LEARNING

On June 28th 1998, James Byrd (a disabled

Afro American) was brutally murdered in
Texas whilst hitchhiking home.
Three young men offered him a ride, chained
him to their pickup truck and dragged him two
miles, tearing him to pieces. They were
brought to justice. Two were executed and the
other sentenced to life imprisonment without
parole.
What turns 3 young men into hate-filled,
callous monsters?
How can we explain why the Ku Klux Klan
later placed a KKK sticker on his grave 2
years later?
Where does such hatred come from?

Is racism learned?
Tragedies like this show us the dark
side of human learning, but racism
and hatred are learned behaviours.
Phobias, superstitions, love,
generosity, etc., are also learnt.
Classical Conditioning
 Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning is the forming of

associations between two stimuli that are
normally unrelated.
Our minds connect events occurring in a
sequence; we associate them –
conditioning.
 Examples in everyday life

anticipating thunder after seeing

lightning
knowing what the next song will be, but
not being able to list the complete order
of songs on your CD
going to the dentist!
Classical Conditioning

Ivan Pavlov first

demonstrated
classical conditioning
whilst studying
digestion in dogs.
 Classical Conditioning

An apparatus for Pavlovian conditioning. A tube carries saliva from the dog’s mouth to a lever
that activates a recording device (far left). During conditioning, various stimuli can be paired
with a dish of food placed in front of the dog. The device pictured here is more elaborate than
the one Pavlov used in his early experiments.
 Classical Conditioning:-Key terms
Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) elicits an unconditioned
response (UCR) without previous conditioning.
Unconditioned Response (UCR) is an unlearned reaction to
an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) that occurs without previous
conditioning.
Neutral Stimulus (NS), before conditioning, does not
naturally bring about the response of interest.
Conditioned Stimulus (CS) is a previously neutral stimulus
that, through repeated pairings with an UCS, now causes a
conditioned response (CR).
Conditioned Response (CR) is a learned reaction to a
conditioned stimulus (CS) that occurs because of previous
repeated pairings with an unconditioned stimulus (UCS).
 Classical Conditioning

What do dogs salivating to the sound of

a bell have to do with your life?

Classical conditioning has been shown

to be the most fundamental way that all
animals (including humans) learn most
new responses, emotions and attitudes.
Classical Conditioning

Your love for your

parents
(or significant other)
is the result of
classical conditioning
 Classical Conditioning

Advertising pairs neutral stimuli (the

products) with positive unconditioned
stimuli (models, sex, fun)

Brand name + attractive model => liking

CS UCS UCR
18
Classical Conditioning

Some types of stimuli are more important for

survival than others. The brain is not equally
sensitive to all types of stimuli.
Taste-Aversion learning is the development of a
dislike or aversion to a flavour or food that has
been paired with an illness.
You may dine at a restaurant, eat seafood but
come down with a stomach virus (unrelated to the
seafood) and develop an aversion to seafood as
a consequence.
 Classical Conditioning

Aversion pairs neutral stimuli (the products)

with negative unconditioned stimuli.

Food + gastro bug => illness / aversion

CS UCS UCR