What Is Conditioning In Psychology Example
Asked By : Robert Kawamura
For example, imagine that you are conditioning a dog to salivate in response to the sound of a bell. You repeatedly pair the presentation of food with the sound of the bell. You can say the response has been acquired as soon as the dog begins to salivate in response to the bell tone.
Two Types Of Conditioning
Although Ivan Pavlov won a Nobel Prize for studying digestion, he is much more famous for something else: working with a dog, a bell, and a bowl of saliva. Many people are familiar with the classic study of Pavlovs dog, but rarely do they understand the significance of its discovery. In fact, Pavlovs work helps explain why some people get anxious just looking at a crowded bus, why the sound of a morning alarm is so hated, and even why we swear off certain foods weve only tried once. Classical conditioning is one of the fundamental ways we learn about the world around us. But it is far more than just a theory of learning it is also arguably a theory of identity. For, once you understand classical conditioning, youll recognize that your favorite music, clothes, even political candidate, might all be a result of the same process that makes a dog drool at the sound of bell.
In a general way, classical conditioning occurs whenever neutral stimuli are associated with psychologically significant events. With food poisoning, for example, although having fish for dinner may not normally be something to be concerned about , if it causes you to get sick, you will now likely associate that neutral stimuli with the psychologically significant event of getting sick. These paired events are often described using terms that can be applied to any situation.
Conditioned Stimulus Isn’t Just For The Dogs
Our furry friends aren’t the only ones who learn from conditioning. Conditioned stimuli are present in our everyday lives-sometimes more than we realize. By understanding the conditioned stimulus definition, we are better able to understand how they are shaping our thought patterns and lives.
John B. Watson used Pavlov’s findings in the early twentieth century to reproduce classical conditioning in a very young child. This unethical experiment took an emotionally stable nine-month-old child and subjected him to classical conditioning to create a phobia of white fuzzy animals. During the “Little Albert Experiment,” Watson introduced the child to some furry animals including a rabbit, dog, and white rat.
When “Albert” was around the rat, Watson made loud, unpleasant noises that distressed Albert. Very soon the conditioned stimulus of the loud noise caused Albert to fear the rat. Also, without further conditioning, Albert’s fear generalized to other furry animals and even Watson in a white furry mask. This experiment had its shortfalls, and crossed ethical boundaries not established at the time. It is a powerful and unfortunate reminder of how conditioning can shape one’s thoughts and behaviors.
Classical conditioning using a controlled stimulus isn’t just for the laboratory. Here are a few examples of everyday conditioned stimuli and how they affect our lives:
Sometimes, a single, often dramatic event, could lead to creating a conditioned stimulus. For example:
Don’t Miss: Can You Pass An 8th Grade Math Test
Conditioned Responses In Classical Conditioning
The typical procedure for inducing classical conditioning involves presentations of a neutral stimulus along with a stimulus of some significance. The neutral stimulus could be any event that does not result in an overt behavioral response from the organism under investigation. Pavlov referred to this as a Conditioned Stimulus . Conversely, presentation of the significant stimulus necessarily evokes an innate, often reflexive, response. Pavlov called these the Unconditioned Stimulus and Unconditioned Response , respectively. If the CS and the US are repeatedly and appropriately put in temporal-spatial proximity, eventually the two stimuli become associated and the organism begins to produce a behavioral response to the CS. Pavlov called this the Conditioned Response .
Conditioned Stimulus In Classical Conditioning
By Julia Simkus, published July 08, 2022 | Fact Checked by Saul Mcleod, PhD
Using the terminology of the classical conditioning paradigm, the conditioned stimulus is a learned stimulus that can eventually trigger a conditioned response. For example, the sound of a bell is the conditioned stimulus in Pavlov’s experiment, and the dogs salivating would be the conditioned response.
In classical conditioning, a person or animal learns to associate the conditioned stimulus with the unconditioned stimulus that naturally produces an automatic behavior .
Therefore, a conditioned stimulus makes an organism react to something because it is associated with something else, which is usually a reflective stimuli eliciting an automatic response.
The best-known and most thorough work on classical conditioning was discovered by Ivan Pavlov in the early 1900s in his experiments on the digestive response of dogs. Pavlov had such a great impact on the study of classical conditioning that it is often referred to as Pavlovian conditioning.
In classical conditioning, the conditioned stimulus begins as a neutral stimulus that eventually comes to automatically trigger a conditioned response after becoming associated with an unconditioned stimulus. After the neutral stimulus becomes associated with the unconditioned stimulus, it becomes the conditioned stimulus.
Read Also: What Does Human Geography Examine
What Is An Unconditioned Response
- Ph.D., Psychology, Fielding Graduate University
- M.A., Psychology, Fielding Graduate University
- B.A., Film Studies, Cornell University
An unconditioned response is an automatic reflex that occurs in response to an unconditioned stimulus. Unconditioned responses are natural and innate, and therefore, dont have to be learned. The concept of unconditioned responses was first defined by Ivan Pavlov as part of his discovery of classical conditioning.
