Chapter 6
➔ Learning: Is any relatively durable change in behaviour or knowledge that is due
to experience.
◆ Runs through a diverse number of situations.
◆ Is one of the most fundamental concepts in psychology.
◆ Shapes personal habits, preferences and emotional responses.
➔ Conditioning: Involves learning associations between events that occur in an
organism’s environment.
Classical conditioning
● Phobias: Irrational fears of specific objects or situations.
○ Students have described their phobic responses to a diverse range of
stimuli.
○ Phobias are most likely a result of Classical conditioning.
● Classic Conditioning: A type of learning in which a stimulus acquires the
capacity to evoke a response that was originally evoked by another stimulus.
○ Was first described in 1903 by Ivan Pavlov. (Pavlovian conditioning)
Pavlov’s Demonstration: ‘Psychic Reflexes’
● Pavlov:
○ Russian Physiologist.
○ Won nobel prize for his research in digestion.
○ Was studying the role of saliva in the digestive process in dogs when he
came across ‘Psychic Reflexes”
● Dog’s saliva was collected by means of a surgically implanted tube into the
salivary gland.
○ Meat powder was presented to the dog and would collect the saliva.
, ○ As the study went on he noticed that the dogs would start salivating
before the meat powder was present.
○ He then introduced a tone or
sound that was used before
presenting the meat powder.
■ This resulted in the dogs
salivating when the tone
was presented.
● The tone started out as a neutral
stimulus (Saliva was not originally a
result of the sound).
○ Pavlov managed to change that by pairing the tone with a stimulus (Meat
Powder) that did produce the salivation response.
○ Through the process, the tone gained the capacity to trigger the response
of salivation.
,Terminology and Procedures
● Stimulus: Used to refer to an object, behaviour or event that triggers a
response.
● The connection between the stimulus of the meat powder and salivation was a
natural, unlearned association.
○ This association did not have to be created through conditioning
therefore it is called an unconditioned association.
● In unconditioned bonds, the Unconditioned stimulus (US) is a stimulus that
evokes an unconditioned response without previous conditioning.
○ The Unconditioned response (UR) is an unlearned reaction to an
unconditioned stimulus that occurs without previous conditioning.
● In contrast, the link between the tone and salivation was established through
conditioning. It is therefore called a conditioned association.
○ In conditioned bonds, the Conditioned stimulus (CS) is a previously
neutral stimulus that has, through conditioning, acquired the capacity to
evoke a conditioned response.
○ The Conditioned response (CR) is a learned reaction to a conditioned
stimulus that occurs because of previous conditioning.
In Pavlov’s initial demonstration, the UR and CR were both salivation. When
evoked by the US (meat powder), salivation was an unconditioned response.
When evoked by the CS (the tone), salivation was the conditioned response.
● Pavlov’s ‘psychic reflex’ came to be called the conditioned reflex.
● Classically conditioned responses have traditionally been characterised as
reflexes and are said to be elicited (drawn forth) because they are automatic or
involuntary.
, ○ A trial in classical conditioning consists of any presentation of a stimulus
or pair of stimuli (such as meat powder and the tone used) to a subject in
a classical conditioning experiment.
Classical conditioning in Everyday life
Conditioned Fear and Anxiety
● Classic conditioning plays a key role in shaping emotional responses, such as
fear and anxiety.
○ Phobias are a good example of said response.
■ Irrational fears can be traced back to experiences that involve
classical conditioning.
● Everyday anxiety responses that are less severe than phobias may also be
products of classical conditioning.
Other Conditioned Response
● Classical conditioning affects physiological processes
○ Eg. classical conditioning can lead to immune suppression.
● Classical conditioning can also affect reactions to specific drugs.
○ Classical conditioning may lead to heroin overdoses.
■ Environmental stimuli that are consistently paired with the
administration of a drug can become conditioned stimuli that elicit
conditioned responses in both human and lab animals.
