Transcript Classical Conditioning

CLASSICAL
CONDITIONING BASICS
Do His Ears Hang Low?
A Case Study in Classical Conditioning
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Subject: Shorty
Stanley Williamson
Background: Shorty
loves to lie upstairs
on the bed with
people. He often
falls asleep. He
prefers the bed to
being downstairs
alone. He’s very
short, so he can’t get
up or down from the
bed by himself.
Do His Ears Hang Low?
A Case Study in Classical Conditioning
More Background: When Shorty can no
longer be supervised, because the people
all want to go downstairs, I pick him up and
carry him downstairs while singing a song
to him called, “Do Your Ears Hang Low?”
Fact: Initially, when Shorty is sleeping
and I apply pressure under his ribs, as if to
pick him up, he wakes up and growls.
Fact: After conditioning with the song, I
begin to sing “Do Your Ears Hang Low?” to
the sleeping beast. He wakes up and
growls. If I put pressure under his ribs while
doing this, the growling intensifies.
Group Question Minute: Define the
following components in this case study:
UCS:
UCR:
CS:
CR:
[Packet] Vocabulary Classical Conditioning
pgs. 220-229. You will be accountable for this vocab. by the end of the
day’s presentation.
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Neutral Stimulus: a stimulus that is not yet associated with a
response
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Unconditioned stimulus (UCS):
Unconditioned response (UCR):
Trial:
Conditioned stimulus (CS):
Conditioned Response (CR):
Taste aversions: pg. 244
Phobias:
Extinction:
Spontaneous recovery:
What Happened to Carla?
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Group Question Minute: A woman named Carla
walks down the personal hygiene aisle of a store.
As she walks by the aftershave, she panics and
begins to run. Hypothesize the reason for the panic.
Step 1: Select a stimulus
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Definition of Terms
Neutral Stimulus: a stimulus
that is not yet associated with a
response
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Carla’s Case
Neutral Stimulus: odor of
dentist’s after shave lotion
before the procedure.
Step 2: Establish Classical Conditioning
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Trial: let neutral stimulus occur first,
then follow it with the unconditioned
stimulus (UCS).
For Carla:
 Neutral stimulus was smelling
dentist’s aftershave before the
procedure.
 After Carla experienced the dental
procedure (UCS), she reacted by
feeling pain and anxiety (UCR).
 Did anyone have to “teach” Carla to
react to dental work by feeling pain
and anxiety?
 No! That’s why everything starts with
“unconditioned.”
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Unconditioned
stimulus (UCS):
dental procedure
Unconditioned
response (UCR):
Pain and Carla’s
resulting feeling
of anxiety
Step 2: Establish Classical
Conditioning
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Definition of Terms
Conditioned stimulus (CS): a
previously neutral stimulus
that has, through
conditioning, acquired the
capacity to evoke a
conditioned response
Conditioned Response (CR):
a learned reaction to a
conditioned stimulus that
occurs because of previous
conditioning
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Carla’s Case
Conditioned stimulus (CS):
Carla smelled boyfriend’s
aftershave (same as dentist)
and she felt anxious. Neutral
stimulus has become the
Conditioned Stimulus.
Conditioned Response (CR):
whenever Carla smells THAT
aftershave, she become
anxious.
Step 3: Test for Conditioning
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A test for classical
conditioning is to
observe whether the
neutral stimulus, when
presented alone, elicits
the conditioned response
Classical Conditioning
Copy this down
Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)
Natural Relationship
Learned
Relationship
Unconditioned Response (UCR)
Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
Ex.
Dental
procedure
Ex. Pain
and anxiety
Ex.
Dentist’s
aftershave
Unnatural Relationship
Conditioned Response (CR)
Ex. Anxiety
A History of Classical Conditioning
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Ivan Pavlov: Russian physiologist who did Nobel prizewinning research on digestion. Discovered classical
conditioning by accident in 1900.
The Breakthrough: Dogs began salivating when they
heard the “click” of the meat powder machine.
UCS=Meat powder
UCR=Salivation
CS= “click”
CR= Salivation
Group Question Minute: Can you think of examples of
classical conditioning in your own life?
Conditioning as Therapy
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Mental health workers help people break bad
habits and thought cycles through helping them form
and re-form associations.
Stella the Dog is the subject of this study. (see
videos).
Identify the following in this conditioning experiment
UCS:
UCR:
CS:
CR:
Classical Conditioning and Us
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Taste aversions
Phobias http://phobialist.com/
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Animal training
Home habits
Attraction
Unexpected emotional moments
Favorite activities
Other Classical Conditioning Concepts
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Generalization: when a
stimulus is similar to the
original CS elicits the
response to the actual CS.
EXAMPLE: Little Albert was
conditioned to fear rats.
Soon, he also feared a
rabbit, a dog, a fur coat, a
Santa Clause mask, and
Watson’s hair.
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Discrimination: when an
organism learns to make
a particular response to
a very specific stimuli,
even though it may be
similar to another stimuli
EXAMPLE: We react
differently to loud
annoying screeching
noises. Baby crying vs.
Police sirens
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Extinction: CS is repeatedly
presented without the UCS
and the CS tends to no
longer elicit the CR
EXAMPLE: Fear of needles?
Watch some video of
qualified nurses using
needles and the fear will
decrease. Unpair the CS
(needles) with CR (fear and
anxiety)
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Spontaneous Recovery:
when the CR reappears
after being extinguished
even though there is no
explanation why.
EXAMPLE: A recovering
alcoholic of 25 years
suddenly craves a drink.
(Spiral) Classical Conditioning Synthesis
Activity
1. Complete Concept Check 6.1 on pg. 225 (see pgs. 222-223 for help)
2. Classical Conditioning Experience (subtitle): Write a descriptive, narrative
paragraph (10 sentences) on one of the following topics as it relates to
classical conditioning.
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(1) Food Aversion, (2) Triggered memory, (3) Conditioned fear or Phobia
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Please be sure to give background on the experience, identify stimuli and responses
(UCS, UCR, CS,CR). You may bring in visuals for next time and present your firsthand experience for extra credit.
3. Reflection (subtitle): Add a small R.A.C.E. reflection paragraph answering
this question: Is it right or wrong for scientists, advertisers, family members,
friends to condition you to elicit certain responses? Why or why not? Use
specific examples for “C.”