-Discovered by Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov, classical whistle sound would eventually trigger the conditioned

conditioning is a type of unconscious or automatic learning. response. In this case, the sound of the whistle is the
conditioned stimulus.
-This learning process creates a conditioned response through
associations between an unconditioned stimulus and a *Phase 3: After Conditioning- In the after conditioning phase,
neutral stimulus. the conditioned stimulus alone triggers the conditioned
response.
-Put another way, classical conditioning involves placing a
neutral stimulus before a naturally occurring reflex. > In our example, the conditioned response would be feeling
hungry when you heard the sound of the whistle.
-In Pavlov's classic experiment with dogs, the neutral signal
was the sound of a tone and the naturally occurring reflex FIVE KEY PRINCIPLES OF CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
was salivating in response to food. By associating the neutral
>Acquisition is the initial stage of learning, when a response is
stimulus (sound) with the unconditioned stimulus (food), the
first established and gradually strengthened. During the
sound of the tone alone could produce the salivation
acquisition phase of classical conditioning, a neutral stimulus
response.
is repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus.
-Behaviorism assumes that all learning occurs through
>Extinction is when the occurrences of a conditioned
interactions with the environment and that environment
response decrease or disappear. In classical conditioning, this
shapes behavior.
happens when a conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with
-An unconditioned stimulus is a stimulus or trigger that leads an unconditioned stimulus. For example, if the smell of food
to an automatic response. If a cold breeze makes you shiver, (the unconditioned stimulus) had been paired with the sound
for instance, the cold breeze is an unconditioned stimulus; it of a whistle (the conditioned stimulus), the sound of the
produces an involuntary response (the shivering). whistle would eventually come to evoke the conditioned
response of hunger.However, if the smell of food were no
-A neutral stimulus is a stimulus that doesn't initially trigger a
longer paired with the whistle, eventually the conditioned
response on its own. If you hear the sound of a fan but don't
response (hunger) would disappear.
feel the breeze, for example, it wouldn't necessarily trigger a
response. That would make it a neutral stimulus. >Spontaneous Recovery For example, imagine that after
training a dog to salivate to the sound of a bell, you stop
-A conditioned stimulus is a stimulus that was once neutral
reinforcing the behavior and the response becomes extinct.
(didn't trigger a response) but now leads to a response. If you
After a rest period during which the conditioned stimulus is
previously didn't pay attention to dogs, but then got bit by
not presented, you ring the bell and the animal
one, and now you feel fear every time you see a dog, the dog
spontaneously recovers the previously learned response. If
has become a conditioned stimulus.
the conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus are no
-An unconditioned response is an automatic response or a longer associated, extinction will return very rapidly after a
response that occurs without thought when an unconditioned spontaneous recovery.
stimulus is present. If you smell your favorite food and your
>Stimulus generalization is the tendency for a conditioned
mouth starts watering, the watering is an unconditioned
stimulus to evoke similar responses after the response has
response.
been conditioned.8 For example, if a dog has been
-A conditioned response is a learned response or a response conditioned to salivate at the sound of a bell, the animal may
that is created where no response existed before. Going back also exhibit the same response to a sound that's similar to the
to the example of being bit by a dog, the fear you experience bell.
after the bite is a conditioned response.
>Discrimination is the ability to differentiate between a
-Classical conditioning involves forming an association conditioned stimulus and other stimuli that have not been
between two stimuli, resulting in a learned response.4 There paired with an unconditioned stimulus. For example, if a bell
are three basic phases of this process. tone were the conditioned stimulus, discrimination would
involve being able to tell the difference between the bell tone
*Phase 1: Before Conditioning- In the before conditioning and other similar sounds. Because the subject is able to
phase, an unconditioned stimulus is paired with an distinguish between these stimuli, they will only respond
unconditioned response. A neutral stimulus is then when the conditioned stimulus is presented.
introduced.
EXAMPLE OF CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
>The unconditioned response is the unlearned response that
occurs naturally in response to the unconditioned stimulus.4 Fear Response

