Pavlov's Dogs

• 𝙇𝙀𝘼𝙍𝙉𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝘽𝙔 𝘼𝙎𝙎𝙊𝘾𝙄𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 (𝘾𝘾):

  In learning by association, a person (or animal) learns to associate two stimuli, causing a behaviour change. A neutral stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus that naturally triggers a response. Over time, the person responds to the neutral stimulus as if it were the unconditioned stimulus, even when presented alone. The response is involuntary and automatic.

  
  

  An example is a dog salivating (response) at the sound of a bell (neutral stimulus) after it has been repeatedly paired with food (unconditioned stimulus).
• Pavlovian conditioning (AKA classical conditioning) was discovered by Ivan Pavlov, who was a physiologist, not a psychologist.
• During the 1890s, Pavlov researched salivation in dogs in response to being fed. He inserted a small test tube into the cheek of each dog to measure their saliva.

  He predicted that the dogs would salivate in response to being fed food in front of them, but he noticed that they began to salivate when they heard the footsteps of his assistant, who was bringing them the food.

  He then discovered that any object or event that the dogs learned to associate with food (e.g. the assistant) would trigger the same response.
• Pavlov's theory of learning is that behaviours can be learned through the association between different stimuli.
• 𝗡𝗘𝗨𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗟 𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗨𝗟𝗨𝗦 (𝗡𝗦):

  • a stimulus that initially does not elicit any particular response
  • before any conditioning takes place, the neutral stimulus does not affect behaviour
  • e.g. the bell in Pavlov's experiment
• 𝗨𝗡𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗗 𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗨𝗟𝗨𝗦 (𝗨𝗦):

  • a stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response without any learning needed
  • e.g. the food in Pavlov's experiment
• 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗗 𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗨𝗟𝗨𝗦 (𝗖𝗦):

  • a previously neutral stimulus that, after being repeatedly associated with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned response
• 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗗 𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗣𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗘 (𝗖𝗥):

  • a learned response to the conditioned stimulus
  • typically resembles the unconditioned response but is triggered by the conditioned stimulus
  • e.g. dogs salivating in response to the bell
• 𝗨𝗡𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗗 𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗣𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗘 (𝗨𝗥):

  • an automatic, innate reaction to an unconditioned stimulus
• Pavlov (1902) started from the idea that there are some things a dog does not need to learn - some things, such as salivating when they see food, are naturally 'hard-wired' into them.
• 𝙋𝘼𝙑𝙇𝙊𝙑'𝙎 𝙀𝙓𝙋𝙀𝙍𝙄𝙈𝙀𝙉𝙏 - 𝙎𝙀𝙏𝙐𝙋:

  The dogs were individually situated in secluded environments, secured within harnesses. A food bowl was positioned in front of them, and a device was employed to gauge the frequency of the salivary gland secretions.

  The data from these measurements were systematically recorded onto a rotating drum, allowing Pavlov to meticulously monitor the rates of salivation throughout the experiment.
• 𝙋𝘼𝙑𝙇𝙊𝙑'𝙎 𝙀𝙓𝙋𝙀𝙍𝙄𝙈𝙀𝙉𝙏 - 𝙈𝙀𝙏𝙃𝙊𝘿:

  • the dogs were presented with the food (US), and they salivated (UR). US (food) -> UR (salivate)

  
  

  • Pavlov used a bell as his neutral stimulus. By itself, the bell did not elicit a response from the dogs. NS (bell) -> No response

  
  

  • Pavlov rang the bell just before the dogs ate. After several trials, he presented the bell alone. The sound of it now caused an increase in salivation. CS (bell) -> CR (salivate)

  
  

  • The dogs had learned an association between the bell and the food; a new behaviour had been learnt. The NS bell had become the CS.
• 𝙏𝙀𝙈𝙋𝙊𝙍𝘼𝙇 𝘾𝙊𝙉𝙏𝙄𝙂𝙐𝙄𝙏𝙔:

  Pavlov found that for associations to be made, the two stimuli had to be presented close together in time. He called this the law of temporal contiguity; if the time between the CS (bell) and the US (food) was too great, the learning would not occur.
• 𝙐𝙉𝘾𝙊𝙉𝘿𝙄𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙏𝙃𝙍𝙊𝙐𝙂𝙃 𝙀𝙓𝙏𝙄𝙉𝘾𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉:

  In extinction, the CS (bell) is repeatedly presented without the US (food). Over time, the dogs stopped associating the sound of the bell with the food, and the CR (salivation) weakened and eventually disappeared (it was unconditioned/extinguished).
• 𝙎𝙋𝙊𝙉𝙏𝘼𝙉𝙀𝙊𝙐𝙎 𝙍𝙀𝘾𝙊𝙑𝙀𝙍𝙔:

  The CR could briefly reappear when the CS was presented after a rest period, even though it had been extinguished. This discovery added to the understanding of conditioning and extinction, indicating that these learned associations - while they can fade - are not completely forgotten.
• 𝙂𝙀𝙉𝙀𝙍𝘼𝙇𝙄𝙎𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉:

  The principle of generalisation suggests that after a subject has been conditioned to respond in a certain way to a specific stimulus, the subject will also respond similarly to stimuli that closely resemble the original one. The relationship between the similarity of the stimulus and the strength of the response is known as the generalisation gradient.
• 𝙋𝘼𝙑𝙇𝙊𝙑'𝙎 𝙄𝙈𝙋𝘼𝘾𝙏:

  • BEHAVIOURISM: a major school of thought within psychology. The principles of CC have been used to explain a wide range of behaviours, e.g. phobias and food aversions.
  • THERAPY: techniques based on CC, such as systematic desensitisation and exposure therapy, have been developed to treat a variety of psychological disorders, e.g. phobias and PTSD. A CR (e.g. fear) can be gradually unlearned by changing the association between the stimulus and response.