Psy 390 - Classical Conditioning

Classical Conditioning

PSY 390

Classical Conditioning

The roots of understanding learning can be traced back to Ivan Pavlov and his discovery of classical conditioning. It was learned that conditioned response and stimuli were responsible for causing a behavior change called learning. Conditioning bases learning theories on those things that cause changes in behavior. A change has to occur for learning to take place (Olsen & Hergenhahn, 2009).

Pavlov stumbled upon the process of learning conditioning by accident when he was experimenting with the digestive system of dogs. He noticed that the dog began to salivate before seeing the food whenever he rang a bell. This behavior shifted his study to undertake the effort to understand such learned behavior. When further experiments he found that the dog could be conditioned or learn with different forms of stimuli. He found that this also applied to the same behavior of humans and learning. Thus, began an intensive study that would lead to the psychological concept of classical conditioning in learning (Olsen & Hergenhahn, 2009) .

The Theory of Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning was the earliest type of learning discovered by Ivan Pavlov, a Russian scientist. As Pavlov investigated his experiment with dogs salivating at the sound of footsteps after being deprived of food, his investigation led to what were the laws of classical conditioning. In classical conditioning learning is gained from the individual responding to its environment (Huitt & Hummel, 1997).

The major concepts of classical conditioning theorized a stimulus and response was needed in order for an individual to learn. A stimulus will cause an involuntary or reflexive response to take place. There are two types of stimuli associated with classical conditioning, the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus. The conditioned stimulus is what served once as a neutral stimulus in a given situation but once it is associated with an unconditioned stimulus it will trigger a conditioned response. An unconditioned stimulus is one that naturally causes a response, such as smelling a favorite food makes one feel hungry, whereas the smell here would be the unconditioned stimulus. Conditioned response refers to what results when something is coupled with the unconditioned stimulus to cause the response to happen. For example, if smelling a favorite food were coupled with the sound of a bell, then eventually the sound of the bell would be expected to also elicit a smell which would initiate a conditioned response. An unconditioned response simply occurs without the unconditioned stimulus being necessary. This is learned when, for example, the smell of a favorite food is no longer needed to cause hunger, but the sound of the bell alone would be enough to cause a feeling of hunger after the individual has been conditioned (Olsen & Hergenhahn, 2009). This shows the different learning processes that can occur in individuals with interaction in the environment.

It is believed during classical conditioning no new behaviors are learned, but rather an association is developed through the pairing of stimuli causing the individual to respond to both stimuli in a similar way. It is also important to note that the unconditioned stimulus and conditioned stimulus will cause the same reflexive response as well. The unconditioned stimulus is considered reinforcement because the conditioning process relies upon it. During classical conditioning the individual has no control over reinforcement, but it will occur only when the experimenter wants it to. Therefore, reinforcement is not dependent on any obvious response made by the organism. Learning will only occur through acquisition which is caused by consistent pairing of the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus progressively. Once a conditioned response has been acquired, there is extinction of the conditioned response once the conditioned stimulus continues without being paired with the unconditioned stimulus.

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