PSYCHOLOGY ASSIGNMENT - LEARNING

Nandini Rathi
SY-A
76012000232
Question 1:
Michael noticed that whenever he moved his Dog’s bowl, his dog would come
into the kitchen and act hungry and excited. The noise that the bowl produced
activated the dog’s primary drive, hunger. He now wishes to train his dog to
the sound of a clap to elicit similar actions as observed with the bowl. How will
Michael achieve it? Identify and elaborate the condition.

Answer:
The condition mentioned in the above case is a prime example of Classical
Conditioning. Classical Conditioning (also known as Pavlovian or Respondent
Conditioning) refers to learning through association and was discovered by the
Russian physiologist, Ivan Pavlov. It is a type of learning in which one learns to
link two or more stimuli and thus, to anticipate events and to produce a new
learned response.

Pavlov’s extensive work and his experiments with dogs played a critical role in
the discovery of Classical Conditioning - one of the most important concepts in
Psychology. Pavlov demonstrated that if a bell was rung every time his dog was
fed, the dog learned to identify the sound with food presentation and salivated
in response to the bell tone. While it happened quite by accident, Pavlov's
famous experiments laid the foundation for the several ideas and concepts
presented by the psychologist John B. Watson and performed a crucial in the
development of the School of Behavioural Psychology.

In the case mentioned in the question, when Michael’s dog exhibits Classical
Conditioning in three stages:

Before Conditioning: In this stage, the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) produces

an unconditioned response (UCR) in an organism. This means that a stimulus in
the environment produces a response/behaviour which is unlearned (i.e.,
unconditioned) and therefore is a natural response. For example, whenever
Michael moved his dog’s bowl, his dog would unconditionally, automatically,
become hungry and excited. The movement of the bowl into the kitchen, is the
unconditioned stimulus and the hunger and excitement of Michael’s dog is the
unconditioned response.

This stage also includes another stimulus which has no effect on the organism
and is called the neutral stimulus (NS). The NS could be a person, object, place,
sound etc. Here, the sound of the bowl acts as the neutral stimulus. The sound
made by the bowl (without any movement of the bowl being taken into the
kitchen) for instance, by gently hitting it against the floor will elicit no response
from Michael’s dog on it’s own. Thus, the neutral stimulus in classical
conditioning will not produce a response until it is paired with the
unconditioned stimulus.

During Conditioning: During this stage, the neutral stimulus is associated with
the unconditioned stimulus at which point it becomes the conditioned stimulus
(CS). For classical conditioning to work, the conditioned stimulus must occur
before or at the same time (but not after) as the unconditioned stimulus. As a
result, the conditioned stimulus serves as a signal or a cue to the
unconditioned stimulus. Therefore, the noise produced by the bowl while
Michael moves it into the kitchen activates the hunger and the excitement of
his dog. Here, the noise of the bowl acts as the neutral stimulus which when
paired with the movement of the bowl into the kitchen, which is the
unconditioned stimulus, becomes the conditioned stimulus. Often during this
stage, the UCS must be associated with the CS on a number of occasions, or
trials, for learning to take place.

After Conditioning: In this stage, the conditioned stimulus (CS) has been
associated with the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) to create a new conditioned
response (CR). Therefore, now, after several pairings of moving the bowl into
the kitchen and making noise at the same, Michael’s dog, anticipating the
movement of the bowl into the kitchen, will become hungry and excited only
at the sound of the bowl. As a result, hunger and excitement in response to the
sound of the bowl, is an example of the dog’s learned behaviour and we call
this response the conditioned response.

Now, for Michael to elicit similar actions from his dog on the sound of a clap,
as observed with the sound of the bowl, he must associate it with the
previously conditioned stimulus. This is known as higher order conditioning.
Higher-Order Conditioning (or second order conditioning) is a process in which
the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new
neutral stimulus, creating a second (often weaker) conditioned stimulus. Thus,
Michael should start clapping just before the bowl makes noise or exactly at
the same time, he moves the bowl into the kitchen while simultaneously
making noise from it. Clapping here, would be the new neutral stimulus and
the sound of the bowl would be the previously conditioned stimulus. Now, that
Michael’s dog has learned that the sound of the bowl triggers his hunger and
excitement, he might then further learn that clapping predicts the sound of the
bowl and thus, begin to respond to the clapping alone.

Some more examples of Classical Conditioning include,

- Conditioned nausea, in which the sight or smell of a particular food causes

nausea because it caused stomach upset in the past. Thus, the influence of
classical conditioning can be seen in responses such as phobias, disgust and
nausea. Similarly, when the sight of a dog is linked to a memory of being
bitten, a conditioned fear of dogs may develop.

- Conditioning, as an adaptive mechanism, aids in the protection of an

individual from injury or for the preparation of an individual for key biological
events like sexual activity. As a result, a stimulation that occurs before to
sexual interaction causes sexual arousal, which prepares the person for sexual
contact. For example, sexual arousal has been conditioned in human subjects
by coupling a stimulus like a picture of a jar of pennies with views of an erotic
film clip. Similar experiments involving blue gourami fish and domesticated
quail have sh0wn that such conditioning can increase the number of offspring.
These findings suggest that conditioning strategies might help to increase
fertility rates in individuals and endangered species.

- It has also been proven that using classical conditioning as a treatment for
substance abuse and smoking is successful. Classic conditioning methods
include, for example, aversion treatment and systematic desensitization.
Aversion therapy is a type of behaviour therapy that seeks to induce people to
give up harmful behaviours by having them associate them with a negative
outcome. For those who suffer from the fear of heights, systematic
desensitization teaches them to relax while being exposed to progressively
anxiety-inducing stimuli.

- The principles of classical conditioning have also been applied to taste

aversion. Ranchers, for example, have discovered ways to use this type of
classical conditioning to preserve their cattle. In one instance, mutton was
injected with a drug that caused severe nausea. The coyotes avoided sheep
herds rather than attacking them after eating the poisoned meat.
Pavlov's discovery of classical conditioning is regarded as one of the most
significant in the history of psychology. In addition to forming the basis of what
would become behavioural psychology, the classical conditioning process is
still relevant today for a variety of applications, including behavioural
modification and mental health therapy, such as treating phobias, anxiety, and
panic disorders. While Pavlov's discovery of classical conditioning formed an
essential part of psychology's history, his work continues to inspire new
research today. His contributions to psychology have shaped the science into
what it is now, and will undoubtedly continue to do so for many years to come.

References:

https://www.coursehero.com/file/80514445/Khan‐Academy‐Video‐Classical‐Conditioning‐
pdf/

https://www.simplypsychology.org/classical‐conditioning.html

https://www.verywellmind.com/pavlovs-dogs-2794989
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