what is classical conditioning
learning through association
what is a stimulus
an object that produces a response (behaviour)
what is an unconditioned stimulus
the object that initially causes and UR
what is an unconditioned response
the automatic reflex (behaviour) that occurs due presented unconditioned stimulus
what is a neutral stimulus
a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning
what is a conditioned stimulus
neutral stimulus becomes conditioned through conditioning and now causes a conditioned response
what is a conditioned response
a learned response to a conditioned stimulus
what is stimulus generalisation
A conditioned response formed to one conditioned stimulus will occur to other, similar stimuli
what is stimulus discrimination
when a person does not generalize what they have learned from a specific conditioned stimulus to other stimuli which are similar to the original conditioned stimulus (ex. If only scared of Bozo and not other clowns)
what is spontaneous recovery
when an old conditioned response comes back spontaneously
when does extinction occur
Extinction occurs when the conditioned stimulus is presented repeatedly without the unconditioned stimulus, causing the conditioned response to weaken or stop.
what is one trial learning
learning takes place in a single pairing of a response and stimulus
evaluate the usefulness of classical conditioning
-can be used in aversion therapy to treat things like addictions by forming a negative association with the unwanted behaviour so they’re less likely to repeat it
give an example of an application of CC
-rapid smoking which causes a nauseating feeling, reducing the individuals desire to smoke
-disulfurum which is a type of medication that makes the individual feel sick if they drink alcohol
describe the procedure of pavlovs study
1-the dog was given food as usual (UCS)
2-the dog salivates when it sees and smells the food (UCR)
3-the bell is rang (NS) everytime the dog is given food (UCS)
4-the bell is rung everytime the food is presented (pairing of the NS+UCS)
5-after repeated pairings, the god salivates when it hears the bell ringing
6-bell has become the CS and the dog salivating is the CR
70dog continued to salivate to the bell however when he stopped pairing them, the CR decreased and gradually disappeared (extinction)
evaluate pavlovs study in terms of generalisability
-using an animal means that we can’t generalise the findings to humans or other animals
-small sample as only used one breed of dog
-since theres also been research into humans more recently perhaps we can generalise the findings
evaluate pavlovs study in terms of reliability
-standardised procedure and controlled environment so easy to replicate
-repeated experiment with other stimuli and showed same response=consistent results
evaluate pavlovs study in terms of objectivity
-measured drops of saliva through a test tube to gather quantitative data which is a strength as numerical data cannot be misinterpreted or disputed as it is a measurement so no researcher bias
evaluate pavlovs study in terms of validity
-dogs placed in a chamber and isolated from other stimuli which controlled for extraneous variables and increases scientific creditability
evaluate pavlovs study in terms of ethics
-could harm the dog ie if hears a bell but isn’t given food this may be unethical so should’ve been deconditioned
-caged and harnessed the dogs aswell as isolated them however this was necessary to control extraneous variables and increase validity