In our example, the feeling of hunger in response to the smell John B. Watson's experiment with Little Albert is an example of the fear
of food is the unconditioned response. response.10 The child initially showed no fear of a white rat, but after the rat
was paired repeatedly with loud, scary sounds, the child began to cry when
*Phase 2: During Conditioning -The during conditioning phase the rat was present.Prior to the conditioning, the white rat was a neutral
involves repeatedly pairing a neutral stimulus with an stimulus. The unconditioned stimulus was the loud, clanging sounds, and the
unconditioned response was the fear response created by the noise.By
unconditioned stimulus. Eventually, the neutral stimulus repeatedly pairing the rat with the unconditioned stimulus, the white rat
becomes the conditioned stimulus. (now the conditioned stimulus) came to evoke the fear response (now the
conditioned response).This experiment illustrates how phobias can form
>In our earlier example, suppose that when you smelled your through classical conditioning. In many cases, a single pairing of a neutral
favorite food, you also heard the sound of a whistle. While stimulus (a dog, for example) and a frightening experience (being bitten by
the whistle is unrelated to the smell of the food, if the sound the dog) can lead to a lasting phobia (being afraid of dogs).

of the whistle was paired multiple times with the smell, the
-Operant conditioning, also known as instrumental are related to a person's behavior. For example, the
conditioning, is a method of learning normally attributed to reinforcement of desired behaviors and ignoring or punishing
B.F. Skinner, where the consequences of a response undesired ones. This is not as simple as it sounds — always
determine the probability of it being repeated. Through reinforcing desired behavior, for example, is basically bribery.
operant conditioning behavior which is reinforced (rewarded)
-Token economy is a system in which targeted behaviors are
will likely be repeated, and behavior which is punished will
reinforced with tokens (secondary reinforcers) and later
occur less frequently.
exchanged for rewards (primary reinforcers).
-The work of Skinner was rooted in a view that classical
conditioning was far too simplistic to be a complete
explanation of complex human behavior. He believed that the Tokens can be in the form of fake money, buttons, poker
best way to understand behavior is to look at the causes of an chips, stickers, etc. While the rewards can range anywhere
action and its consequences. He called this approach operant from snacks to privileges or activities. For example, teachers
conditioning. use token economy at primary school by giving young
children stickers to reward good behavior.
-Skinner Box' which was similar to Thorndike’s puzzle box- A
Skinner box, also known as an operant conditioning chamber, -A further important contribution made by Skinner (1951) is
is a device used to objectively record an animal's behavior in the notion of behavior shaping through successive
a compressed time frame. An animal can be rewarded or approximation. Skinner argues that the principles of operant
punished for engaging in certain behaviors, such as lever conditioning can be used to produce extremely complex
pressing (for rats) or key pecking (for pigeons). behavior if rewards and punishments are delivered in such a
way as to encourage move an organism closer and closer to
-Skinner identified three types of responses, or operant, that
the desired behavior each time.To do this, the conditions (or
can follow behavior.
contingencies) required to receive the reward should shift
• Neutral operants: responses from the environment that each time the organism moves a step closer to the desired
neither increase nor decrease the probability of a behavior behavior.
being repeated.
-The major influence on human behavior is learning from our
> For example, if your teacher gives you £5 each time you environment. In the Skinner study, because food followed a
complete your homework (i.e., a reward) you will be more particular behavior the rats learned to repeat that behavior,
likely to repeat this behavior in the future, thus strengthening e.g., operant conditioning.
the behavior of completing your homework.
-Behaviorism is primarily concerned with observable
• Reinforcers: Responses from the environment that increase behavior, as opposed to internal events like thinking and
the probability of a behavior being repeated. Reinforcers can emotion. Note that Skinner did not say that the rats learned
be either positive or negative. to press a lever because they wanted food. He instead
concentrated on describing the easily observed behavior that
>For example, if you do not complete your homework, you
the rats acquired.
give your teacher £5. You will complete your homework to
avoid paying £5, thus strengthening the behavior of
completing your homework.

• Punishers: Responses from the environment that decrease

the likelihood of a behavior being repeated. Punishment
weakens behavior.

>Like reinforcement, punishment can work either by directly

applying an unpleasant stimulus like a shock after a response
or by removing a potentially rewarding stimulus, for instance,
deducting someone’s pocket money to punish undesirable
behavior.

There are many problems with using punishment, such as:

>Punished behavior is not forgotten, it's suppressed -

behavior returns when punishment is no longer present.

>Causes increased aggression - shows that aggression is a way

to cope with problems.

>Creates fear that can generalize to undesirable behaviors,

e.g., fear of school.

>Does not necessarily guide toward desired behavior -

reinforcement tells you what to do, punishment only tells you
what not to do.

-Behavior modification is a set of therapies / techniques

based on operant conditioning (Skinner, 1938, 1953). The
main principle comprises changing environmental events that