REVIEW Basic Learning Concepts and Classical Conditioning

Learning Objectives

Test Yourself by taking a moment to answer each of these Learning Objective Questions (repeated here from within the module). Research suggests that trying to answer these questions on your own will improve your long-term memory of the concepts (McDaniel et al., 2009).

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Question

19-1 What is learning, and what are some basic forms of learning?

ANSWER: Learning is the process of acquiring through experience new and relatively enduring information or behaviors. In associative learning, we learn that certain events occur together. In classical conditioning, we learn to associate two or more stimuli (a stimulus is any event or situation that evokes a response). We associate stimuli that we do not control, and we respond automatically. This is called respondent behavior. In operant conditioning, we learn to associate a response and its consequences. These associations produce operant behaviors. Through cognitive learning, we acquire mental information that guides our behavior. For example, in observational learning, we learn new behaviors by observing events and watching others.

Question

19-2 What was behaviorism's view of learning?

ANSWER: Ivan Pavlov's work on classical conditioning laid the foundation for behaviorism, the view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes. The behaviorists believed that the basic laws of learning are the same for all species, including humans.

Question

19-3 Who was Pavlov, and what are the basic components of classical conditioning?

ANSWER: Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist, created novel experiments on learning. His early twentieth-century research over the last three decades of his life demonstrated that classical conditioning is a basic form of learning. Classical conditioning is a type of learning in which an organism comes to associate stimuli. In classical conditioning, an NS is a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning. A UR is an event that occurs naturally (such as salivation), in response to some stimulus. A US is something that naturally and automatically (without learning) triggers the unlearned response (as food in the mouth triggers salivation). A CS is a previously neutral stimulus (such as a tone) that, after association with a US (such as food) comes to trigger a CR. A CR is the learned response (salivating) to the originally neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus.

Question

19-4 In classical conditioning, what are the processes of acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization, and discrimination?

ANSWER: In classical conditioning, acquisition is associating an NS with the US so that the NS begins triggering the CR. Acquisition occurs most readily when the NS is presented just before (ideally, about a half-second before) a US, preparing the organism for the upcoming event. This finding supports the view that classical conditioning is biologically adaptive. Extinction is diminished responding when the CS no longer signals an impending US. Spontaneous recovery is the appearance of a formerly extinguished response, following a rest period. Generalization is the tendency to respond to stimuli that are similar to a CS. Discrimination is the learned ability to distinguish between a CS and other irrelevant stimuli.

Question

19-5 Why does Pavlov's work remain so important?

ANSWER: Pavlov taught us that significant psychological phenomena can be studied objectively, and that classical conditioning is a basic form of learning that applies to all species.

Question

19-6 What have been some applications of Pavlov's work to human health and well-being? How did Watson apply Pavlov's principles to learned fears?

ANSWER: Classical conditioning techniques are used to improve human health and well-being in many areas, including behavioral therapy for some types of psychological disorders. The body's immune system may also respond to classical conditioning. Pavlov's work also provided a basis for Watson's idea that human emotions and behaviors, though biologically influenced, are mainly a bundle of conditioned responses. Watson applied classical conditioning principles in his studies of “Little Albert” to demonstrate how specific fears might be conditioned.

Terms and Concepts to Remember

Test yourself on these terms.

Question

learning (p. 246)
associative learning (p. 246)
stimulus (p. 247)
respondent behavior (p. 247)
operant behavior (p. 247)
cognitive learning (p. 247)
classical conditioning (p. 248)
behaviorism (p. 248)
neutral stimulus (NS) (p. 248)
unconditioned response (UR) (p. 249)
unconditioned stimulus (US) (p. 249)
conditioned response (CR) (p. 249)
conditioned stimulus (CS) (p. 249)
acquisition (p. 250)
extinction (p. 251)
spontaneous recovery (p. 251)
generalization (p. 251)
discrimination (p. 252)
the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2).
behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences.
the process of acquiring through experience new and relatively enduring information or behaviors.
in classical conditioning, a learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS).
in classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned response (CR).
in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus.
behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus.
in classical conditioning, the initial stage, when one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response. In operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response.
the diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in classical conditioning when an unconditioned stimulus (US) does not follow a conditioned stimulus (CS); occurs in operant conditioning when a response is no longer reinforced.
in classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning.
in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally—naturally and automatically—triggers an unconditioned response (UR).
learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequences (as in operant conditioning).
a type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events.
the acquisition of mental information, whether by observing events, by watching others, or through language.
the reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response.
the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses.
in classical conditioning, an unlearned, naturally occurring response (such as salivation) to an unconditioned stimulus (US) (such as food in the mouth).
any event or situation that evokes a response.

Experience the Testing Effect

Test yourself repeatedly throughout your studies. This will not only help you figure out what you know and don’t know; the testing itself will help you learn and remember the information more effectively thanks to the testing effect.

Question 7.1

1. Learning is defined as “the process of acquiring through experience new and relatively enduring or .”

Question 7.2

2. Two forms of associative learning are classical conditioning, in which the organism associates ________, and operant conditioning, in which the organism associates ________.

A.
B.
C.
D.

Question 7.3

3. In Pavlov's experiments, the tone started as a neutral stimulus, and then became a(n) stimulus.

Question 7.4

4. Dogs have been taught to salivate to a circle but not to a square. This process is an example of .

Question 7.5

5. After Watson and Rayner classically conditioned Little Albert to fear a white rat, the child later showed fear in response to a rabbit, a dog, and a sealskin coat. This illustrates

A.
B.
C.
D.

Question 7.6

6. “Sex sells!” is a common saying in advertising. Using classical conditioning terms, explain how sexual images in advertisements can condition your response to a product.

ANSWER: A sexual image is a US that triggers a UR of interest or arousal. Before the advertisement pairs a product with a sexual image, the product is an NS. Over time the product can become a CS that triggers the CR of interest or arousal.

Use image to create your personalized study plan, which will direct you to the resources that will help you most in image .

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