs would begin to salivate at the sound of the bell. At this point, Pavlov could state that he had classically conditioned his dogs. The bell which was a prior neutral stimulus had now become the conditioned stimulus (CS) that brought forth the conditioned response (CR) of salivation (Feldman, 2010). Moreover, we have to ask what would happen if these poor dogs were never again received food upon the ringing of the bell. This would lead to extinction. Extinction occurs when a prior conditioned response decreases in frequency and eventually disappears (Feldman, 2010).   In order for Pavlov to unconditioned his dogs he would have to break their association with the sound of the ringing bell and the presentation of food. To do so he

Classical conditioning is a learning process in which a previously neutral stimulus becomes associated with another stimulus through repeated pairing with that stimulus. (Hoeksema et al, 2009, P.239) Classical conditioning involves reflex behaviour. A simple reflex is an involuntary response that is brought on by a specific stimulus. (Bootzin et al, 1983, P.178) In this essay we will discuss and explore classical conditioning learning theory. In doing so we will focus on a number of experiments specifically Pavlov’s dogs, Little Albert and The Skinner Box. Following on from this the author will compare and contrast classical conditioning to operant conditioning. This essay will conclude by aiming to demonstrate how this type of learning is

Pavlov started out his experiment from his firm belief that there are certain actions a dog does not need to learn to perform. He described the phenomenon in which dogs salivate as soon as they see food as a reflex that is “hard wired” into the dogs. He called this naturally occurring response the unconditioned response because there was a clear connection between a certain stimulus and a response in the behavior of the dogs that did not require learning. Similarly, Pavlov called the food the unconditioned stimulus because it naturally and automatically triggered a response, like salivating. In short, he succeeded in proving that any object or event which the dogs learn to associate with food would more likely to trigger the same response -- he discovered the general principle of the classical conditioning.

The process of classical conditioning follows the procedure from Pavlov’s salivation experiment. Before conditioning, when a bowl of dog food is presented the dog would “naturally” salivate at the mouth “in response to food”. Because this response occurs “automatically” and “prior training” isn’t required for hunger, this reaction is called an unconditioned response (UCR) which “is the response that is naturally elicited by the [UCS]” (Powell et al., 2013, pp. 112-115). When referring to a natural response--one is referring to an elicited reaction that is characterized as “an unlearned or innate reaction to [a] stimulus” (Powell et al., 2013, p. 115). Furthermore, the dog food is considered an unconditioned stimulus (UCS), which “is a stimulus that naturally elicits a response” (Powell et al., 2013, p. 115). According to Pavlov’s experiment, when a bell chimes without the presentation of dog food, the dog will not instinctually salivate (Powell et al., 2013, p. 112). Since the bell didn’t initially “elicit salivation” naturally, it’s called a neutral stimulus (NS) (Powell et al., 2013, p. 112). However, through conditioning, as the bell tone pairs with dog food continuously, the dog begins to salivate. Finally, after the conditioning process is completed, the pairing of “food” and the bell “now elicits salivation” (Powell et al., 2013, p. 112). Since the dog’s salivation required some type of continual prompting or, “prior training”, it’s reaction is considered a conditioned response (CR) “and the [bell]” is the conditioned stimulus (CS). By definition, a conditioned stimulus “is any stimulus that, although initially neutral, comes to elicit a response because it has been associated with an unconditioned stimulus” (Powell et al., 2013, p. 115). Responses triggered by a

Classical conditioning was stumbled upon by a Russian physiologist, Ivan Pavlov. His unexpected discovery led him to win a rightfully earned Noble Prize. Classical conditioning is defined as “a form of learning in which reflex responses are associated with new stimuli (Coon & Mitterer, 2016, p. 201).” This form of learning is also called Pavlovian conditioning or respondent conditioning. He found a connection between the stimuli for his dogs’ salivation during his experiment. To begin explaining classical conditioning, it is best to explain how Pavlov conducted his research. He began his experiment by ringing a bell, which was a neutral stimulus (NS) for his dogs. A neutral stimulus is defined as “a stimulus that does not evoke a response (Coon & Mitterer, 2016, p. 201).” Directly after, he put meat

When I was in my psychology class in high school, we spent a month talking about classical conditioning and we did many interesting experiments involving it. We also touched on operant conditioning and social learning, so I have some background knowledge in this subject. Classical and operant conditioning, along with social learning, are all ways to teach animals or humans how to behave. These theories developed because psychologists wanted to understand why people behave the way they do and many famous experiments have been conducted to answer this question. It was very interesting to learn more about these theories and how they work, and relating them to my own personal experiences.

