-Discovered by Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov, classical
conditioning is a type of unconscious or automatic learning.
-This learning process creates a conditioned response through
associations between an unconditioned stimulus and a
neutral stimulus.
-Put another way, classical conditioning involves placing a
neutral stimulus before a naturally occurring reflex.
-In Pavlov's classic experiment with dogs, the neutral signal
was the sound of a tone and the naturally occurring reflex
was salivating in response to food. By associating the neutral
stimulus (sound) with the unconditioned stimulus (food), the
sound of the tone alone could produce the salivation
response.
-Behaviorism assumes that all learning occurs through
interactions with the environment and that environment
shapes behavior.
-An unconditioned stimulus is a stimulus or trigger that leads
to an automatic response. If a cold breeze makes you shiver,
for instance, the cold breeze is an unconditioned stimulus; it
produces an involuntary response (the shivering).
-A neutral stimulus is a stimulus that doesn't initially trigger a
response on its own. If you hear the sound of a fan but don't
feel the breeze, for example, it wouldn't necessarily trigger a
response. That would make it a neutral stimulus.
-A conditioned stimulus is a stimulus that was once neutral
(didn't trigger a response) but now leads to a response. If you
previously didn't pay attention to dogs, but then got bit by
one, and now you feel fear every time you see a dog, the dog
has become a conditioned stimulus.
-An unconditioned response is an automatic response or a
response that occurs without thought when an unconditioned
stimulus is present. If you smell your favorite food and your
mouth starts watering, the watering is an unconditioned
response.
-A conditioned response is a learned response or a response
that is created where no response existed before. Going back
to the example of being bit by a dog, the fear you experience
after the bite is a conditioned response.
-Classical conditioning involves forming an association
between two stimuli, resulting in a learned response.4 There
are three basic phases of this process.
*Phase 1: Before Conditioning- In the before conditioning
phase, an unconditioned stimulus is paired with an
unconditioned response. A neutral stimulus is then
introduced.
>The unconditioned response is the unlearned response that
occurs naturally in response to the unconditioned stimulus.4
In our example, the feeling of hunger in response to the smell
of food is the unconditioned response.
*Phase 2: During Conditioning -The during conditioning phase
involves repeatedly pairing a neutral stimulus with an
unconditioned stimulus. Eventually, the neutral stimulus
becomes the conditioned stimulus.
>In our earlier example, suppose that when you smelled your
favorite food, you also heard the sound of a whistle. While
the whistle is unrelated to the smell of the food, if the sound
of the whistle was paired multiple times with the smell, the
whistle sound would eventually trigger the conditioned
response. In this case, the sound of the whistle is the
conditioned stimulus.
*Phase 3: After Conditioning- In the after conditioning phase,
the conditioned stimulus alone triggers the conditioned
response.
> In our example, the conditioned response would be feeling
hungry when you heard the sound of the whistle.
FIVE KEY PRINCIPLES OF CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
>Acquisition is the initial stage of learning, when a response is
first established and gradually strengthened. During the
acquisition phase of classical conditioning, a neutral stimulus
is repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus.
>Extinction is when the occurrences of a conditioned
response decrease or disappear. In classical conditioning, this
happens when a conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with
an unconditioned stimulus. For example, if the smell of food
(the unconditioned stimulus) had been paired with the sound
of a whistle (the conditioned stimulus), the sound of the
whistle would eventually come to evoke the conditioned
response of hunger.However, if the smell of food were no
longer paired with the whistle, eventually the conditioned
response (hunger) would disappear.
>Spontaneous Recovery For example, imagine that after
training a dog to salivate to the sound of a bell, you stop
reinforcing the behavior and the response becomes extinct.
After a rest period during which the conditioned stimulus is
not presented, you ring the bell and the animal
spontaneously recovers the previously learned response. If
the conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus are no
longer associated, extinction will return very rapidly after a
spontaneous recovery.
>Stimulus generalization is the tendency for a conditioned
stimulus to evoke similar responses after the response has
been conditioned.8 For example, if a dog has been
conditioned to salivate at the sound of a bell, the animal may
also exhibit the same response to a sound that's similar to the
bell.
>Discrimination is the ability to differentiate between a
conditioned stimulus and other stimuli that have not been
paired with an unconditioned stimulus. For example, if a bell
tone were the conditioned stimulus, discrimination would
involve being able to tell the difference between the bell tone
and other similar sounds. Because the subject is able to
distinguish between these stimuli, they will only respond