How A Conditioned Response Is Formed
Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov first discovered the classical conditioning process during his research on the salivary systems of dogs. Pavlov noted that the dogs would salivate to the taste of meat but, after a while, they also began to salivate whenever they saw the white coat of the lab assistant who delivered the meat.
To look closer at this phenomenon, Pavlov introduced the sound of a tone whenever the animals were fed. Eventually, an association was formed, and the animals would salivate whenever they heard the sound, even if no food was present.
In Pavlov’s classic experiment, the food represents what is known as the unconditioned stimulus . This stimulus naturally and automatically triggers an unconditioned response , which, in this case, was salivation. After pairing the unconditioned stimulus with a previously neutral stimulus, the sound of the tone, an association is formed between the UCS and the neutral stimulus.
Eventually, the previously neutral stimulus begins to evoke the same response, at which point the tone becomes known as the conditioned stimulus. The conditioned response in Pavlov’s experiment was salivating in response to the conditioned stimulus.
Read Also: What Is Deposition In Geography
Question: What Is Conditioned Response In Psychology
In classical conditioning, the conditioned response is the learned response to the previously neutral stimulus. The previously neutral stimulus will then evoke the response all on its own. At this point, the response becomes known as the conditioned response.In classical conditioning, the conditioned response is the learned response to the previously neutral stimulusneutral stimulusA neutral stimulus doesnt trigger any particular response at first, but when used together with an unconditioned stimulus, it can effectively stimulate learning. A good example of a neutral stimulus is a sound or a song. When it is initially presented, the neutral stimulus has no effect on behavior. https://www.verywellmind.com what-is-an-unconditioned-sti
Running For Food When A Bell Rings
Stimulus: BellResponse: Salivation
One of the easiest things to teach an animal is that a bell means food. To do this, simply ring a bell every time you give your pet some food. Through repetition, the animal will come to associate the bell with food.
After a while, you can ring the bell and the animal will come running for its feed.
In this situation, the food is the unconditioned stimulus . The bell is the conditioned stimulus . Lastly, the animal running for the bell is the conditioned response. Its the response that the animal has learned.
Recommended Reading: What Is Scaffolding In Psychology
Advertising And Associative Learning
Have you ever noticed how quickly advertisers cancel contracts with a famous athlete following a scandal? As far as the advertiser is concerned, that athlete is no longer associated with positive feelings therefore, the athlete cannot be used as an unconditioned stimulus to condition the public to associate positive feelings with their product .
Now that you are aware of how associative learning works, see if you can find examples of these types of advertisements on television, in magazines, or on the Internet.
What Is Classical Conditioning
Classical conditioning, also called Pavlovian conditioning and respondent conditioning, is learning through the association of a neutral stimulus with a biologically potent stimulus. The biologically potent stimulus is an involuntary response also known as reflex or reflexive response.
Classical conditioning was discovered by Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov as he studied the digestive system of dogs in the early 1900s1.
Here is Pavlovs famous dog experiment
Pavlov observed that his dogs would salivate every time he entered the room, whether or not he brought food, because the dogs had associated his entrance into the room with being fed.
Pavlov then conducted a series of experiments using different sound-making objects to condition the dogs behavioral responses. In Pavlovs experiment, he sounded a bell whenever he fed his dogs. After several repetitions, the dogs began salivating as soon as they heard the sound even before they saw the food.
Soon after, he started ringing the bell without giving them any food. Still, Pavlovs dog would continue to salivate at the sound without the sight of food. The sound of a bell had become associated with food, and the salivation response had become a learned response. The sound of the bell became a conditioned stimulus.
You May Like: What Does Pcr Stand For In Biology
Unconditioned Response And Classical Conditioning
The unconditioned response is one of two components of the classical conditioning theory proposed by Ivan Pavlov. The other component, the unconditioned stimulus, serves as the natural stimulus for eliciting the unconditioned response.
For example, when a person smells food cooking in his home, his stomach might begin to growl. In this case, smelling food cooking is the unconditioned stimulus, and the growling of his stomach is the unconditioned response.
Pavlovs famous study with dogs is another example of how a stimulus can elicit an unconditioned response. He rang a bell right before he fed his dogs in the experiment. After repeating this action several times, he found that the dogs would begin salivating when they heard the bell, even if no food was present!
He used the unconditioned stimulus of food and the conditioned stimulus of the sound of a bell to demonstrate how he could condition his dogs to associate one with the other. When he would ring a bell before giving them their food, they began to salivate at the sound alone because it had become associated with eating.
Salivating in response to food is an unconditioned response because it naturally occurs when dogs consume food. However, salivating at the sound of a bell is a learned behavior conditioned by repeated exposure and pairing with food.
What Is A Conditioned Response
A conditioned response is triggered by a conditioned stimulus after conditioning. Before conditioning, a CS is a neutral stimulus that cannot elicit the target response. After being repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus , the NS becomes a CS that can trigger a CR.
CR doesnt occur naturally. They are learned over time through associative learning using classical conditioning or operant conditioning. The conditioning process typically involves presenting a neutral stimulus just before or at the same time as the unconditioned stimulus1.
