Psychology AO1 AO3 Essay Plan (eval)
Classical Conditioning 1. Classical conditioning typical AO1
Is the simplest form of associative learning, where we come to This is supported by Pavlov 1927 in which they
associate two stimuli with another. Two stimuli are repeatedly measured the volume of saliva generated to the stimulus
paired together to generate a new stimulus. An unconditioned of food. Through repeated pairing with bells, they found
stimuli is a natural one that generates a biological response, like that the dog would salivate at the sound of the bell,
food and salivation. This unconditioned stimulus can be paired suggesting that they were conditioned. Or Watson and
with a neutral stimulus on multiple occasions, in which the Rayner, they conditioned little Albert to fear the
individual then associates the two. This creates a conditioned response of white rat.
stimulus and response, where the neutral stimulus is able to Competing - however, the study was completed on
generate the unconditional response. animals. Humans have structurally different brains to
Extinction occurs when the two stimuli are not paired together rats or animals despite sharing many of the genes. This
over a period of time, this cessation of conditioning suggests that means that our learning may be different to animals and
our learning is flexible. However, extinct responses can reappear, therefore it lacks generalisability to humans.
even without new pairings. These responses will be weaker but this
is called spontaneous recovery. 2. A weakness
Stimulus generalisation occurs when similar neutral stimuli can It does not account for learning of actions that are not
also trigger the same conditioned response despite not being paired paired with natural, unconditioned responses. Therefore
previously. does not explain how new behaviours are learnt, only
existing behaviours. This means that it is not fully
explained.
3. Application
This can be applied to reducing phobias. Watson and
Rayner showed that repeated association with natural
fear stimuli causes the existence of phobias. Therefore
through repeated pairing with good and calming
experiences, they can gain a new conditioned response
not fearing the stimuli.
Pavlov 1927 1. Procedure
Aim to investigate how association with presentation of food Highly controlled and standardised procedure.
using classical conditioning can create a conditioned response of Soundproof chamber to reduce additional stimuli,
salivation reflex as a response to the conditioned stimuli of the collection of saliva in a cannula to ensure a valid
metronome. measurement. Neutral stimuli were repeatedly tested
Sample was 35 dogs of a variety of breeds, raised in kennels in the alone to ensure they did not already elicit the response.
laboratory. However, this is very ecologically invalid because the
Procedure contraption with the blocked stimuli simply is not
1. Dogs were placed in a sealed room with no external normal, and cannot be applied to everyday situations.
stimuli 2. Generalisability
2. They were strapped to a harness and a contraption that The dogs are not humans, unclear how well the findings
immobilised them of animal studies can be applied to humans because we
3. The dogs salivary glands were surgically attached to a have structurally different brains from other species, and
collecting tube may therefore respond differently. Humans have a larger
4. The presentation of food was matched with the sound of cerebral cortex which permits more cognitive processing.
a metronome 20 times Ethics - the study included some very questionable
5. After the conditioning, the dog was presented the ethical issues. Surgically attaching the cannula to the
, metronome with no food oesophagus reduced the lifespan of the dogs by a lot, the
Results showed that as a NS, the sound initially did not garner any dogs mostly didn’t survive. The dogs were placed in
salivary response. After the conditioning, the dog produced 45 stressful environments and therefore were extremely
drops of saliva that started 9 seconds after the sound was played. cruel.
The extinction of the CS was shown after more and more 3. Application
repetitions of the NS without food. The dog also exhibited the To learn, reducing phobias, by associating the phobia
same salivary response to similar stimuli like a bell, showing with a pleasant experience other repeated sessions. The
stimulus generalisation. effect of the phobia will be decreased.
