Concepts and Theories of Classical Conditioning

Concepts and Theories of Classical Conditioning Aimee Duncalfe Rena Borovilos Classical Conditioning and My Behaviour Behavioural psychology is a theory of learning that is founded upon the idea that all behaviours are acquired through conditioning, which occurs through environmental interaction (Cherry, What is Behaviorism?, 2014). Conditioning is a specific type of learning that has been explored by several different physiologists and psychologists throughout history, and can be broken down into two specific types of learning; classical conditioning and operant conditioning. This paper will discuss classical conditioning while exploring several different examples, including a personal behaviour that can also be identified as classical conditioning. Classical conditioning is a learning process that occurs through associating two stimuli that are repeatedly paired together, resulting in a conditioned response. (Cherry, What Is Classical Conditioning?, 2005). The process of classical conditioning consist of placing a conditioned stimulus before an unconditioned stimulus that naturally results in an unconditioned response. When paired repeatedly, the conditioned stimulus eventually causes a conditioned response, even in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus. An unconditioned stimulus (UCS) is one that naturally or automatically causes a response (Cherry, Classical Conditioning, 2005). For example, when you hear a balloon pop, you may immediately jump in shock. The sound of the balloon popping is the unconditioned stimulus. An unconditioned response (UCR) is the automatic response that occurs naturally in response to the unconditioned stimulus (Cherry, Classical Conditioning, 2005). Using the same example, jumping in response to the sound of the balloon popping is the unconditioned response. The conditioned stimulus (CS) is previously neutral stimulus that, after becoming associated with the unconditioned stimulus, eventually causes a conditioned response (Cherry, Classical Conditioning, 2005). Suppose that immediately before you heard the balloon pop, you saw a flashing red light. The flashing red light is unrelated to the sound of the balloon popping, though if the flashing red light was paired multiple times with the balloon popping, seeing the flashing red light would eventually cause the conditioned response. In this case, the conditioned stimulus is seeing the flashing red light. The conditioned response (CR) is the learned response to a previously neutral stimulus (Cherry, Classical Conditioning, 2005). In the same example, the conditioned response would be jumping to the sight of the flashing red light. This process, often used in behavioural training, was introduced by a Russian physiologist by the name of Ivan Pavlov, who won the Nobel Prize in 1904 for his work on the physiology of digestion (Nobel Media AB, 2014). Pavlovs experiment explored dogs salivating in response to the presentation of food. In his experiment, the UCS was the presentation of food, and the UCR was salivating in response to the food. Pavlov also introduced a CS, the sound of a bell, immediately before presenting the food to the dogs. By combining the sound of the bell with the presentation of food, the sound of the bell alone would eventually produce the conditioned response of salivation. (Cherry, What Is Classical Conditioning?, 2005). There are several occurrences that take place in relation to classical conditioning. The first stages of learning when a response is established is what is known as acquisition. This refers to the period of time when the conditioned response is first established and gradually strengthened (Cherry, Principles of Classical Conditioning, 2005). Going back to the first example of the popping balloon, the conditioned response has been acquired once a person begins to jump at the sight of the flashing red light. In Pavlov’s experiment, the conditioned response has been acquired as soon as the dog begins to salivate in response to the sound of the bell. Once the response has been acquired, the response can be progressively strengthened to ensure the behaviour is well learned. Factors that can influence how quickly acquisition occurs include how noticeable the CS is, as well as the timing of the CS in relation to the UCS. If the CS is too subtle, or if there is too much of a delay bet ween the CS and the UCS, the learner may not notice the CS enough to form an association between the two. The most effective method is to introduce the CS and then quickly present the UCS so that there is an overlap between the two. The more noticeable the CS, and the shorter delay between the UCS and the CS, the quicker acquisition will take (Cherry, What is Acquisition?, 2005). Another occurrence in relation to classical conditioning is extinction. Extinction happens when the frequency of a CR decreases or disappears when a CS is no longer paired with an UCS (Cherry, Principles of Classical Conditioning, 2005). Returning to the previously used example, if the popping of the balloon were no longer paired with the flashing red light, eventually the conditioned response of jumping to the flashing red light would disappear. In Pavlov’s experiment, if he no longer paired the bell with the presentation of the food, eventually the conditioned response of salivating to the sound of the bell would disappear. During his research, Pavlov discovered that when extinction occurs, it does not mean that the subject returns to their unconditioned state. Allowing several hours or even days to elapse after a response has been extinguished can result in spontaneous recovery of the CR (Cherry, What is Extinction?, 2005). Spontaneous recovery refers to the sudden reappearance of the CR after extinction or period of reduced response. If the CS and UCS are no longer associated, extinction will occur very quickly after a spontaneous recovery. Pavlov noted during his experiment that no longer pairing the sound of the bell with the presentation