Research regards learning theories as different learning types. Learning is a broad notion that encompasses a wide range of activities. Classical conditioning theory like other learning theories, provides a conceptual framework for describing how information is absorbed, processed, and retained during learning. Learning theories are an organized set of concepts that explain how individuals acquire, retain, or recall learned knowledge.
A variety of elements influence human learning, including emotional, cognitive, past experiences, and environmental influences. Classical conditioning theory prescribes the proper format or methodology to make learning more effective. Reinforcements, associations, observations, and punishments all have an impact on the learning process. This article discusses classical conditioning theory.
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Pavlov’s experiment discovered classical conditioning theory while observing his dogs’ salivation responses. Dogs normally salivate when food comes into contact with their tongues. Pavlov observed that his pups’ salivation went beyond that fundamental response. When they saw him approaching with food or even just heard his footsteps, they salivated. In other words, originally neutral stimuli were conditioned as a result of recurrent association with a natural response.
Although Pavlov was not a psychologist and his work with the name of Pavlov’s experiment on classical conditioning theory was purely physiological, his findings had a significant impact on psychology. John B. Watson, in particular, promoted Pavlovian conditioning in psychology. In 1913, Watson launched the behaviorist movement in psychology with a manifesto that stated psychology should renounce the study of things like consciousness in favor of just studying observable behavior, such as stimuli and responses. After discovering Pavlov’s experiment a year later, Watson built his theories on Pavlovian conditioning.
His classical conditioning theory was crucial in understanding major psychological concepts such as learning and also laid the groundwork for the behavioral school of thought, or behaviorism. Behaviorism is founded on two key assumptions:
- Learning occurs as a result of interactions with environmental forces.
- Environmental influences play an important role in determining behavior.
Learning occurs as a result of a connection formed between a previously neutral stimulus and a natural stimulus, according to the Pavlovian conditioning hypothesis. It should be noted that classical conditioning precedes naturally occurring reflexes with a neutral stimulus.
Classical Conditioning Theory Experiment
In Pavlov’s experiment, he attempted to pair the natural stimulant of food with a bell sound. The dogs salivated in response to the natural occurrence of food, but following repeated associations, the dogs salivated simply by hearing the sound of the bell. Pavlovian conditioning theory focuses on automatic and naturally occurring behaviors. The experiments of Pavlov’s classical conditioning entail placing a neutral stimulus immediately before an automatically occurring signal, which eventually results in a learned response to the formerly neutral stimulus.
During Pavlov’s experiment, food was provided to dog while sounding a bell in his experiments. When the meal was placed in the dog’s mouth, it automatically salivated. After the food was repeatedly offered in conjunction with the ringing of the bell, the dog began salivating whenever it heard the bell, even when no food was presented. In other words, the dog was trained to correlate a previously neutral signal with salivation.
Stimuli and Responses Types
In Pavlov’s classical conditioning, each of the stimuli and responses is referred to by specific terminology that can be illustrated concerning Pavlov’s experiment.
- The unconditioned stimulus (UCS) is the introduction of food to the dog since the dog’s response to the food occurs naturally.
- The conditioned stimulus (CS) is the light or bell because the dog must learn to link it with the desired reaction.
- Because it is an intrinsic reflex, salivation in reaction to food is known as the unconditioned response (UCR).
- The conditioned response (CR) involves salivation in response to a light or a bell because the dog learns to associate that response with the conditioned stimulus.
Three Stages of Pavlov’s classical conditioning
The Pavlov classical conditioning process is divided into three stages:
Before Conditioning
The UCS and CS have no association at this time. The UCS appears in the environment and generates a UCR. The UCR was not taught or acquired; it is an entirely natural reaction. For example, a person may become seasick (UCR) the first time they ride on a boat (UCS). At this point, the CS is classified as a neutral stimulus (NS). It has yet to produce a response since it has not yet been conditioned.
During Conditioning
The UCS and NS are coupled during the second stage, causing the previously neutral stimulus to become a CS. The CS happens soon before or simultaneously with the UCS, and as a result, the CS becomes associated with the UCS and, by extension, the UCR. To strengthen the link between the two stimuli, the UCS and CS must be paired multiple times.