Operant Conditioning 1. Skinner Box as supporting evidence
Skinner 1948, carried out an experiment on the skinner box, where Finding consistent laboratory experiments
a rat was placed, it aimed to investigate how reinforcement (food demonstrating operant conditioning. Modern brain
pellets) and punishment (mild electric shock) could train the studies like Chase et al 2015 showcase how the brain
animals to repeat target behaviours. structure can correspond with reinforcement with
Reinforcement is when an event follows with a reward such as humans in the brain’s reward pathways. There is firm
food or praise. Positive reinforcement is when something pleasant evidence for operant conditioning in both humans and
is introduced following the target behaviour. Negative animals.
reinforcement is when something unpleasant is removed following Skinner used animals, different brain structure and social
the target behaviour that decreases the repetition of the behaviour. structure, may have different types of learning to us
2. Incomplete explanation of learning, only how
Punishment is an event following a behaviour that is undesired. existence behaviours are strengthened or
This should make the repetition less likely through the punisher. weakened, does not explain the acquisition of
Positive punishment is when something bad is added following the new behaviours
behaviour. Negative Punishment is when something pleasant is 3. Application to education and children
removed following the behaviour. Systems of reinforcement is used in schools, nurseries,
kindergartens etc. giving a child a reward after their
academic success is important in cultivating good
conduct and habits.
Operant conditioning: reinforcement schedules and Behavioural Modification
behaviour modification Operant conditioning can be applied to a type of therapy
Continuous and partial reinforcement is when the reinforcer that systematically reinforces increasing the number of
always follows the behaviour. This can lead to rapid change in desired behaviours. Shaping, used to encourage more
behaviour but the effects do not last. Partial reinforcement is when complex behaviours, changing the frequency of
reinforcement is irregular with a reinforcement schedule, therefore reinforcement as the individual gets closer and closer to
the results of partial reinforcement are often more long lasting the target behaviour.
Fixed vs Variable refers to the fixed frequency of the behaviours
that guarantees a reinforcer, whereas variable may be when This can be applied to discouraging inappropriate
reinforcer is given after an unpredictable number of repetitions. behaviour in younger people with autism spectrum
disorder. They may not be able to pick up on social cues
Interval vs Ratio refers to the style of it. Interval is when the time and therefore reinforcement and punishment can be used
between reinforcers is controlled, ratio refers to the number of as a means of shaping and modifying their behaviour to
times the behaviour is repeated. teach them social skills.
AO3
- Latham and Dosett support, beaver trappers preferred
variable ratio pay of $4 but they had to guess the correct
Classical Conditioning 1. Classical conditioning typical AO1
Is the simplest form of associative learning, where we come to This is supported by Pavlov 1927 in which they
associate two stimuli with another. Two stimuli are repeatedly measured the volume of saliva generated to the stimulus
paired together to generate a new stimulus. An unconditioned of food. Through repeated pairing with bells, they found
stimuli is a natural one that generates a biological response, like that the dog would salivate at the sound of the bell,
food and salivation. This unconditioned stimulus can be paired suggesting that they were conditioned. Or Watson and
with a neutral stimulus on multiple occasions, in which the Rayner, they conditioned little Albert to fear the
individual then associates the two. This creates a conditioned response of white rat.
stimulus and response, where the neutral stimulus is able to Competing - however, the study was completed on
generate the unconditional response. animals. Humans have structurally different brains to
Extinction occurs when the two stimuli are not paired together rats or animals despite sharing many of the genes. This
over a period of time, this cessation of conditioning suggests that means that our learning may be different to animals and
our learning is flexible. However, extinct responses can reappear, therefore it lacks generalisability to humans.
even without new pairings. These responses will be weaker but this
is called spontaneous recovery. 2. A weakness
Stimulus generalisation occurs when similar neutral stimuli can It does not account for learning of actions that are not
also trigger the same conditioned response despite not being paired paired with natural, unconditioned responses. Therefore
previously. does not explain how new behaviours are learnt, only
existing behaviours. This means that it is not fully
explained.
3. Application
This can be applied to reducing phobias. Watson and
Rayner showed that repeated association with natural
fear stimuli causes the existence of phobias. Therefore
through repeated pairing with good and calming
experiences, they can gain a new conditioned response
not fearing the stimuli.
