What is conditioning psychology

After a rest period during which the conditioned stimulus is not presented, you suddenly 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 occur very rapidly after a spontaneous recovery. Stimulus generalization is the tendency for the conditioned stimulus to evoke similar responses after the response has been conditioned. In John B. Watson's famous Little Albert Experiment , for example, a small child was conditioned to fear a white rat. The child demonstrated stimulus generalization by also exhibiting fear in response to other fuzzy white objects including stuffed toys and Watson's own hair.

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.

It can be helpful to look at a few examples of how the classical conditioning process operates both in experimental and real-world settings. John B. Watson's experiment with Little Albert is a perfect example of the fear response. The child's fear also generalized to other fuzzy white objects. 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.

Another example of classical conditioning can be seen in the development of conditioned taste aversions. Researchers John Garcia and Bob Koelling first noticed this phenomenon when they observed how rats that had been exposed to a nausea-causing radiation developed an aversion to flavored water after the radiation and the water were presented together. In this example, the radiation represents the unconditioned stimulus and the nausea represents the unconditioned response.

After the pairing of the two, the flavored water is the conditioned stimulus, while the nausea that formed when exposed to the water alone is the conditioned response. Later research demonstrated that such classically conditioned aversions could be produced through a single pairing of the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus.

Researchers also found that such aversions can even develop if the conditioned stimulus the taste of the food is presented several hours before the unconditioned stimulus the nausea-causing stimulus.

Why do such associations develop so quickly? Obviously, forming such associations can have survival benefits for the organism. If an animal eats something that makes it ill, it needs to avoid eating the same food in the future to avoid sickness or even death.

This is a great example of what is known as biological preparedness. Some associations form more readily because they aid in survival. In one famous field study, researchers injected sheep carcasses with a poison that would make coyotes sick but not kill them.

The goal was to help sheep ranchers reduce the number of sheep lost to coyote killings. Not only did the experiment work by lowering the number of sheep killed, it also caused some of the coyotes to develop such a strong aversion to sheep that they would actually run away at the scent or sight of a sheep. In reality, people do not respond exactly like Pavlov's dogs. There are, however, numerous real-world applications for classical conditioning.

For example, many dog trainers use classical conditioning techniques to help people train their pets. These techniques are also useful for helping people cope with phobias or anxiety problems. Therapists might, for example, repeatedly pair something that provokes anxiety with relaxation techniques in order to create an association. Teachers are able to apply classical conditioning in the class by creating a positive classroom environment to help students overcome anxiety or fear.

Pairing an anxiety-provoking situation, such as performing in front of a group, with pleasant surroundings helps the student learn new associations. Instead of feeling anxious and tense in these situations, the child will learn to stay relaxed and calm. Ever wonder what your personality type means?

Sign up to find out more in our Healthy Mind newsletter. Wolpe J, Plaud JJ. Pavlov's contributions to behavior therapy. The obvious and not so obvious. Am Psychol. Holland JG. Behaviorism: Part of the problem or part of the solution. J Appl Behav Anal. Windholz G. Pavlov on the conditioned reflex method and its limitations.

Am J Psychol. Experimental evidence of classical conditioning and microscopic engrams in an electroconductive material. Acquisition of conditioned responding in a multiple schedule depends on the reinforcement's temporal contingency with each stimulus. Learn Mem. Facets of Pavlovian and operant extinction. Save This Word! Also called operant conditioning , instrumental conditioning. Also called classical conditioning , Pavlovian conditioning , respondent conditioning. We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.

Words nearby conditioning conditioned , conditioned response , conditioned stimulus , conditioned suppression , conditioner , conditioning , condo , condole , condolence , condolent , con dolore. Words related to conditioning assignment , discipline , drilling , homework , preparation , repetition , training , tryout , warmup , workout , rehearsal , routine , session , test , influencing , persuasion , call , constitutional , dress , gym.

How to use conditioning in a sentence Observers have pinned the blame on everything from age to nerves to poor conditioning. Wizards return to practice with just eight eligible players — and have another game postponed Ava Wallace January 21, Washington Post. Unwise Child Gordon Randall Garrett. Rather than waking up early on your own, though, you likely have an alarm clock that plays a tone to wake you. After enough pairings, this tone CS will automatically produce your natural response of grumpiness CR.

Thus, this linkage between the unconditioned stimulus US; waking up early and the conditioned stimulus CS; the tone is so strong that the unconditioned response UR; being grumpy will become a conditioned response CR; e.

Modern studies of classical conditioning use a very wide range of CSs and USs and measure a wide range of conditioned responses. Although classical conditioning is a powerful explanation for how we learn many different things, there is a second form of conditioning that also helps explain how we learn. First studied by Edward Thorndike, and later extended by B.

Skinner, this second type of conditioning is known as instrumental or operant conditioning. Operant conditioning occurs when a behavior as opposed to a stimulus is associated with the occurrence of a significant event. At first, the rat may simply explore its cage, climbing on top of things, burrowing under things, in search of food. Eventually while poking around its cage, the rat accidentally presses the lever, and a food pellet drops in. Now, once the rat recognizes that it receives a piece of food every time it presses the lever, the behavior of lever-pressing becomes reinforced.

As you drive through one city course multiple times, you try a number of different streets to get to the finish line. On one of these trials, you discover a shortcut that dramatically improves your overall time. You have learned this new path through operant conditioning.