In some situations, it is not important. For instance, if an individual is cured after using a particular medicine, the same medicine may cure the person in the future as well. So, if the person on the boat drank fruit punch (CS) shortly before becoming ill (UCR), they may come to associate fruit punch (CS) with feeling ill (CR).
After Conditioning
Once the UCS and CS have been linked, the CS will initiate a response without the requirement to deliver it to the UCS. The CR is now elicited by the CS. The person has learned to link a certain response to a previously neutral input. As a result, the person who became seasick may discover that in the future, fruit punch (CS) makes them feel ill (CR), even though the fruit punch had nothing to do with the individual becoming sick on the boat.
Conditioning of the Highest Order
Pavlov established in his trials that, after conditioning a dog to respond to a specific stimulus, he could pair the conditioned stimulus with a neutral stimulus and extend the conditioned response to the new stimulus. This is known as second-order conditioning. For example, after conditioning a dog to salivate in response to a bell, the bell was replaced with a black square. The black square could stimulate salivation on its own after multiple sessions. While Pavlov discovered third-order conditioning in his experiments, he was unable to extend higher-order conditioning beyond that point.
Classical Conditioning Theory’s Key Principles
1. Acquisition:Â
This is the initial step of learning in which a response is established and then steadily enhanced. A neutral stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus during the acquisition phase, which can automatically or naturally trigger or elicit a response without any learning. Once this association between the neutral stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus is established, the individual will demonstrate a behavioral reaction that is now known as the conditioned stimulus. Once developed, a behavioral reaction can be gradually reinforced or strengthened to ensure that the behavior is acquired.
2. Extinction:
Extinction happens when the intensity of a conditioned response decreases or completely disappears. When a conditioned stimulus is no longer associated with or paired with an unconditioned stimulus, this occurs in classical conditioning. Pavlov’s dogs, for example, began to salivate in response to the sound of a bell after repeated trials in which the sound was associated with food. The dog’s salivation would gradually decrease and then stop if the bell was rung repeatedly without a meal.
3. Spontaneous Recovery:
Spontaneous recovery occurs when a learned or conditioned response resumes after a brief resting interval or reappears after a brief period of extinction. Even after extinction, the conditioned response may not be gone for good. Sometimes there is spontaneous recovery, in which the reaction reappears after a period of extinction.
For example, to suppress a dog’s conditioned response to a bell, the bell is not played for some time. When the bell is rung again after the break, the dog will salivate again. It will indicate a spontaneous recovery of the conditioned response. However, if the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli are not matched again, spontaneous recovery will fail, and extinction will occur again.
4. Stimulus Generalization:
The ability of a conditioned stimulus to elicit comparable sorts of responses after the responses have been conditioned. It is referred to as stimulus generalization. After a stimulus is conditioned to evoke a precise reaction, the following stimuli connected with the conditioned stimulus likewise arise: the conditioned response. Although not conditioned, the new stimuli, similar to conditioned stimuli, result in generalization. The resultant situation is that if a dog is trained to salivate due to ringing a bell, she will salivate as a response to various bells. However, the conditioned response may not arise if the bell is similar to the conditioned stimulus.
5. Stimulus Discrimination:
Discrimination is the ability of a subject to distinguish between stimuli that are similar to one another. It means not responding to stimuli that are not similar but only responding to specific stimuli. Stimulus generalization does not always last.
Over time, stimulus discrimination occurs, in which stimuli are distinguished and only the conditioned stimulus and maybe comparable stimuli evoke the conditioned response. Therefore, if a dog continues to hear different bell tones, it will eventually learn to distinguish between them. He will only salivate for the conditioned tone and those that sound similar.
Classical Conditioning applications
In the actual world, we can see examples of classical conditioning. It can also be applied to treatment and education.
- To battle anxieties and phobias such as a fear of spiders, for example, a therapist may frequently show an individual an image of a spider as a relaxation technique. In this way, he or she allows the subject to create a link between spiders and calm.
- Similarly, if a teacher pairs a subject that makes pupils uneasy, such as arithmetic, with a nice and positive setting, the student will grow to be more confident in math.
- It is beneficial to numerous pet trainers to assist them in training their pets.
- Trainers or teachers can also put classical conditioning theory into practice. They can create a pleasant or highly motivated classroom environment. Thus, they assist pupils in overcoming their fears and performing at their best.