➔ Learning: Is any relatively durable change in behaviour or knowledge that is due
to experience.
◆ Runs through a diverse number of situations.
◆ Is one of the most fundamental concepts in psychology.
◆ Shapes personal habits, preferences and emotional responses.
➔ Conditioning: Involves learning associations between events that occur in an
organism’s environment.
Classical conditioning
● Phobias: Irrational fears of specific objects or situations.
○ Students have described their phobic responses to a diverse range of
stimuli.
○ Phobias are most likely a result of Classical conditioning.
● Classic Conditioning: A type of learning in which a stimulus acquires the
capacity to evoke a response that was originally evoked by another stimulus.
○ Was first described in 1903 by Ivan Pavlov. (Pavlovian conditioning)
Pavlov’s Demonstration: ‘Psychic Reflexes’
● Pavlov:
○ Russian Physiologist.
○ Won nobel prize for his research in digestion.
○ Was studying the role of saliva in the digestive process in dogs when he
came across ‘Psychic Reflexes”
● Dog’s saliva was collected by means of a surgically implanted tube into the
salivary gland.
○ Meat powder was presented to the dog and would collect the saliva.
, ○ As the study went on he noticed that the dogs would start salivating
before the meat powder was present.
○ He then introduced a tone or
sound that was used before
presenting the meat powder.
■ This resulted in the dogs
salivating when the tone
was presented.
● The tone started out as a neutral
stimulus (Saliva was not originally a
result of the sound).
○ Pavlov managed to change that by pairing the tone with a stimulus (Meat
Powder) that did produce the salivation response.
○ Through the process, the tone gained the capacity to trigger the response
of salivation.
,Terminology and Procedures
● Stimulus: Used to refer to an object, behaviour or event that triggers a
response.
● The connection between the stimulus of the meat powder and salivation was a
natural, unlearned association.
○ This association did not have to be created through conditioning
therefore it is called an unconditioned association.
● In unconditioned bonds, the Unconditioned stimulus (US) is a stimulus that
evokes an unconditioned response without previous conditioning.
○ The Unconditioned response (UR) is an unlearned reaction to an
unconditioned stimulus that occurs without previous conditioning.
● In contrast, the link between the tone and salivation was established through
conditioning. It is therefore called a conditioned association.
○ In conditioned bonds, the Conditioned stimulus (CS) is a previously
neutral stimulus that has, through conditioning, acquired the capacity to
evoke a conditioned response.
○ The Conditioned response (CR) is a learned reaction to a conditioned
stimulus that occurs because of previous conditioning.
In Pavlov’s initial demonstration, the UR and CR were both salivation. When
evoked by the US (meat powder), salivation was an unconditioned response.
When evoked by the CS (the tone), salivation was the conditioned response.
● Pavlov’s ‘psychic reflex’ came to be called the conditioned reflex.
● Classically conditioned responses have traditionally been characterised as
reflexes and are said to be elicited (drawn forth) because they are automatic or
involuntary.
, ○ A trial in classical conditioning consists of any presentation of a stimulus
or pair of stimuli (such as meat powder and the tone used) to a subject in
a classical conditioning experiment.
Classical conditioning in Everyday life
Conditioned Fear and Anxiety
● Classic conditioning plays a key role in shaping emotional responses, such as
fear and anxiety.
○ Phobias are a good example of said response.
■ Irrational fears can be traced back to experiences that involve
classical conditioning.
● Everyday anxiety responses that are less severe than phobias may also be
products of classical conditioning.
Other Conditioned Response
● Classical conditioning affects physiological processes
○ Eg. classical conditioning can lead to immune suppression.
● Classical conditioning can also affect reactions to specific drugs.
○ Classical conditioning may lead to heroin overdoses.
■ Environmental stimuli that are consistently paired with the
administration of a drug can become conditioned stimuli that elicit
conditioned responses in both human and lab animals.
