associative learning

• a process by which an animal learn the connection between two stimuli or between a stimulus and a behaviour
• classical conditioning is a type of learning in which a previously neutral stimulus becomes associated with a biologically significant stimulus, leading to a learned response
• classical conditioning

  1. unconditioned stimulus - a stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response without any prior learning
  2. unconditioned response - the unlearned, natural response to the unconditioned stimulus
  3. neutral stimulus - a stimulus that does not initially trigger a response on its own
  4. conditioned stimulus - after being paired repeatedly with unconditioned stimulus
  5. conditioned response - learned response to the conditioned stimulus
• what is generalisation?

  once the response has been conditioned, stimuli that are similar to the conditioned response
• what is discrimination?

  the ability to differentiate between the conditioned stimulus and other similar stimuli
• what is extinction ?

  if the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus, the conditioned response will eventually weaken and stop
• what is spontaneous recovery?

  after extinction, if some time passes, the conditioned response van suddenly reappear when the conditioned response is presented again
• classical conditioning helps animals to quickly learn to respond to new stimulus based on past experiences, this reduces the trial and error process, improving decision making in critical situations
• animals ca learn to avoid harmful situation through conditioned/fear responses
• this makes animals more responsive to humans, improving their ability to work in partnerships with people
• this only works with simple tasks, it does not involve higher cognitive functions like problem solving or decision making. it will not work with complex, multi-step behaviours
• it can be difficult to unlearn conditioned fear responses, this can lead to long term stress, anxiety or behavioural problems