That is, by engaging with your environment operant responses , you performed a sequence of behaviors that that was positively reinforced i. Operant conditioning research studies how the effects of a behavior influence the probability that it will occur again. Effects that increase behaviors are referred to as reinforcers, and effects that decrease them are referred to as punishers.

An everyday example that helps to illustrate operant conditioning is striving for a good grade in class—which could be considered a reward for students i.

One of the lessons of operant conditioning research, then, is that voluntary behavior is strongly influenced by its consequences. The illustration above summarizes the basic elements of classical and instrumental conditioning.

The two types of learning differ in many ways. However, modern thinkers often emphasize the fact that they differ—as illustrated here—in what is learned. In classical conditioning, the animal behaves as if it has learned to associate a stimulus with a significant event.

In operant conditioning, the animal behaves as if it has learned to associate a behavior with a significant event. Another difference is that the response in the classical situation e.

Instead, operant responses are said to be emitted. Understanding classical and operant conditioning provides psychologists with many tools for understanding learning and behavior in the world outside the lab.

This is in part because the two types of learning occur continuously throughout our lives. A classical CS e. Pavlov emphasized salivation because that was the only response he measured.

But his bell almost certainly elicited a whole system of responses that functioned to get the organism ready for the upcoming US food see Timberlake, For example, in addition to salivation, CSs such as the bell that signal that food is near also elicit the secretion of gastric acid, pancreatic enzymes, and insulin which gets blood glucose into cells.

All of these responses prepare the body for digestion. Additionally, the CS elicits approach behavior and a state of excitement. And presenting a CS for food can also cause animals whose stomachs are full to eat more food if it is available.

In fact, food CSs are so prevalent in modern society, humans are likewise inclined to eat or feel hungry in response to cues associated with food, such as the sound of a bag of potato chips opening, the sight of a well-known logo e. Classical conditioning is also involved in other aspects of eating. Flavors associated with certain nutrients such as sugar or fat can become preferred without arousing any awareness of the pairing.

For example, protein is a US that your body automatically craves more of once you start to consume it UR : since proteins are highly concentrated in meat, the flavor of meat becomes a CS or cue, that proteins are on the way , which perpetuates the cycle of craving for yet more meat this automatic bodily reaction now a CR. In a similar way, flavors associated with stomach pain or illness become avoided and dis liked. For example, a person who gets sick after drinking too much tequila may acquire a profound dislike of the taste and odor of tequila—a phenomenon called taste aversion conditioning.

The fact that flavors are often associated with so many consequences of eating is important for animals including rats and humans that are frequently exposed to new foods. And it is clinically relevant. For example, drugs used in chemotherapy often make cancer patients sick. Classical conditioning occurs with a variety of significant events. Here, rather than a physical response like drooling , the CS triggers an emotion. Another interesting effect of classical conditioning can occur when we ingest drugs.

That is, when a drug is taken, it can be associated with the cues that are present at the same time e. This conditioned compensatory response has many implications. Conditioned compensatory responses which include heightened pain sensitivity and decreased body temperature, among others might also cause discomfort, thus motivating the drug user to continue usage of the drug to reduce them. This is one of several ways classical conditioning might be a factor in drug addiction and dependence.

A final effect of classical cues is that they motivate ongoing operant behavior see Balleine, Similarly, in the presence of food-associated cues e. And finally, even in the presence of negative cues like something that signals fear , a rat, a human, or any other organism will work harder to avoid those situations that might lead to trauma.

Classical CSs thus have many effects that can contribute to significant behavioral phenomena. As mentioned earlier, classical conditioning provides a method for studying basic learning processes. Somewhat counterintuitively, though, studies show that pairing a CS and a US together is not sufficient for an association to be learned between them. Consider an effect called blocking see Kamin, In the illustration above, the sound of a bell stimulus A is paired with the presentation of food.

Once this association is learned, in a second phase, a second stimulus—stimulus B—is presented alongside stimulus A, such that the two stimuli are paired with the US together. In the illustration, a light is added and turned on at the same time the bell is rung. The reason? Learning depends on such a surprise, or a discrepancy between what occurs on a conditioning trial and what is already predicted by cues that are present on the trial.

However, if the researcher suddenly requires that the bell and the light both occur in order to receive the food, the bell alone will produce a prediction error that the animal has to learn. Blocking and other related effects indicate that the learning process tends to take in the most valid predictors of significant events and ignore the less useful ones. This is common in the real world.

For example, imagine that your supermarket puts big star-shaped stickers on products that are on sale. Quickly, you learn that items with the big star-shaped stickers are cheaper. However, imagine you go into a similar supermarket that not only uses these stickers, but also uses bright orange price tags to denote a discount. Because of blocking i. The star-shaped stickers tell you everything you need to know i. Classical conditioning is strongest if the CS and US are intense or salient.

For example, rats and humans are naturally inclined to associate an illness with a flavor, rather than with a light or tone. Because foods are most commonly experienced by taste, if there is a particular food that makes us ill, associating the flavor rather than the appearance—which may be similar to other foods with the illness will more greatly ensure we avoid that food in the future, and thus avoid getting sick.

This sorting tendency, which is set up by evolution, is called preparedness. Extinction is important for many reasons. For one thing, it is the basis for many therapies that clinical psychologists use to eliminate maladaptive and unwanted behaviors.