Classical Conditioning

Craig McNally, JP
Licensed Associate Counselling Psychologist
 What is Learning?

• Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior or thought

that results from practice or experience.

• There are different types of Learning theories, but focus here will
be on classical conditioning, operant conditioning and social
cognitive learning.

Slide credit: Dr. K. Nelson

 Classical Conditioning
• Several years ago, some thinkers believed that we learned by
connecting one stimulus to another.
» E.g. the sound of our mother’s voice to her face.

• Once we form these associations, we only need one element to

retrieve the other.

• Classical Conditioning is a form of associative learning that enables

us to anticipate events.

• Ivan Pavlov: discovered classical conditioning by accident while

studying digestion in dogs.

• In classical conditioning, one stimulus comes to evoke the response

usually caused by another stimulus because both stimuli are paired
repeatedly.
• Ivan Pavlov is known for his
famous experiment with
conditioning the salivation
response in dogs, which brought
about classical conditioning.

• Pavlov (1849–1936) was a

Russian scientist whose work
with dogs has been influential in
understanding how learning
occurs. Through his research, he
established the theory of
classical conditioning.
 Terms used in Classical Conditioning
• Unconditioned Stimulus (US)- A stimulus that elicits a response prior to
conditioning

• Unconditioned Response (UR)- A response to an US (a reflex reaction)

• Conditioned Stimulus (CS)- Previously neutral stimulus that elicits a

response because it had been paired with a stimulus that already elicits
that response (Eg. Bell + Food)

• Conditioned Response (CR)- A learned response to a CS. (Result behaviour

or response from pairing Bell + Food)

• The closer in time the pairing of the US and the CS are presented together
, the quicker learning occurs.

• Slide credit: Dr. K. Nelson

 Classical Conditioning
• Classical conditioning is a form of learning
whereby a conditioned stimulus (CS) becomes
associated with an unrelated unconditioned
stimulus (US) in order to produce a
behavioural response known as a conditioned
response (CR). 
• The conditioned response is the learned
response to the previously neutral stimulus.
The unconditioned stimulus is usually a
biologically significant stimulus such as food or
pain that elicits an unconditioned response
(UR) from the start.

• The conditioned stimulus is usually neutral

and produces no particular response at first,
but after conditioning it elicits the conditioned
response.
• Extinction is the decrease in the conditioned
response when the unconditioned stimulus is
no longer presented with the conditioned
stimulus.

• When presented with the conditioned

stimulus alone, the individual would show a
weaker and weaker response, and finally no
response. 
• In classical-conditioning terms, there is a gradual
weakening and disappearance of the conditioned
response.

• Related to this, spontaneous recovery refers to

the return of a previously extinguished
conditioned response following a rest period.

• Research has found that with repeated

extinction/recovery cycles, the conditioned
response tends to be less intense with each
period of recovery.
 Taste Aversion
• A conditioned taste aversion involves the
avoidance of a certain food following a period
of illness after consuming that food.

• These aversions are a great example of how

classical conditioning can result in changes in
behaviour, even after only one
incidence/association.
 Features of Classical Conditioning
• Stimulus Generalization:
– The tendency for a stimulus similar to a CS to evoke a CR.
– Pavlov found that after classical conditioning occurred when his
dogs salivate not only to the original bell, but sounds similar to it.
– The more similar the sound the more likely the CR will be stronger.

• Stimulus Discrimination:
– Process by which organisms learn to respond to certain stimuli but
not to others.
– Flip side to stimulus generalization.
– When we produce a much less pronounced CR to a CS that differ
from the original CS.

Slide credit: Dr. K. Nelson

 Features of Classical Conditioning
• Higher Order Conditioning:
– When a neutral stimilus becomes a CS through an already
established CS
– The new CR however tends to be weaker than the original.

For example, an animal might first learn to associate a bell

with food (first-order conditioning), but then learn to
associate a light with the bell (second-order conditioning). 

• Counter-conditioning:
– A technique in which a pleasant stimulus is associated with a fear-
evoking stimulus so that the fear evoking stimulus loses its
aversive qualities.

Slide credit: Dr. K. Nelson

 Behaviorism and Other Research

• Pavlov’s research contributed to other studies

and theories in behaviourism.

• Behaviourism is an approach to psychology

concerned with observable behaviours rather
than the inner workings of the mind.
• Pavlov’s research further led to the development
of important behaviour-therapy techniques, such
as flooding and desensitizing, for individuals who
struggle with fear and anxiety. 

• Systematic Desensitizing is a kind of reverse

conditioning in which an individual is repeatedly
exposed to the thing that is causing the anxiety,
in a hierarchical fashion. 

• Flooding is similar in that it exposes an individual

to the thing causing the anxiety, but it does so in
a more intense and prolonged way.
• Classical conditioning is used not only in therapeutic
interventions, but in everyday life as well, such as in
advertising.

• Think about the car commercials you have seen on

television: many of them feature an attractive model.
By associating the model with the car being advertised,
you come to see the car as being desirable.

• Advertising research indicates that men who viewed a

car commercial that included an attractive model later
rated the car as being faster, more appealing, and
better designed than did men who viewed an
advertisement for the same car without the model.