Classical Conditioning

• State the 3 assumptions of the behaviourist approach

  1, Only observable and measurable behaviour should be studied 2, We are born as blank slates (‘Tabula Rasa’) - no genetic influence on behaviour 3, The basic processes that govern learning are the same in all species- animals could replace humans as experimental subjects
• What is classical conditioning?

  Learning through association
• Name the psychologist who investigated classical conditioning

  Ivan Pavlov
• How do you create a conditioned response?

  By repeatedly pairing a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus
• What is an experiment which investigated classical conditioning?

  Pavlov’s dogs
• Identify the unconditioned stimulus, the unconditioned response and the neutral stimulus in Pavlov's dogs

  x UCS = food x UCR = salivating x NS = bell
• What does the neutral stimulus turn into after conditioning?

  The conditioned stimulus
• Outline the stages of Pavlov’s dogs

  x Stage 1: food (UCS) = Salivating (UCR) x Stage 2: Bell (NS) = no conditioned response x Stage 3: Food (UCS) + bell (NS) = Salivating (UCR) x Stage 4: Bell (CS) = Salivating (CR)
• Name the psychologists who carried out the Little Albert study

  Watson and Raynor (1920)
• Describe the study of Little Albert

  x Conditioned a 9-month old to have a phobia of white rats x Repeatedly paired the rat with a steel bar being struck x Little Albert learnt to associate the loud noise (UCS) with the white rat (NS), resulting in a learnt response (CR) of fear to the white rat which is now the conditioned stimulus.