of food led to extinction of the salivation response. However, after a two hour rest period, the salivation response suddenly reappeared when the bell was presented (Cherry, Spontaneous Recovery, 2005). This phenomena shows that extinction is not the same as unlearning. While the CR may disappear, it may not have been forgotten or completely eliminated. Stimulus generalization, the tendency for the CS to prompt similar responses after the CR has been conditioned, is another occurrence of classical conditioning (Cherry, What Is Stimulus Generalization?, 2005). In the first example, our subject has been conditioned to jump at the sight of our CR, a flashing red light. After the subject has been conditioned, he might respond to not only a flashing red light, but all flashing lights. This response to all flashing lights exemplifies stimulus generalization. Closely related to stimulus generalization, stimulus discrimination is the ability to distinguish between a CS and other stimuli that have not been paired with a UCS (Cherry, Principles of Classical Conditioning, 2005). In Pavlov’s experiment where the sound of a bell is the CS, discrimination involves being able to tell the difference between the sound of the bell and other similar sounds, and would then only express the CR at the sound of the bell. Another form of classical conditioning is higher order conditioning. This is where a new CS is created, by pairing a second CS with a previously created CS. The second CS acts as a UCS for the first CS. If Pavlov had begun flashing a red light before he sounded the bell, the flashing red light would become the new CS, and would eventually evoke the same CR as the sound of the bell does. My own behaviour indicates that I have also been classically conditioned. Two years ago, I was involved in a car accident. I was driving on the highway in the fast lane, the lane closest to the centre guardrail, when I lost control of my car and slammed into the guardrail, spinning across all three lanes. My car came to a final rest after hitting the guardrail closest to the on and off ramps. Before my car accident, I was a very confident driver and never experienced anxiety while driving, in general or while driving in the fast lane. Since my car accident, I am unable to drive in the fast lane without becoming very anxious. Experiencing anxiety is generally a natural response when getting into a car accident, so getting into a car accident in this example is the UCS, and experiencing anxiety is the UCR. Immediately preceding the car accident, I was driving in the fast lane, which is the CS in this situation. As a result of my traumatic experience, driving in the fast lane now produces the same anxious feeling as getting into a car accident because I have associated this factor with my car accident. And so, anxiety is the CR in this example. I have included a diagram in Appendix 1 to demonstrate my behaviour and how it associates with the basic classical conditioning model. A CR was achieved very quickly during acquisition of my behaviour. Because the situation was so traumatic, the CR was immediate, and I began to experience anxiety as quickly as the next time I drove on the highway. My behaviour is a good example of generalization because I do not only become anxious while driving in the fast lane on the same highway or in the same area where I hit the guardrail, but also while driving in the fast lane on all highways. There is another possible explanation for my behaviour. By avoiding driving in the fast lane, I am decreasing the likelihood of experiencing anxiety. My personal behaviour is a great example of negative punishment, which involves removing something good or desirable away in order to reduce the probability of a specific behaviour reoccurring. While driving in the fast lane can be beneficial and often desired, by not driving in that lane, I am eliminating the CR of experiencing anxiety when driving in that lane. Be it salivating at the smell of our favourite food cooking, avoiding a specific restaurant because of a bad experience, or putting on our seatbelt to stop the car from making the obnoxious dinging sound, our everyday lives are filled with behaviours that are a result of classical or operant conditioning, whether we realize it or not. Some of these conditioning experiences may be positive ones, others may have more negative effects on our lives, and some may go unnoticed forever. While conditioning is not as prominent today as it was throughout the middle of the twentieth century, it still remains an influential force in psychology. References Cherry, K. (2005). Classical Conditioning. Retrieved from about|education: http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/a/classcond.htm Cherry, K. (2005). Principles of Classical Conditioning. Retrieved from about|education: http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/a/classcondbasics.htm Cherry, K. (2005). Spontaneous Recovery. Retrieved from about|education: http://psychology.about.com/od/sindex/g/spontrec.htm Cherry, K. (2005). What is Acquisition? Retrieved from about|education: http://psychology.about.com/od/glossaryfromatoz/g/Acquisition.htm Cherry, K. (2005). What Is Classical Conditioning? Retrieved from about|education: http://psychology.about.com/od/cindex/g/classcond.htm Cherry, K. (2005). What is Extinction? Retrieved from about|education: http://psychology.about.com/od/eindex/g/extinction.htm Cherry, K. (2005). What Is Stimulus Generalization? Retrieved from about|education: http://psychology.about.com/od/sindex/g/stimgen.htm Cherry, K. (2014). What is Behaviorism? Retrieved from about|education: http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/f/behaviorism.htm Nobel Media AB. (2014). The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1904. Retrieved from Nobelprize.org: http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1904/ Weiten, W., McCann, D. (2015). Custom Pub: Psych 1000 Introduction to Psychology and Study Guide. Toronto, ON: Nelson Education Ltd. Appendix 1