We know that classical conditioning is when how our behaviors are affected when you have a stimulus. Even though Pavlov used a dog in order to explain classical conditioning and example I am going to use is my dog when I open a can. UCS is also known as an unconditioned stimulus which is when my dog would smell the food. UCR which is known as the unconditioned response is when my dog knows he needs to eat because he needs to eat to live. CS is known as the conditioned stimulus is when my dog hears me open his can of dog food in order to put food in his bowl. This is sort of like the bell in Pavlov’s study but the opening of the can. The CR which is the conditioned response is that once he hears the

He tried to connect he conditioning stimulus with the unconditioned response was the ringing of a bell. At the beginning of this experiment, Pavlov show food to the dog and of course evoke the response of salivation of the dog. Then he gave a bell was sounded in subsequent time with food being presented to the dog in consecutive sequences, This was repeated during several trials. After some time, the dog learned to associate the ringing of the bell with food and to respond by salivating. After the conditioning period was finished, the dog would respond by salivating when the bell was rung, even when the unconditioned stimulus (the food) was

Briefly, Pavlov`s classical conditioning theory explain learning new behavior. He used dogs in his experiment. He explained three stages of classical conditioning. The unconditioned stimulus means that a stimulus in the environment has created a behavior (meat salivate the dog), Neutral stimulus that itself will not create a reaction (bell is ruining no salivate dog), conditioned stimulus means that neutral stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus together (meat and bell together salivate dog) and after conditioning means that neutral stimulus creates a conditioned response and becomes a conditioned stimulus(rang bell salivate

It doesn’t require many materials, people, or places to perform, which makes it easier for someone to try it. Nevertheless, my classical conditioning experiment was to see if tickling makes a baby laugh with the associate of a funny music. So, the first event was the unconditioned stimulus, which was tickling the baby and the unconditioned response for that was the baby laughing. Then, I added neutral stimulus, which was the funny music and paired it with the unconditioned stimulus, tickling the baby. Then the neutral stimulus, the funny music became the conditioned stimulus, which then created the conditioned response. Nevertheless, the funny music then made the baby to laugh even without the

One example of classical conditioning that I have experienced in my everyday life is my cat’s response to hitting a spoon on a can of cat food. Classical conditioning involves learning a new behavior through the process of association. A new behavior can easily be learned by conditioning a person or pet to respond to a certain stimulus. My cat is a perfect example of classical conditioning that I see every day. Every morning when it is time to feed my cat I walk outside and hit a spoon on the side of her cat food can. As soon as the spoon strikes the can my cat comes running. The unconditioned stimulus is the sound of hitting the spoon on the can, and the unconditioned response is my cat receives food. Now, whenever I hit a can of food with a spoon my cat will come running because she assumes that I am about to feed her. Now that I know what my cat’s response is to the sound I often use it to my advantage. If I want my cat’s attention all I have to do is make the sound and she will come running.

Classical conditioning is a type of associative learning which occurs when two stimuli are paired together repetitively and therefore become associated with each other eventually producing the same response. Classical conditioning was developed from the findings of Ivan Pavlov to account for associations between neutral stimuli and reflexive behavior such as salivation. Pavlov (1927) accidently discovered that dogs began to salivate before they had tasted their food. To support his theory, he carried out experiments using dogs which involved measuring the amount of saliva they produced. In his experiments, food started off as an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) which produced salivation, an unconditioned response (UCR). They are both unconditioned as they occur naturally without being learned. The dogs were presented with a bell (NS), this provided no salivation. The bell and food were presented together and after many trails an

Pavlov’s study on dogs supports Classical conditioning. It does this by showing how a neutral stimulus can be conditioned to produce a conditioned response. In the study, Pavlov realised that food (an unconditional stimulus) caused the dog to salivate (unconditional response). He then decided to make a neutral stimulus such as light produce the unconditional response. This