Classical Conditioning

• Classical conditioning is creating new learning when a neutral stimulus is consistently paired with an unconditioned stimulus.
• Classical conditioning is learning through association.
• Classical conditioning assumes that we learn through association. For example, we have learnt to associate the colour red with hot and the colour blue with cold, when referring to water taps.
• Drivers have learnt to associate red traffic lights with stop and green with go.
• Classical conditioning was suggested by Pavlov following his work with digestion in dogs.
• Classical conditioning uses the principle of stimulus-response (SR).
• Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) a Russian physiologist received a Nobel Prize for his work on digestion in dogs.
• Pavlov stumbled across the idea of classical conditioning in his experiments with dogs in 1927.
• Pavlov’s dogs, restrained in an experimental chamber, were presented with meat powder whilst having their saliva collected via a surgically implanted tube in their saliva glands.
• The dogs would salivate at the sight of food. This is an innate, automatic reaction. The food acts as the unconditioned stimulus (UCS). The salivation is the unconditioned response (UCR).
• Pavlov paired the meat powder with various stimuli such as the ringing of a bell. After the meat powder and bell were presented together several times, the bell was used alone.
• In Pavlov's experiment the bell eventually became the conditioned stimulus (CS).
• At the beginning of Pavlov's study the bell was a neutral stimulus (NS) and had no impact on the dogs response.
• Before conditioning, we have automatic, innate responses to stimuli.
• During conditioning, we learn to make new associations.
• After conditioning a new conditioned stimulus is associated with the now conditioned response.
• In Pavlov's experiment at the beginning the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) was the food.
• In Pavlov's experiment at the beginning the unconditioned response (UCR) was to salivate.
• During Pavlov's experiment the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) was paired with the neutral stimulus (NS) over time.
• After Pavlov's experiment at the neutral stimulus (NS) becomes the conditioned stimulus (CS), creating a conditioned response (CR).