Classical Conditioning

The definition of classical conditioning given in class is a type of learning in which an organism learns to associate stimuli; an automatic response to a stimulus. An example of this is thunder and lightning. We know that when we see lightning, we wince or get anxious because of the loud sound of thunder that follows immediately after we see this flash of light from the sky. This is because we learn by association, which allows our minds to connect events that occur in a sequence. Ivan Pavlov was a Russian physiologist primarily known for his work with classical conditioning. He conditioned dogs to salivate when hearing a bell. How? Well, Pavlov knew that dogs would naturally salivate when presented with dog food. Therefore, every time he would present a dog some food, he would ring a bell first, then give the dog food. After he practiced this experiment many times, every time he rang a bell the dog salivate, even when Pavlov did not have food for the dog.

Pavlov used four characteristics of classical conditioning for this experiment: Unconditioned stimulus (US), which naturally elicits a response, Unconditioned response (UR) which is a naturally occurring response, Conditioned stimulus (CS) which is an originally irrelevant stimulus, association with US that triggers CR, and Conditioned response (CR), which is a learned response. In this case, conditioning food (US) produces salivation (UR). The tone of the bell (neutral stimulus) does not. During conditioning, a neutral stimulus (bell) and the US (food) are paired resulting in salivation (UR). After conditioning neutral stimulus (now CS) elicits salivation (CR). 

There are other characteristics of classical conditioning such as acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization, and discrimination which can occur over time with this type of conditioning. Acquisition associates a neutral stimulus with the US. The neutral stimulus must come before an unconditioned stimulus. Extinction diminishes a conditioned response when the US no longer follows CS which will eventually lead the subject to quit responding. Spontaneous Recovery is the reappearance of an extinguished response after a break but will most likely become extinct again. Generalization is the tendency for similar stimuli to elicit similar responses. Pavlov conditioned salivation (CR) by using vibrations on high. Therefore, the dog responded strongest to high stimulation, but also to stimulation near high. And finally, discrimination is the ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and other stimuli such as bells with different tones: one bell gets a response, one does not. 

A personal experience I’ve had involving classical conditioning would be when I had to babysit my 2-year-old nephew for a week. Every time I would wake him up from his mid-morning nap, he would cry. One morning before I woke up him up, I decided to make a pot of coffee which would sound off a quick “ping” when the coffee was ready. After one week of brewing coffee before waking him up, I would hear him cry immediately after the “ping” sounded, even though I did not physically wake him up yet. In this situation, the unconditioned stimulus would be me waking my nephew up from his nap and the unconditioned response would be him crying. After associating the sound of a ready coffee pot to me waking him up immediately after, the “ping”, conditioned stimulus, would make him cry, which is the conditioned response even though I did not physically wake him up.