Classical Conditioning Components
What does UCS stand for?
Unconditioned Stimulus
A dog learns to sit because it receives a treat each time it sits
Operant Conditioning
What is the difference between reinforcement and punishment?
Reinforcement increases a behavior; punishment decreases a behavior.
A child receives candy for cleaning their room and begins cleaning more often. What type of conditioning is involved?
Operant conditioning; positive reinforcement
Which Russian physiologist discovered classical conditioning while studying dogs' digestive processes?
Ivan Pavlov
What is the difference between the UCR and the CR?
The UCR is a natural, unlearned response to the UCS. The CR is a learned response to the CS.
A person feels nervous when hearing a sound associated with a previous frightening experience.
Classical Conditioning
A student receives extra credit for completing an assignment. The student begins completing more assignments.
Positive Reinforcement
A student feels hungry whenever they smell popcorn because the smell has repeatedly been associated with eating popcorn. What type of conditioning is involved?
Classical Conditioning
Which psychologist conducted the Little Albert experiment, demonstrating that an emotional response such as fear could be conditioned?
John B. Watson
A dog naturally salivates when it sees food. What is the food, and what is the salivation?
Food = UCS; salivation = UCR
A student studies more often after receiving praise for earning good grades.
Operant Conditioning
A driver buckles their seat belt to stop an annoying beeping sound. The driver begins buckling their seat belt more consistently.
Negative Reinforcement
A dog barks at strangers. Its owner gives it attention every time it barks, and the dog begins barking more often. What type of operant conditioning could explain this?
Positive reinforcement, if the attention increases barking
Which psychologist used the Skinner box to study how consequences influence behavior?
B.F. Skinner
A student gets food poisoning after eating tacos. Later, the student feels nauseated whenever they smell tacos. Identify the UCS, UCR, CS, and CR.
UCS = food poisoning or the illness-producing food; UCR = nausea caused by the illness; CS = smell of tacos; CR = nausea triggered by the smell.
After getting sick from eating seafood, a person feels nauseated whenever they smell seafood, even when it is fresh.
Classical Conditioning
A teenager breaks curfew and loses their phone for a week. They begin returning home on time.
Negative Punishment
A student gets laughed at after giving an incorrect answer in class. Later, the student feels anxious whenever the teacher calls on them. Identify the conditioning type and the likely CS and CR.
Classical conditioning; CS = being called on by the teacher; CR = anxiety when called on. The embarrassing experience is the aversive event associated with answering in class.
In Pavlov’s experiment, dogs initially salivated when presented with food. After repeatedly pairing a bell with food, the dogs began salivating when they heard the bell alone. What type of learning did this demonstrate, and what was the bell called after conditioning?
Classical conditioning; the bell became the conditioned stimulus (CS).
A bell is repeatedly paired with food. Eventually, a dog salivates when it hears the bell. Explain how the bell changes from an NS to a CS, and identify the CR.
The bell begins as a neutral stimulus because it does not initially trigger the salivation response. After repeated pairings with food, it becomes the CS. The CR is salivation in response to the bell.
A student feels anxious when hearing the school bell because it has repeatedly signaled the beginning of difficult exams. The student also begins studying more because studying has helped them earn better grades. Identify the type of conditioning involved in each behavior and explain why.
Classical conditioning explains the anxiety triggered by the bell because the bell has become associated with exams. Operant conditioning explains the increased studying because better grades reinforce the studying behavior.
A teacher assigns additional homework whenever a student disrupts class. The student begins disrupting class less often. Identify the type of conditioning and explain why it fits.
Positive punishment. Something is added (additional homework) to decrease a behavior (disrupting class).
A dog initially fears the sound of a vacuum cleaner after being startled by it. Later, the dog learns that hiding under a bed makes the sound less intense. Explain how classical and operant conditioning could both contribute to the dog's behavior.
Classical conditioning explains the fear associated with the vacuum's sound. Operant conditioning may explain hiding under the bed if that behavior removes or reduces the unpleasant sound and consequently increases.
In the Little Albert experiment, a loud noise was repeatedly paired with a white rat. Identify the UCS, UCR, NS, CS, and CR.
UCS = loud noise; UCR = fear/startle response to the noise; NS = white rat before conditioning; CS = white rat after conditioning; CR = fear response to the white rat.