Basic Terms used in Classical Conditioning

Subject: Behavioral Science

Overview

Unconditioned stimuli are a particular kind of stimulus that can constantly elicit (or cause) a reaction in an organism. The response can be elicited by this stimulus without any prior learning. An unlearned or instinctive reaction to an unconditioned stimulus is known as an unconditioned response. The salivation response in Pavlov's experiment was an unconditioned one. The unconditioned stimulus must be repeatedly paired with the conditioned stimulus in order for the conditioned response to be elicited. A learned response to a conditioned stimulus is referred to as a conditionally responsive response. Salivation in Pavlov's experiment is a learned response to the bell.

Basic Terms Used in Classical Conditioning

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): Unconditioned stimuli are a particular kind of stimulus that can constantly elicit (or cause) a reaction in an organism. The response can be elicited by this stimulus without any prior learning. Food served as an unconditioned stimulus in Pavlov's experiment because it could always cause a dog to spit.

Unconditioned Response (UCR): It is an unlearned or natural response to a unconditioned stimulus. In Pavlov's experiment, salivation was a unconditioned response.

Conditioned Response (CS): It is originally neutral stimulus that will produce a response only when it is repeatedly paired with the unconditioned stimulus. In Pavlov's experiment, a bell was conditioned stimulus.

Conditioned Response (CR): It is learned response to the conditioned stimulus of the response given to conditioned stimulus. In Pavlov's experiment, salivation to the bell is a conditioned response.

Implications of theory of Classical Conditioning in Practical life

There are various applications of classical conditioning. Some of the implications are mentioned below:

Controlling Behaviour

Let's say a young child who is otherwise normal wets the bed at night. The challenge for the psychologist in this case is to increase the child's receptivity to bladder tension, which serves as a neutral stimulus for awakening since it is ineffective at arousing the child. Since a bell always wakes up a child, it can be used as an unconditioned stimulus. Now it is possible to use a special bed pad that, when urinated on, completes a circuit and rings the bell.

Early in the conditioning process, the bell wakes the child up rather than the child's bladder tension causing them to urinate.

But eventually, the bladder tension, which immediately precedes the bell, becomes a conditioned stimulus awakening the child before the sound occurs. Being awakened is a conditioned response to this tension.

Similarly, when alcoholics are given to take an alcohol a drug that produces violent vomiting, they develop an aversion to alcohol. This method can also be used to treat an alcoholic patient.

Treatment of Phobia

According to classical conditioning, phobia is a conditioned reaction that may be addressed by applying classical conditioning to the patient. Systematic desensitization is a type of therapy that treats phobic patients by applying the theory of classical conditioning. In this technique, the patient is exposed to the feared object repeatedly and gradually while she is relaxed. Because pleasure and pain cannot coexist, fear gradually lessens with repeated attempts to pair a painful object with pleasure (muscle relaxation). The patient loses fear of the object as a result of this repeated process.

Measuring Sensory Capabilities

Additionally, babies, some people with disabilities, and animals' sensory abilities are evaluated using classical conditioning techniques. If a baby exhibits a lack of response to certain sounds in a clinic for speech and hearing disorders, it can be challenging to determine whether or not the child, who is too young to speak, has normal hearing. The pinprick is an unconditioned stimulus for leg withdrawal if we gently prickle the baby's foot and observe that leg withdrawing. If a bell is rung several times before the pinprick, eventually the child with normal hearing will pull back their foot at the sound of the bell by itself.

As a result, we can conclude that the baby's auditory system is working properly to process this sound; something else must be preventing the baby from responding. Of course, the infant's age does not appear to have a significant impact on the conditioning process.

Information about attitude and how people's attitudes change has also been based on the classical conditioning principle. In conclusion, classical conditioning has a lot of real-world applications.
Things to remember
  • Unconditioned stimuli are a particular kind of stimulus that can constantly elicit (or cause) a reaction in an organism.
  • The reaction can be elicited by this stimuli without any prior learning.
  • An unlearned or instinctive reaction to an unconditioned stimuli is known as an unconditioned response.
  • The salivation reaction in Pavlov's experiment was an unconditioned one.
  • The unconditioned stimulus must be repeatedly paired with the conditioned stimulus in order for the conditioned response to be elicited.
  • A learned response to a conditioned stimulus is referred to as a conditionally responsive response.
  • Salivation in Pavlov's experiment is a learned response to the bell.
Questions and Answers

 

Unconditioned stimulus (UCS): Unconditioned stimulus is a type of stimulus that can always produce (or evoke) a response in an organism. This stimulus is capable of producing the response without learning. In Pavlov's experiment, the food was a unconditioned stimulus because it could always produce a saliva in a dog.

Unconditioned response (UCR): It is an unlearned or natural response to a unconditioned stimulus. In Pavlov's experiment, salivation was a unconditioned response.

Conditioned response (CS): it is originally neutral stimulus that will produce a response only when it is repeatedly paired with the unconditioned stimulus. In Pavlov's experiment, a bell was conditioned stimulus.

Conditioned response (CR): It is learned response to the conditioned stimulus of the response given to conditioned stimulus. In Pavlov's experiment, salivation to the bell is a conditioned response.

There are various applications of classical conditioning. Some of the implications are mentioned below:

  • Controlling behaviour

Suppose an otherwise normal child wets the bed while asleep. The psychologist's problem, here, is to make the child more responsive to the bladder tension, which is a neutral stimulus for awakening since it fails to awaken the child. The sound of a bell can be used as an unconditioned stimulus since it always awakens the child. Now a special bed pad can be employed that, when wet with urine, completes a circuit and sets on the bell.

In the early stage of conditioning, the bladder tension does not awaken the child: instead, the child urinates and is awakened by the bell. But eventually, the bladder tension, which immediately precedes the bell, becomes a conditioned stimulus awakening the child before the sound occurs. Being awakened is a conditioned response to this tension.

Similarly, when alcoholics are given to take an alcohol a drug that produces violent vomiting, they develop an aversion to alcohol. This method can also be used to treat an alcoholic patient.

  • Treatment of phobia

Classical conditioning believes that phobia is a conditioned response and a patient of phobia can be treated by use of classical conditioning. One therapeutic technique that uses the concept of classical conditioning to treat a phobic patient is called systematic desensitization. In this method, the therapist gradually and repeatedly presents the feared object to the patient while she relaxes. Because pleasure and pain can not exist simultaneously, the repeated pairing of failed object to pleasure (Muscle relaxation) results in a gradual decrease in a level of fear. Through this repeated process the patient losses fear of the object.

  • Measuring sensory capabilities

Classical conditioning procedures are also used to assess the sensory ability of infants, some handicapped persons,and animals. In clinic for hearing and speech disorders, suppose an infant does not respond to certain sounds, its sill is difficult for us to decide whether the child, too young to talk, has normal hearing or not . If we gently prick the infant's foot and find that leg is withdrawn, the pinprick is an unconditioned stimulus for leg withdrawal. If a bell is sounded in advance of the pinprick on several occasion, eventually the child with normal hearing withdraws the foot at the sound of the bell alone. We thus know that the infant's auditory mechanisms are functioning satisfactorily for this sound; some other factors must be causing its lack of response. There are, of course, conditioning process apparently is not significantly related to the infant's age.

The principle of classical conditioning has also been used information of attitude and changing attitude of people. In summary, classical conditioning has significant practical utility

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