The Birthmark :: essays research papers

Response Paper #2: 'The Birthmark'; 1. Our society tends to be obsessed with the idea of physical perfection. How does our society manifest that obsession? How is the 'Birthmark'; an early version of our modern obsession with physical perfection? Our society has many ways of manifesting its obsession with physical perfection. In our society people go to extreme lengths to achieve perfection. The 'Birthmark';, written more than a century ago, is an early version of our modern obsession with physical perfection. Society manifests its obsession with physical perfection by having surgical procedures done on daily basis. These surgeries allow for almost any cosmetic transformation. For example a person can have anything from removing a birthmark to inserting breast implants to having a tummy tuck done on their body. Society manifests their obsession with physical perfection by having these procedures done to them. These procedures enable society to achieve 'perfection';, much like Georgiana in the 'Birthmark';. In the 'Birthmark';, a story that is more than a century old Georgiana and her husband Alymar are searching for physical perfection, much like we do today. In addition they manifested their obsession with physical perfection much like we do today. Georgiana was born with a crimson birthmark in the shape of a hand. This birthmark was on her cheek. One day Georgiana discovers that this birthmark 'shocks'; her husband and he is deeply bothered by it. Georgiana finally realizes this after Alymar says 'Georgiana . . . has it ever occurred to you that the mark upon your cheek might be removed?'; After discussing the birthmark several times with her husband, a talented scientist, Georgiana decides to have it removed by him. It is never stated in full detail exactly how Alymar is going to remove this birthmark, we assume that it will be a surgical procedure. At one point in the story Georgina says to her husband 'If there be the remote possibility of it .

Business Research Part

The fitness bands make is fairly ass for anyone with a weight loss or health goal to measure and track their exercise to include steps taken daily, and amount of energy and calories burned. N.B. has formed a team to research the accuracy and impact of wearing the fuel band. The primary benefit of the fuel band is intended to be to assist in helping consumers track their activity in order to lose weight. To ensure this is benefit is being achieved N.B. needs to show that as a person's activity level increases so does the number of calories they are burning. Hypothesis Statements 1 .The use of a fitness band to track activity will lead to increased activity (steps taken and distance covered) resulting in weight loss. 2. The accuracy of the fitness band will allow individuals a way to know the level of their daily output and input in order for them to reach their fitness goals. Research In preparing for this study there was a particular questions that guided the overall thinking. What i mpact does a fitness band have on a users overall general health? By displaying data concerning daily activity such as steps taken, distance covered, calories burned and hours slept can a user gain an wariness of their overall activity?With this is mind it is important to look back on the information that is currently available to us. There have been extensive studies conducted in this realm since the fitness band has emerged into the health and fitness industry. The team independently went out and reviewed this research to find what would be relevant to establishing this research plan. These range in review of the accuracy of the band on activity, the motivating factor it has on calorie counting, and the overall performance of the various bands on the market.In several of the articles it was evident that when aging walking activity fitness bands perform as desired. The Journal of Science and Medicine in Sports (2014) published a study where a sample of adults used fitness bands whi le walking on the treadmill at various speeds. Upon completion of the study it was deemed the no â€Å"significant differences were noted† between the fitness bands count and that of the observer counts, therefore a high level of inter-device reliability was present (Journal of Science and Medicine in Sports, 2014).Establishing that a fitness and has high reliability it accurately displaying activity solidified the choice of our dependent variable. Next we need establish that our independent variable were what we wanted to be based on the various other research out there. Mossier put forth a study in 2014 about the emerging importance technology would play in tracking activity (Mossier, 2014). The study discussed when a user accurately tracks activity and calorie intake it is an effective strategy for improved goal setting and overall health. This helped lead us in the direction of with increased awareness of activity does weight loss result?An article by Richards would say i t does but with modest results in short term use (Annals of Family Medicine, 2008). This article discussed the Cross- sectional studies show that individuals who walk more tend to be thinner than those who walk less. This does not mean, however, that the association between higher step counts and lower weight is causal or that encouraging sedentary individuals to increase step counts helps them lose weight. The study showed that 5 or more adult participants and at least 1 cohort enrolled in a pedometer-based walking intervention lasting at least 4 weeks.

Classic Scenes and Monologues from Shaws Pygmalion