Don’t Miss: What Are Two Different Types Of Learning In Psychology
Unconditioned Response And Conditioned Response Differences
When trying to distinguish between the unconditioned response and the conditioned response, try to keep a few key things in mind:
- The unconditioned response is natural and automatic
- The unconditioned response is innate and requires no prior learning
- The conditioned response will occur only after an association has been made between the UCS and the CS
- The conditioned response is a learned response
For example, you naturally tend to tear up whenever you are cutting onions. As you are making dinner, you also enjoy listening to music and find yourself playing the same song quite often. Eventually, you find that when you hear the song you often play during your meal prep, you find yourself tearing up unexpectedly. In this example, the vapors from the onions represent the unconditioned stimulus. They automatically and naturally trigger the crying response, which is the unconditioned response.
After multiple associations between a certain song and the unconditioned stimulus, the song itself eventually starts to evoke tears.
So what happens when an unconditioned stimulus is no longer paired with a conditioned stimulus? When the conditioned stimulus is presented alone without the unconditioned stimulus, the conditioned response will eventually diminish or disappear, a phenomenon known as extinction.
You should read more about how this process as well as some of the key differences between how classical and operant conditioning work.
Conditioned Stimulus Vs Unconditioned Stimulus
The main difference between a conditioned and unconditioned stimulus is that an unconditioned stimulus is a reflexive response that can naturally trigger biologically involuntary behavior while a conditioned stimulus can only do this after conditioning.
Before conditioning, a conditioned stimulus is neutral and cannot trigger the same behavior. There is no biological connection between a neutral stimulus and the unconditioned response.
Read Also: Is Grade 12 Physics Hard
Conditioned Stimulus And Psychology
What is conditioned stimulus? This refers to when some type of reinforcement results in people altering their behavioral processes such that a response becomes more frequent or predictable. This form of learning usually involves one of two parameters:
- A given stimulus or signal becomes more effective in creating a response.
- A response occurs with more regularity in a well-specified, stable environment.
Experiences In Food Poisoning
Just like the negative experience with the barking dog above, the principles of classical conditioning can apply to so many other areas of everyday life. Any individual dish or type of food, if you’ve never eaten it before, is a blank slate for possible associations.
If the first time you eat sushi, you get terrible food poisoning, then it’s possible that almost anything to do with that sushi experience could gain negative associations and give you food aversion. Perhaps just the smell of sushi rice could make you want to gag, or the sight of raw fish could make you feel sick to your stomach.
Read Also: Glencoe Algebra 2 3 2 Skills Practice Answers
This Is The Curve Of Acquisition Extinction And Spontaneous Recovery The Rising Curve Shows The Conditioned Response Quickly Getting Stronger Through The Repeated Pairing Of The Conditioned Stimulus And The Unconditioned Stimulus Then The Curve Decreases Which Shows How The Conditioned Response Weakens When Only The Conditioned Stimulus Is Presented After A Break Or Pause From Conditioning The Conditioned Response Reappears
Acquisition and extinction involve the strengthening and weakening, respectively, of a learned association. Two other learning processesstimulus discrimination and stimulus generalizationare involved in distinguishing which stimuli will trigger the learned association. Animals need to distinguish between stimulifor example, between sounds that predict a threatening event and sounds that do notso that they can respond appropriately . When an organism learns to respond differently to various stimuli that are similar, it is called stimulus discrimination. In classical conditioning terms, the organism demonstrates the conditioned response only to the conditioned stimulus. Pavlovs dogs discriminated between the basic tone that sounded before they were fed and other tones , because the other sounds did not predict the arrival of food. Similarly, Tiger, the cat, discriminated between the sound of the can opener and the sound of the electric mixer. When the electric mixer is going, Tiger is not about to be fed, so she does not come running to the kitchen looking for food.
Putting Classical And Instrumental Conditioning Together
Classical and operant conditioning are usually studied separately. But outside of the laboratory they almost always occur at the same time. For example, a person who is reinforced for drinking alcohol or eating excessively learns these behaviors in the presence of certain stimulia pub, a set of friends, a restaurant, or possibly the couch in front of the TV. These stimuli are also available for association with the reinforcer. In this way, classical and operant conditioning are always intertwined.
The figure below summarizes this idea, and helps review what we have discussed in this module. Generally speaking, any reinforced or punished operant response is paired with an outcome in the presence of some stimulus or set of stimuli .
The figure illustrates the types of associations that can be learned in this very general scenario. For one thing, the organism will learn to associate the response and the outcome . This is instrumental conditioning. The learning process here is probably similar to classical conditioning, with all its emphasis on surprise and prediction error. And, as we discussed while considering the reinforcer devaluation effect, once R O is learned, the organism will be ready to perform the response if the outcome is desired or valued. The value of the reinforcer can also be influenced by other reinforcers earned for other behaviors in the situation. These factors are at the heart of instrumental learning.
Recommended Reading: What Is Quantum Physics Mean
What Are Examples Of Operant Conditioning
By repeatedly pairing the desired behavior with a consequence, an association is formed to create new learning. E.g. a dog trainer gives his dog a treat every time the dog raises its left paw. The dog learns that raising its left paw can earn him food reward. It will raise his paw again and again for more treats.