Pavlov 1927 1. Procedure
Aim to investigate how association with presentation of food Highly controlled and standardised procedure.
using classical conditioning can create a conditioned response of Soundproof chamber to reduce additional stimuli,
salivation reflex as a response to the conditioned stimuli of the collection of saliva in a cannula to ensure a valid
metronome. measurement. Neutral stimuli were repeatedly tested
Sample was 35 dogs of a variety of breeds, raised in kennels in the alone to ensure they did not already elicit the response.
laboratory. However, this is very ecologically invalid because the
Procedure contraption with the blocked stimuli simply is not
1. Dogs were placed in a sealed room with no external normal, and cannot be applied to everyday situations.
stimuli 2. Generalisability
2. They were strapped to a harness and a contraption that The dogs are not humans, unclear how well the findings
immobilised them of animal studies can be applied to humans because we
3. The dogs salivary glands were surgically attached to a have structurally different brains from other species, and
collecting tube may therefore respond differently. Humans have a larger
4. The presentation of food was matched with the sound of cerebral cortex which permits more cognitive processing.
a metronome 20 times Ethics - the study included some very questionable
5. After the conditioning, the dog was presented the ethical issues. Surgically attaching the cannula to the
, metronome with no food oesophagus reduced the lifespan of the dogs by a lot, the
Results showed that as a NS, the sound initially did not garner any dogs mostly didn’t survive. The dogs were placed in
salivary response. After the conditioning, the dog produced 45 stressful environments and therefore were extremely
drops of saliva that started 9 seconds after the sound was played. cruel.
The extinction of the CS was shown after more and more 3. Application
repetitions of the NS without food. The dog also exhibited the To learn, reducing phobias, by associating the phobia
same salivary response to similar stimuli like a bell, showing with a pleasant experience other repeated sessions. The
stimulus generalisation. effect of the phobia will be decreased.
Operant Conditioning 1. Skinner Box as supporting evidence
Skinner 1948, carried out an experiment on the skinner box, where Finding consistent laboratory experiments
a rat was placed, it aimed to investigate how reinforcement (food demonstrating operant conditioning. Modern brain
pellets) and punishment (mild electric shock) could train the studies like Chase et al 2015 showcase how the brain
animals to repeat target behaviours. structure can correspond with reinforcement with
Reinforcement is when an event follows with a reward such as humans in the brain’s reward pathways. There is firm
food or praise. Positive reinforcement is when something pleasant evidence for operant conditioning in both humans and
is introduced following the target behaviour. Negative animals.
reinforcement is when something unpleasant is removed following Skinner used animals, different brain structure and social
the target behaviour that decreases the repetition of the behaviour. structure, may have different types of learning to us
2. Incomplete explanation of learning, only how
Punishment is an event following a behaviour that is undesired. existence behaviours are strengthened or
This should make the repetition less likely through the punisher. weakened, does not explain the acquisition of
Positive punishment is when something bad is added following the new behaviours
behaviour. Negative Punishment is when something pleasant is 3. Application to education and children
removed following the behaviour. Systems of reinforcement is used in schools, nurseries,
kindergartens etc. giving a child a reward after their
academic success is important in cultivating good
conduct and habits.
Operant conditioning: reinforcement schedules and Behavioural Modification
behaviour modification Operant conditioning can be applied to a type of therapy
Continuous and partial reinforcement is when the reinforcer that systematically reinforces increasing the number of
always follows the behaviour. This can lead to rapid change in desired behaviours. Shaping, used to encourage more
behaviour but the effects do not last. Partial reinforcement is when complex behaviours, changing the frequency of
reinforcement is irregular with a reinforcement schedule, therefore reinforcement as the individual gets closer and closer to
the results of partial reinforcement are often more long lasting the target behaviour.
Fixed vs Variable refers to the fixed frequency of the behaviours
that guarantees a reinforcer, whereas variable may be when This can be applied to discouraging inappropriate
reinforcer is given after an unpredictable number of repetitions. behaviour in younger people with autism spectrum
disorder. They may not be able to pick up on social cues
Interval vs Ratio refers to the style of it. Interval is when the time and therefore reinforcement and punishment can be used
between reinforcers is controlled, ratio refers to the number of as a means of shaping and modifying their behaviour to
times the behaviour is repeated. teach them social skills.
AO3
- Latham and Dosett support, beaver trappers preferred
variable ratio pay of $4 but they had to guess the correct