when the conditioned stimulus is presented.
EXAMPLE OF CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
Fear Response
John B. Watson's experiment with Little Albert is an example of the fear
response.10 The child initially showed no fear of a white rat, but after the rat
was paired repeatedly with loud, scary sounds, the child began to cry when
the rat was present.Prior to the conditioning, the white rat was a neutral
stimulus. The unconditioned stimulus was the loud, clanging sounds, and the
unconditioned response was the fear response created by the noise.By
repeatedly pairing the rat with the unconditioned stimulus, the white rat
(now the conditioned stimulus) came to evoke the fear response (now the
conditioned response).This experiment illustrates how phobias can form
through classical conditioning. In many cases, a single pairing of a neutral
stimulus (a dog, for example) and a frightening experience (being bitten by
the dog) can lead to a lasting phobia (being afraid of dogs).
-Operant conditioning, also known as instrumental
conditioning, is a method of learning normally attributed to
B.F. Skinner, where the consequences of a response
determine the probability of it being repeated. Through
operant conditioning behavior which is reinforced (rewarded)
will likely be repeated, and behavior which is punished will
occur less frequently.
-The work of Skinner was rooted in a view that classical
conditioning was far too simplistic to be a complete
explanation of complex human behavior. He believed that the
best way to understand behavior is to look at the causes of an
action and its consequences. He called this approach operant
conditioning.
-Skinner Box' which was similar to Thorndike’s puzzle box- A
Skinner box, also known as an operant conditioning chamber,
is a device used to objectively record an animal's behavior in
a compressed time frame. An animal can be rewarded or
punished for engaging in certain behaviors, such as lever
pressing (for rats) or key pecking (for pigeons).
-Skinner identified three types of responses, or operant, that
can follow behavior.
• Neutral operants: responses from the environment that
neither increase nor decrease the probability of a behavior
being repeated.
> For example, if your teacher gives you £5 each time you
complete your homework (i.e., a reward) you will be more
likely to repeat this behavior in the future, thus strengthening
the behavior of completing your homework.
• Reinforcers: Responses from the environment that increase
the probability of a behavior being repeated. Reinforcers can
be either positive or negative.
>For example, if you do not complete your homework, you
give your teacher £5. You will complete your homework to
avoid paying £5, thus strengthening the behavior of
completing your homework.
are related to a person's behavior. For example, the
reinforcement of desired behaviors and ignoring or punishing
undesired ones. This is not as simple as it sounds — always
reinforcing desired behavior, for example, is basically bribery.
-Token economy is a system in which targeted behaviors are
reinforced with tokens (secondary reinforcers) and later
exchanged for rewards (primary reinforcers).
Tokens can be in the form of fake money, buttons, poker
chips, stickers, etc. While the rewards can range anywhere
from snacks to privileges or activities. For example, teachers
use token economy at primary school by giving young
children stickers to reward good behavior.
-A further important contribution made by Skinner (1951) is
the notion of behavior shaping through successive
approximation. Skinner argues that the principles of operant
conditioning can be used to produce extremely complex
behavior if rewards and punishments are delivered in such a
way as to encourage move an organism closer and closer to
the desired behavior each time.To do this, the conditions (or
contingencies) required to receive the reward should shift
each time the organism moves a step closer to the desired
behavior.
-The major influence on human behavior is learning from our
environment. In the Skinner study, because food followed a
particular behavior the rats learned to repeat that behavior,
e.g., operant conditioning.
-Behaviorism is primarily concerned with observable
behavior, as opposed to internal events like thinking and
emotion. Note that Skinner did not say that the rats learned
to press a lever because they wanted food. He instead
concentrated on describing the easily observed behavior that
the rats acquired.

• Punishers: Responses from the environment that decrease

the likelihood of a behavior being repeated. Punishment
weakens behavior.

>Like reinforcement, punishment can work either by directly

applying an unpleasant stimulus like a shock after a response
or by removing a potentially rewarding stimulus, for instance,
deducting someone’s pocket money to punish undesirable
behavior.

There are many problems with using punishment, such as:

>Punished behavior is not forgotten, it's suppressed -

behavior returns when punishment is no longer present.

>Causes increased aggression - shows that aggression is a way

to cope with problems.

>Creates fear that can generalize to undesirable behaviors,

e.g., fear of school.

>Does not necessarily guide toward desired behavior -

reinforcement tells you what to do, punishment only tells you
what not to do.

-Behavior modification is a set of therapies / techniques

based on operant conditioning (Skinner, 1938, 1953). The
main principle comprises changing environmental events that